Hoia Forest Hiking Trail

Az idei Erdélyi Geoquest ládász-találkozót Kolozsvárra tervezik nálunk sokkal bezsongottabb fővárosi hobbitársaink. Mi úgy döntöttünk, hogy a találkozó szervezésében nem fogunk részt venni, ugyanis az utóbbi két évben a városban és környékén mi voltunk a legaktívabb ládászok, ezért inkább hagyjuk a találkozót olyan kolozsváriakra, akik eddig nem sokat szerepeltek ebben a témában. Többszöri meghívás után sem mentünk el a szervezői találkozókra, de végül megígértem, hogy az esemény tiszteletére beszállunk mi is tíz láda elrejtésével. Hát ez lett belőle: Hoia Forest Hiking Trail.

Hoia is a forest in the west part of Cluj-Napoca, between Baciu Gorges and Grigorescu District. It is one of the most popular areas of agreement in the area, near the Village Museum. The forest is frequented as a picnic site. There are people who believe that this forest would occur paranormal phenomena. Forest covers an area of ​​295 hectares. At North the forest lies down a smooth slope, near the Nadas Valley. At East is bordered by Taietura Turcului, an artificial valley that cuts the hill from south to north. At West the forest ends on the northeast slope of Melcului Hill. Near the south end of the forest stretches Bongar Valley. North-east of the forest is bordered by Long Valley, passing through the Eocene limestone and forms Baciului Gorges, a valley with asymmetrical slopes (the north is rocky and steep, with rocks, fossils, as has been declared a nature reserve and the south is populated by Hoia forest). There are some high flow springs at the northern edge of the forest in the Long Valley. Hoia Hill and Sf. Pavel Hill are the highest points in the area.

Hoia forest is worldwide famous for the frequency of various paranormal phenomena. In 1968, a local citizen photographed an UFO in Poiana Rotunda, according to experts these photos are among the few of this type which are authentic. In the '60s, biology teacher Alexander Sift studied luminous, magnetic and radiation phenomena, that occur here. He gathered a rich archive of photographs of the phenomena, which mysteriously lost a few days after his death in 1993, stolen and destroyed by unknown people. The few remaining photos were published in 1995 in the book "The phenomena of Hoia-Baciu" by Adrian Patrut, chemistry professor at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca and friend of Sift. Patrut continued Sift’s research and claims that the strange phenomena have a scientific basis that was insufficiently studied. However, the phenomena of Hoia forest have led to many urban legends in Cluj area, many people visiting the forest hoping to be able to capture such a phenomenon.