Cherni Vruh 2015

This Saturday we were supposed to be hiking in Rila, but this hike to the Black rock on Borovetz seems to be jinxed. We postponed it two months ago because of rains and storms, then Gaby was not available, but insisted on coming and this time - the car is out of order ... again (these French cars!). So we had to content ourselves with a starting point for an outing nearest to home - the gondola lift station on Vitosha, which is only 10 min from home by car. We've hiked this route so many times that to some extent it was like a walk in the nearest park :)))

Starting from Aleko hut along "The Wall".

This time we managed to persuade the grumpy teenager to join us:

Above the Wall - the Plateau

The day was very hot, but above the 2000 m mark there was a very strong breeze, which bothered the children - both of them had to put on their hoodies to keep their ears from the wind. Cherni Vruh is the second most windy peak in Bulgaria. So now I have a knitting order - two cotton hats in some non-lace pattern (I'm thinking of cotton Graham's).

On Cherni Vruh - Vitosha's highest peak (2290 м)

After a picnic on the rocks I left the trio to have a short nap and went for a stroll along the peak's flat surface (I'm the kind of person that hates afternoon naps).

A view to the west

Alpine rose

A view to the south - I wish to hike to the village of Chuypetlovo one day, 

but I did not notice any marking in this direction

And back to the gondola lift along the round-about path to make the route circular. In the distance - the Rocky Ridge and the Chimneys, where we hiked two weeks ago:

This para-glider lost momentum and landed near to us right in the middle of the plateau:

Globeflower (Trollius europaeus, Витошко лале) - a protected species