Gigintzi 2024

Our first hike for 2024 comes a bit late in the month. The weather around Christmas and the New Year was very nice and mild for winter, but unfortunately, we caught a flu (or other) virus and first I, then the boys were under the weather. It was nothing dramatic, some temperature, muscle pains and all the other extras of cold weather viruses, that persist to linger long after the virus has been taken care of.

The silver lining of this particular cloud was, that I had two afternoons of lying propped on the sofa and reading the latest Booker winner - Timeshelter by the Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov - an excellent read, which I would heartily recommend to everyone.

As we got more or less back to normal and the weather last Friday was forecast to be the last warm and sunny day in weeks to come, we decided to roam the hills of Cherna Gora mountain. We drove to the village of Gigintzi, left the car on the completely empty parking lot of Giginski monastery and took the path to the summit of the mountain - peak Tumba.

The path was snowless, though muddy at places, perfect for a winter hike. The weather around noon was very sunny and pleasant, though a bit windy.

Hike info:

Destination: peak Tumba (1129 m)

Mountain: Cherna Gora

Total length: 11 km

Elevation gain: 150 m twice (980m - 1129 m - 980m - 1118m - 980m)

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

Average difficulty: 3 / 10

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

Husband: men's boxers, Knipmode Cargo pants, Knipmode blouse, socks, hat, shawl in the backpack

I: lingerie, Sinclair Lotte hoodie, socks, hat, gloves, shawl in the backpack (used at some point)

As it took us less than an hour to climb the peak, we decided to continue down the path west, to the hunter's lodge. This path is so pleasant, open field and with great views to the mountains of Kraishte, that it is completely worth the hour and a half drive to Gigintzi.

The hunter's lodge. It is downhill from from the peak to the lodge, so this hike is a bit of a mixed bag of up and downhill all the way. We decided not to have our picnic around the lodge, but to turn back and have a lunch on one of the meadows we had passed on the way down.

Back uphill. While we were having our picnic, some clouds gathered above us and the temperatures dropped a bit. Late in the evening, the winter was back and now it is cold again and the streets are covered with snow and ice. I am really glad we took advantage of the perfect Friday we had.

Back to the monastery and the car.

We had never visited the place on a work day and it was so unusually empty! The monastery is big and well loved and full of crowds on weekends, but this Friday it was only us there.

We took a turn around the grounds and delighted with our hike drove back to Sofia.

Gigintzi 2023

What a change of landscape was today's hike compared to last week's! We enjoyed a series of warm days lately, that melted the snow in the low mountains and today was probably the warmest of them all, with temperatures up to 16-18C in the early afternoon.

For our weekend hike we chose the village of Gigintzi, the short trail from Giginski monastery to peak Tumba.

Although it is still mid February, spring was definitely in the air and the crocuses at the foot of peak Tumba were in bloom.

It was so warm, that our winter jackets, hats and gloves stayed in the backpacks during the entire hike.

 

Hike info:

Destination: peak Tumba (1129 m)

Mountain: Cherna Gora

Total length: 10 km

Elevation gain:150 m

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

Average difficulty: 3 / 10

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

Husband: men's boxers, Knipmode Cargo pants

I: socks, lingerie, Burda raglan blouse, Sinclair Lotte hoodie

We climbed the peak in no time, so instead of staying there and having our lunch, we decided to test the trail, that starts from the peak and leads to the outskirts of the village of Giginzi.

We walked along it until we reached a hunter's lodge, measured the distance from the peak and approximated the length of the trail - about 5-6 km. So next time we plan to hike on Cherna gora from Gigintzi along this trail.

Today, however, since our car was parked by the Giginski monastery, we had our lunch in the vicinity of the lodge and went back along the same route to the monastery and the car.

The gorgeous sunny day had attracted quite a lot of people to the monastery and the mountain.

Can't wait for winter to be really and surely over and for spring to come. I want green and color already!

Tumba 2022

There is always a question when we travel for a hike to distant places - is the travel worth it? A simple rule of thumb is that the hike should be at least as long as the journey. However, in the case of peak Tumba in Cherna Gora mountain, when we climb it from the side of the Giginski monastery, the modest 6 km hike barely takes 2 and a half hours, combined with a visit to the monastery, while the journey to get there and back, especially given the heavy traffic at the exits of Sofia on a sunny weekend, takes at least 3 hours combined. 

Still, the place is so nice, open, sunny and enjoyable, that we frequent it almost every year. Sometimes we try adding some length to the trail by exploring around or trying new approaches to the monastery, and sometimes we just go to the peak, have a nice picnic there, basking in the sun and get straight back to the car for a spell of car singing back home :)

:The crocuses are out. There's definitely a smell of spring in the air

Hike info:

Destination: peak Tumba (1129 m)

Mountain: Cherna Gora

Total length: 6.5 km

Elevation gain:150 m

Total duration (plus picnic): 2 hours and a half

Average difficulty: 2 / 10

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

Husband: men's boxers, Knip Mode cargo pants, (scarf  in the backpack)

I:  lingerie, CC copycat hat, Borika gloves, (scarf in the backpack)

:The nicely kept grounds of Giginsky monastery

Tumba on a Sunny Sunday, 2020

This Sunday the stars aligned perfectly for us - it was the weekend, the weather was sunny and warm and the snow on Tumba was fresh and crisp, what else could we ask for :)

Frightened by the previous days of cold and plentiful snowfall, there were few cars along the roads and no hikers on Tumba. However, half a dozen off roaders had traversed the paths and it was fairly easy to climb the peak.

It was so sunny and warm, that we soon took off our jackets, hats and gloves.

The sun makes everything so much more beautiful!

And here's the peak with a brand new sign on.

A fine thin mist was covering the valleys between the mountains.

Though Tumba is relatively low, it is a very panoramic peak with a view to a dozen mountains around.

The snow is such an interesting media for the traces of the local animals - there were plenty of rabbit and fox tracks.

After the hike we went for a walk around the Giginski Monastery.