Dupevitza in the Spring

I love hiking all year round, but spring hikes have a very special vibe - there's always something new pocking from the ground, growing, blossoming, chirping or crawling around. We are still in the early days of spring and the forests are still bare, leafless and grey, but the first spring flowers are braving even in the mid-altitude mountains and the dogwood trees are in bloom.

Today was very sunny, fairly warm and really pleasant for a hike in the nearby Lulin mountain. Although we were here not long ago, on Christmas with Gaby, we decided to climb Dupevitza again, as it is at an easy distance from home and perfect for a half-day hike, with the added bonus of natural mineral water springs, from which we were able to fill a few 10 l containers - I love the taste of Gorna Banya mineral water.

We climbed the peak in less than an hour and had our lunch on the new benches there, with a great view to Sofia on one side and Vitosha and Rila on the other side.

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

Husband: men's boxers, socks, color block longsleeve, cargo pants

I: lingerie, socks, hoodie, brown hat on and off

Hike info:

Destination: round trail to peak Dupevitza

Mountain: Lulin

Total length: 10 km

Elevation gain: 320 m

Total duration (plus picnic): 3 hours

Average difficulty: 3 / 10

We debated trying some new tracks, but the best views are along the route we've already hiked many times and in the end we decided to stick to it.

The All Saints chapel

St. Cyril and Methodius Monastery. One day we might try the track to the peak, which starts from the monastery and climbs up through the forest.