[Ammi]

…this was posted on Reddit and gives a bit of information about the area and surrounding area of where George’s backpack and sleeping bag etc were located…from someone who lives close to that location…


‘Some more background, because I live close to that mountain.

The area he got lost in is a valley above the forest line. There are only short pine bush patches there, and only in the first part of the hike. The place he called from has no trees or bushes in any direction for 1-2 km.

When he called, he was between a refuge and a mountain cabin and the rescue people advised him to head to the refuge. Another 30-40 minutes walk, if I understood his last location correctly. But he didn't make it there, neither back to the cabin.

His backpack was found abandoned, with a sleeping bag and a tent inside. There were also food leftovers around the backpack.

The rescuers say his footprints stop at the backpack. But there are no signs there of a fall or a struggle.

This hiking route is not a particular dangerous one, meaning that there are no dramatic cliffs you have to pass or any other route it intersects with (it goes pretty straight for 80% of the hike, then turns right, you climb for a while and you get to the refuge). Of course, the snow makes it a bit dangerous in winter and there is a possibility you could slip somehow, but it's not a place where accidents happen often in the Bucegi Mountains. And again, slipping and falling into the valley should leave some signs...’