Cold

We had a successful third hike this spring. We took a very adventurous path this time, one between the peaks Golyam and Malak Rezen. I suspect most people in Sofia do not know that the peaks they see every day are called like that, and are not Cherni Vrah. Also, even those who know, probably don’t know the most scenic route to the top is between them. Going to the top usually happens from the left or the right of both peaks, and the middle looks like a giant impenetrable rock. There are, however, paths in the middle. We took one.

The path was steep but fine, with the exception of one very large snow patch, which we had to circle around through the shrubs. We were completely alone until the Golyam Rezen peak, only saw one person who was maybe an hour ahead of us and chose to crawl on the snow patch. We saw his lonely steps on the snow.

Once we reached the open area, the wind was mind-blowing and cold, perhaps around 0°C. We were prepared with windproof jackets, gloves, hats, and even one face mask for the little one, which he used as a scarf.

Cherni Vrah

I was lucky to have the first successful hike for the year. We did two in the winter but the weather was windy and unpleasant and we got nowhere. There’s still some snow here and there, just enough to enter your shoes. The weather was very warm – t-shirt, sun screen, and winter boots type of weather.

I’m thankful I was able to do this. 15k steps, roughly 3h.

Accidental Hike

It was supposed to be a quiet day. We went to IKEA, had meatballs, got a teapot because one of our kids is drinking lots of tea. Tested all the couches. Comfy. All of that amounted to less than 5k steps, which is pretty poor for a weekend day. How do we get to 10k?

So we dropped some options, like “Let’s just do some steps up there in the mountain, take a horizontal path for just half an hour.” But it’s cold today, maybe go higher up where it’s more open and sunny.

One thing lead to another and we reached the top.

The weather was perfect, cold enough to not sweat. Warm enough to not need winter clothing.

A milestone for the little one

My younger kid made it to Cherni Vrah today and discovered the raspberries and the blueberries.

We did a relatively easy path (+510m, about 5.6km one way) but it took forever, given the obstacles. This is a major milestone for anyone living in Sofia. I think I reached it when I was around 7.

Beans

First hiking achievement post in 3 weeks. I reached Cherni Vrah and had beans there. The beans were nice.

I took a longer path to the top, which was obscured by endless blueberries 🫐 and occasional raspberries.

I’m surprised nobody ate them before me.

And this is Sofia. Or at least Sofia is visible.