Category: Walking

From Kartala to Macedonia Hut (2)

~ Veselin ~ 4 Comments

We went to Macedonia Hut in June – and it felt like a great hike. Kartala has a good asphalt road and a large free parking, which makes it a very convenient starting point. Most of the hike is in the forest, which was great, given the heat wave over the last week.

This second time, we took all the possible shortcuts and slowed the pace as much as we could. As a result of both, we managed to reach the hut in slightly over 3h. The path with the shortcuts is slightly above 8km, +720~~ meters. Without the shortcuts, it’s over 9km.

It has these brand and new slightly optimistic signs. The actual distance as measured by our smart devices varied by +300 to +600 meters. I think some of the expected signs are not yet installed because we couldn’t find them.

The hut keeper cooked us food and the day was fine. We rolled back down tired and well fed.

Get your ducks in a row

~ Veselin ~ 3 Comments

Apparently, the phrase originates from bowling, not from mother ducks ordering themselves or arranging little ducks. But I like it. I’ve been trying to capture photo of a duck with ducklings for many months and the only thing that I think I discovered is that the ducklings do not show up in areas where humans can see them.

Restaurant Malina

~ Veselin ~ 10 Comments

If you want to experience dining while surrounded by amateur downhill cyclists, Malina Bar&Grill Borovets is your place. I liked the spirit and the neon glow of it.

I also think that cyclists and hikers should not share trails. All these bicycles look harmless when they’re thrown like that on the ground but we saw some of them go downhill with speeds approaching the speed of light (okay, maybe a bit less), and we are lucky to have survived the encounter.

Musala

~ Veselin ~ 9 Comments

We attempted to hike to Musala yesterday. We underestimated the time and effort for it and not only couldn’t reach the top but also got crushed and had bad sunburns.

The gondola to Yastrebets starts working at 8:30, which is when the journey should’ve started. Works until 18, which is when it should’ve ended. However, this is too much walking for a 6-year-old and his parents who are not in the best shape.

We set ourselves a time limit and turned around after 3h of walking, at around 2600 meters altitude, close to the Everest chalet. We needed another hour and some extra energy to reach the top. I think it’s doable with more stops and colder weather. We ended up doing 23000 steps on that day. Another 2 hours of walking would’ve made that 33000, way above anything we’ve done over the last 10 years.

It’s not that bad that we didn’t reach the summit because we only had one of the kids with us. Saved ourselves from the trouble of not having both of them. We may try again on a colder weekend, although with our current capabilities, the success is not guaranteed.