The weather during the first week of February has been unusually sunny, however very cold. In all frankness, probably normal cold for February, but lately we've gradually come to expect winters to be much warmer and temperatures below and just a degree or so above zero nowadays seem to me too cold, though it is mid-winter.
For today's hike we chose a trail we've hiked only once before, from the village of Kokalyane to Kokalyane Monastery and up to the ridge of the mountain. The trail is fairly short, but steep and a good exercise. The beginning of the trail was covered with frozen snow and we had some worries that the climb could be problematic, but luckily, the trail itself was completely free of snow and ice and quite easy to hike.
Hike info:Destination: Kokalyane Monastery (1060 m) round trail
Mountain: Plana
Total length: 8 km
Elevation gain: 430 m
Total duration (plus picnic): 3 h
Average difficulty: 4 / 10
Only half an hour quick paced hiking brought us in front of the doors of Kokalyane Monastery. From what I understood, the grounds of the monastery are closed for the public and only the church was open.
We had a quick glimpse and continued up along a steep side track. Next
time we plan to explore the wider track behind the monastery, which, a
bit longer, according to the map leads to the same place on the ridge of
the mountain.
Lozen and the skirts of Rila on the horizon.
We had our picnic on a sunny meadow and home-made olives bread with cream cheese and ham has never tasted so delicious!
Me-made items, worn on this hike:
Husband: boxers, orange hat, Burda longsleeve, Burda Cargo pants
I: lingerie, Burda blouse, hat, gloves, scarf
The return trail was barely noticeable through the oak forest, more like a spring water gutter than a path, with lots of fallen trees and not a single person in sight. We should try this trail sometime in spring or summer, as I'm sure it looks much prettier in its green outfit :)
