The peak in the back is Vihren.

Last year, I set a personal goal to go back to it. I think good personal goals should be difficult, and back in 2024, this felt like a tough one.

Zoom in to see people going uphill. The whole path is consistently steep, consistently slippery, and feels long. The final limestone hill is about 1/5 of the whole hike, and probably the easiest part.

We did it.

I think it’s better for younger and lighter folks. It didn’t strike me as a difficult peak when I was in my 20s but felt like Everest this time. We crawled so slowly that the Apple Watch kept suggesting to end the hiking session, and wasn’t able to count the steps. First 1 hour was 1000 steps, according to it. We didn’t enjoy any part of it, it was hard all the way, and remained painful after we were back.

In any case, the main walking goal for 2025 is achieved. I’ll try finding some longer but less steep hikes that require patience and endurance rather than good knees for the next goal. An alternative would be to set a goal for the whole family because adding the kids to the equation makes everything far more challenging. One of the kids seems to be interested in hiking. A potential route could be Malyovitza, another peak I mentioned here as a place I’m unlikely to visit again. It’s less steep, the main path is longer, and goes by lakes that can make good blog posts 🙂

We tried and failed to go to Vihren peak this weekend. We got to the hut. The plan was to do Vihren hut – Vihren peak, which is 3.5h and +950 meters. However, the road to the hut is closed and there are frequent busses that go to it. We missed the bus and ended up doing Banderishka Polyana – Vihren Hut, which is +350 meters and 1-1.5h.

The attempts will continue but maybe next year. Vihren is no joke outside of the summer. The 24K steps we made were more than enough for us, and the thunderstorm that started at the end of the hike sealed the feeling that it wasn’t meant to be that day.

The storm washed our car perfectly well.