Putnei Waterfall, Lepșa, Vrancea

1. Let's park and inform, first view

I arrived at the scene on a Sunday in February 2021. In a curve to the right of the DN on the direction of travel VN - CV, turn left (be careful at the exit and especially at the entrance from / in DN!) and go 100 meters further on an unpaved and very bad road, where most of the cars park on the right of the panel that marks the existence of the objective and from where the pathway with stairs and railings to the upper part of the waterfall begins, in the most spectacular belvedere.

From here you can admire in particular the Putna river that grinds a rocky, spectacular area, which when the flow is lower is revealed more to the eye, and the brave, go down the large and wide rock and well ground in the middle of the water course. It's risky and I don't recommend it as one wrong step can be fatal. This time the Putna was flowing nervously and involuntarily, I can say that I have never seen it flowing at a higher rate before.

2. Waterfall

The second spectacular part is the waterfall itself, which can be admired from above. Suddenly the river is forced to squeeze between the rocks, to straighten its bed about 10 times and to fall into a 15 meter long, 80 meter long, stepped gorge. A lake has formed at the base of the waterfall, where the river suddenly calms down and catches its breath after the adventure of crossing the rocky sills. According to wiki, the depth of the natural accumulation measures 12 meters. There is a protective fence at the viewpoints and a bench overlooking the lake at the lower point.

3. Beach

We went back to the cars, but we didn't get in them yet. The entrance that ... we entered with the cars continues for another 300 meters on a road paved with concrete slabs, passable by car, but that we followed at walking pace.

Thus we were delighted to discover some strange sponges growing on the stems of some trees. This road winds down in serpentines past a few resting places, where in the summer I found many tourists picnicking, some of them with their tents. The road ends at the bank of Putna, downstream of the waterfall and the lake, after the river makes a 90 degree bend to the left. Here you will find ... a natural beach. Yes, with sand. The place is all the more beautiful as Putna becomes wide and shallow again, there is even a ford to cross. But be careful because the water current is quite strong, if you don't choose the right ford. In front of us, from the unique beach, we admire, on the opposite shore, a wall about 50 meters high of stratified rockwhere a geologist could hold an open lecture.