Pasarel - Lanina Mogila 2022

On the last of the Indian summer days this year, Gaby, husband and I hiked in the Lozen mountains, from the Pasarel reservoir to peak Lanina Mogila and back. To our surprise, autumn was much advanced here, on the southern slopes of the mountain and most of the trees had lost their leaves, the grass was grayish yellow and the autumnal magic was mostly gone.

Still, the day was warm and sunny through clouds and we had a nice hike and chat with our grown daughter.

Hike info:

Destination: peak Lanina Mogila (1188 m)

Mountain: Lozen

Total length: 12 km

Elevation gain: 490 m

Total duration (plus picnic): about 4 hours

Average difficulty: 4.5 / 10

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

Husband: men's boxers, Knip Mode cargo pants

I: lingerie, Grey "Page" Hoodie, raglan Burda blouse

Pasarel - Lanina Mogila 2021

 On the last of the Indian summer days this year we decided to hike in the Lozen mountain, to one of the interesting panoramic peaks there that we love visiting - Lanina mogila. The mountain is low, but the elevation gain is quite substantial, especially in the final part of the track, where we faced the southern slopes of the peak and went directly uphill without a path or trail, gliganing style.

The day was warm and sunny with clouds before noon and quite overcast in the afternoon, with almost no wind - extremely pleasant and fresh for a walk in the fileds of Lozen mountain.

:Pasarel reservoir

Hike info:

Destination: peak Lanina Mogila (1188 m)

Mountain: Lozen

Total length: 12.6 km

Elevation gain: 490 m

Total duration (plus picnic): about 4 hours

Average difficulty: 4.5 / 10

:Lanina mogila in the distance

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: men's boxers, Knip Mode cargo pants

I:  lingerie, socks, Teal Boatneck tee, in the backpack brown cc copycat beanie, fingerless mitts

:Uphill climbing

:On the top, with a view to the big Iskar reservoir in the far distance

:The forests were gorgeous, right in the middle of the autumn color bonanza

:Lanina mogila from the southwest

:The water mirror of Pasarel reservoir

Gorni Lozen - Pasarel 2021

Mud, Sweat and Tears Beer

After two weeks of cold weather and abundant snowfall, yesterday was very sunny and warm, finally a spring day. All in all, March was quite an unusual month, it seemed like the weather reversed and from mid-spring we slowly returned to winter again. So yesterday's hike was a typical winter hike, with the bizarre sensation, that we roamed the same mountain a month earlier, with spring flowers and no snow! Only in February we crossed it from west to the east and yesterday we traversed from north to south.

:We started from the village of Gorni Lozen. A view to the Sofia plateau and the village. Did you know that once, millions of years back in time, this was the bottom of a lake!

:The first half of the trail was still covered with snow and ice and was quite slippery. After an hour of climbing along the frozen snow and mud our legs burnt from the effort to keep balance like after an aerobics exercise!

:We decided to take a detour and climb peak Lanina mogila, following into the steps of a couple of hikers before us

:As we got higher, we could see the large Iskar reservoir and Rila in the far distance. 

:The narrow track to the peak. No wonder we met almost no one on the trail. It was difficult, but quite satisfying!

:We had our picnic at the top (first beer this hiking season:), with this gorgeous view, spreading over almost a hundred km of distance.

:We had planned to go down the peak along an alternative route, but the track was covered by a thick layer of snow and no one had traversed it before us, so we went down along the same trail as we went up.

:The southern part of the trail from Lanina mogila to Pasarel was actually the more difficult one, as the snow was intensely melting and the tracks had turned into muddy creeks, 

while the legit creek, which we had to cross six times without a bridge!, was a full watered river. At the end we were muddy and completely wet up to our knees! At least we'll have stories to tell to our grand children one day :)

:And Pasarel reservoir at the end of our trail. After all that snow the water reservoirs this summer should be full!

Hike info:

Destination: Dolni Lozen - Pasarel

Mountain: Lozen

Total length: 12 km

Elevation gain: 470 m

Total duration (plus rest): 4 h

Average difficulty: 6 / 10 

 

 

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

Husband: boxers, raglan sweater, orange hat in the backpack

I: Plantain T-shirt, lingerie, socks, brown C.C. copycat hat in the backpack

 

Pasarel Reservoir and Lanina Mogila

This Sunday we decided to try a new to us trail in the Lozen mountain - from Pasarel reservoir, by the summerhouse area of Pasarel up the meadows and hills of Lozen to Lanina Mogila peak. We've climbed Lanina Mogila (1188 m) twice from the north, starting from the village of Lozen and I was curious to visit the southern parts of the mountain and approach the peak from the south, as we did yesterday.

:A curious statue in the summerhouse area

:Pasarel reservoir on the river Iskar, one of the water sources of Sofia

:The southern slopes of Lozen are soft and sunny, we loved this part of the mountain

Hike info:

Destination: peak Lanina Mogila (1188 m)

Mountain: Lozen

Total length: 11 km

Elevation gain: 490 m

Total duration (plus picnic): 4 hours

Average difficulty: 4 / 10

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: men's boxers, hat

I:  lingerie, socks, Plantain tee, brown cc copycat beanie, fingerless mitts

:Peak Lanina Mogila. From here on we turned on from hiking to "gliganing" (the wild boar method) - as there is no trail on the southern slopes of the peak, we climbed it free style, through the grasses, shrubs and rocks, up and up to the top.

:Finally, panting but immensely satisfied, on the top of the peak

:A picnic with a view 

:And back along a partially alternative trail to Pasarel Reservoir