Round Trail from Dendrarium 2026

The Vitosha forests in May and early June are so wonderful! We enjoyed our hike to Kopitoto on Monday so much, the weather kept sunny and warm, so we decided to continue our hikes in the region.

For our Friday hike we chose a round trip we had designed two years ago, a sort of a figure eight around Momina skala place. Starting from the Dendrarium area, we climbed to Momina skala meadow, from there on we continued to Kamen del lodge, closed the smaller circle, passing by the abandoned Sredetz lodge back to Momina skala and from there we returned to the Dendrarium through Zlatnite mostove along an alternative trail - very nice, relaxed and easy 10 km hike through the middle altitude of Vitosha.

Hike info:

Date: 29 May 2026

Destination: Kamen del Hut

Mountain: Vitosha

Total length: 10 km

Elevation gain: 370 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 4 hours

Average difficulty: 3.5 / 10

An interesting encounter on the meadow - a deer. The deer seemed not to notice or mind us, though we were probably less than 20 m away. It looked calmly in our direction and then slowly continued its walk through the forest.

The Momina skala meadow - a very popular place on Vitosha. While we were passing through the place, there was a class of school graduates, celebrating their graduation with games and a picnic,  really sweet!

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxers, Burda cargo pants, Burda  hoodie

I: lingerie, Burda color jeans, Burda raglan T-shirt, Burda hoodie

The Kamen del lodge. We decided to postpone our lunch until we were back to Momina skala, so we just passed by the lodge and continued up to Sredetz lodge.

The Boyana river

Back to Momina skala. This time we chose a sunny table with benches and had our super tasty tortillas and homemade muffins here. Husband had a short sunbathe, while I picked a bag of young nettles. We stayed at least an hour here, the weather was so nice and the place very peaceful.

Another wild animal encounter - a common slow worm (slepok), a species of legless lizard, was crossing the trail from Zlatnite mostove down to Dendrarium.

The Dendrarium - a picnic place with a variety of trees, a small lake and picnic benches and gazebos. 

Kopitoto in May 2026

I've been dealing with a health issue for almost a month now and though nothing can stop me from hiking, unless I am bedridden or dead, we try to choose shorter and easier trails to be on the safe side.

For today's hike we chose a favourite circular trail on Vitosha in the mid-altitude zone, that we hike at least twice a year and which is absolutely spectacular in May.

We started from Zlatnite mostove and took the path to Kopitoto peak.

The warm wet weather in May has turned the mountain into a green paradise.

Hike info:

Date: 25 May 2026 

Destination: peak Kopitoto (1345 m)

Mountain: Vitosha

Total length: 8 km

Elevation gain: 140 m

Total duration (plus picnic): 3 hours

Average difficulty: 3 / 10

Kopitoto TV Tower

The views from Kopitoto towards Lulin mountain and Sofia

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

Husband: men's boxers, Burda grey hoodie, cargo pants

I: lingerie, Sinclair Lotte sweater, leg warmers

After Kopitoto we continued to Boyana river and had our lunch on our favourite meadow along this trail - our delicious tortillas - yes, we are still obsessed with them and homemade muffins.

The Boyana river is very full-watered at this time of the year

We passed by Momina skala meadow, where I picked a bag of nettles and some docks leaves, and from there on we closed the circle back to Zlatnite mostove.

Makes for the Boys

A few knit fabric practical sportswear I made for the men in my family. These are patterns that I've used many times and I've tweaked enough to fit the recipients.

First - two joggers for husband and son. The fabric and the pattern are the same, cotton and viscose, very light french terry for the home office in the summer months. The pattern is Jack by Vikisews, which i bought for husband, when he was a size bigger. Being lazy and thrifty in the best way :), I just adjusted the width to fit his new size (-1 cm from all parts, a total of -4 cm). 

I've tried several other men's joggers before, Burga and Shkatulka, but Jack from Vikisews is the best, in my opinion. My husband prefers his joggers with an elastic at the ankles, so I added coordinated grey rib knit.

Pattern: Jack by Vikisews

Size: 44 (L) Height: 178-184 cm

Fabric: cotton viscose French terry

Time to make: 5 days

The second pair is for our son, his has straight legs without the rib knit and is one size smaller - so I removed -2 cm width from every pattern piece, a total of -8 cm. I also had to add some length to the legs, to compensate for the lack of rib hems.

Pattern: Jack by Vikisews

Size: 42 (M) Height: 178-184 cm

Fabric: cotton viscose French terry

Time to make: two weeks

The third make is for my father - a long sleeve blouse. I've made this pattern many times for the boys, this time I chose the biggest Burda size - 54. The fabric is very soft and stretchy cotton with lycra.

Pattern: Burda #132 from 12 / 2020

Size: 54 with with added length

Fabric: cotton knit with lycra

Time to make: 4 days

I made some of my usual mods - I added a small pocket for interest, I also added cuffs to the sleeves and finished the neck, using my favourite method with a contrast knit fabric tape. I hope it fits well.

Baylovo 2026

According to weather forecasts, Thursday was to be the only day of the week without rain or thunderstorms, so we decided to free it and have a nice trip in the Sofia valley. 

We drove to the village of Baylovo and hiked to Spasova mogila, along the country roads and field tracks, enjoying the strong sun and the solitude of the vast crop fields. 

The landscape around Baylovo is really amazing and totally worth the one hour drive, half of which takes us through busy city boulevards and heavy traffic - not a tiny price for the peace and quiet of Elin Pelin's native village.

Hike info:

Date: 14 May 2026 

Destination: St Spas Chapel

Mountain: Spasova Mogila

Total length: 12 km

Elevation gain: 80 m

Total duration (plus rest): 3 and a half hours

Average difficulty: 2 / 10 

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: men's boxers, Burda Cargo pants, Burda longsleeve

I:  lingerie, Burda blouse, legwarmers

The chapel on Spasova mogila

The wild lilacs are already in bloom

On a lazy sunny Thursday midday the fields and tracks were completely empty, but for a lonely tractor very far away in the fields and the birds, singing their small hearts out from the bushes and trees around the land.

We sat on the hill and spent at least an hour, basking in the sun, watching the fields and the mountains in the distance and enjoying our delicious tortillas. 

On the way back we went down Spasova mogila towards Golema Rakovitza and then returned to Baylovo along the country road between the two villages, thus making the hike circular.

Yellowhammer (жълта овесарка) - pity, that my phone can't take a better picture from afar

After returning to the village, we took a short walk along the streets - Elin Pelin's house

The village church, where Dobre Dobrev, called by some the Saint of Baylovo, was buried.

The museum of Elin Pelin

We returned through an alternative route by Ognyanovo Dam, making not only the hike, but the ride to Baylovo circular as well.