Polovrak 2023

We are continuing  with our exploration of Lozen mountain. After Pancharevo, Bachun and Lanina Mogila, this Sunday we drove to the village of Dolni Lozen and climbed Polovrak. The peak is one of those we climb at least once or twice a year, but this time we decided to make the hike around it with a twist.

The forecast for Sunday was sunny with some clouds, but somewhere around 11 AM, when we started up the trail, the clouds were densely covering the sky and the temperatures were definitely low, though above zero.

A view to Sofia valley from Lozenski Monastery:

Hike info:

Destination: peak Polovrak (1182 m)

Mountain: Lozen

Total length: 10 km

Elevation gain: 420 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 3 h

Average difficulty: 3 / 10

The northern slopes of the mountain above the monastery were covered with a thin layer of snow - the rain that fell in Sofia during the week must have been in the form of snow in the mountain.

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

Husband: men's boxers, Knip Mode cargo pants, orange hat

I:  socks, lingerie, Raglan Burda Top, "Page" hoodie, CC copycat hat, Borika gloves, scarf in backpack

On the peak

We climbed the 420 m elevation gain at a very brisk pace and I arrived at the top bundled up in all of my layers of clothing and totally wet from sweat - a mistake I often make and I should remember to avoid!

Unlike last week, when we leisurely basked in the warm January sun, we had our picnic at the top a bit in a hurry. As we were quickly losing heat and freezing in our sweat-soaked clothes, we speedily had our snacks and went downhill the opposite, southern side of the peak.

The twist of the hike - on the way back we chose a new to us path, away from the popular and quite frequented marked trail. It was very nice, adventurous and definitely worth the hike.

Even the promised sun appeared somewhere around 14 o'clock.

I definitely liked that path, probably even better than our usual route to Polovrak. It's a good thing Lozen mountain is so well trodden and there are multiple paths through it, all one needs is navigation and a good map. How did we ever live without OruxMaps :)