Tag: Vitosha

Accidental Hike

~ Veselin ~ 9 Comments

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

~ Veselin ~ 10 Comments

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.

More Blueberries

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

It was peak season for blueberries today. We did a five-hour hike to Cherni Vrah. The sun was strong, and the berries were hot.

For a second time in a row, couldn’t pay respect to Cherni Vrah’s bean soup. This time the queue was too long. Felt easier to skip it, eat later.

Bridge

~ Veselin ~ 2 Comments

The path from Hotel Moreni to Aleko Hut is so good these days that I saw a baby in a stroller on this bridge. Babies are usually carried in special backpacks by their parents. Was too shy to take a photo so here’s the bridge sans people.

You can get there by taking bus 66 to the final stop, then walk 200 meters back. Take the alley to Cherni Vrah. There will be a sign pointing to Aleko about 10 minutes later. The path is very easy.

Split Pace

~ Veselin ~ 2 Comments

The hiking split pace announcement triggered Siri today 🙂

I couldn’t reach the bean soup today. This image with Split Pea is the best I could do. The temperature reached 35°C yesterday. I went to the mountain optimistically dressed in a t-shirt, and shorts, armed with a bottle of water, and no backpack, expecting hot weather. Found strong winds, the starting point temperature was 11°C and the destination was 0°C. Gave it a try but couldn’t make it. Stayed within the 10-12°C part of the mountain for about 10km. It was cold. One of the first things I did after coming back was to go to Decathlon and buy a small backpack, a very light wind-proof jacket, and a wool scarf.

Apple Watch is a marvelous device for beginner hikers but perhaps I need to turn off Siri.

PS. The raspberries today were wonderful and properly cooled.