It is early autumn again and time anew for our favourite Manastirishte - one of those places, where we love to hike any time of the year, but early autumn makes it shine with its best attire.
Although the cold nip in the air, especially at night and early morning is already a constant, some September days are still summer hot and last Friday was one of these - sunny and hot, with a pleasant light breeze.
Peak Marchin Kamak (1241 m) - husband suggested a climb and here we are, taking a short detour from the trail to climb the small elevation.
A young doe, probably resting in the tall fern, jumped almost a couple of meters from us and ran away.
On Marchin Kamak
Hike info:Date: 18 September 2026
Destination: peak Manastirishte (1338 m)
Mountain: Plana
Total length: 10.5 km
Elevation gain: 160 m
Total duration (plus picnic): 4 and a half hours
Average difficulty: 2 / 10
The place was absolutely bare - with another national holiday on Tuesday and the still summer temperatures, I suspect many people are still enjoying long weekends on the seaside in Greece and not roaming the local mountains.
Ripe pears - they were sweet and juicy, but very astringent and almost impossible to swallow
Peak Manastirishte - this time we took the direct steep trail to the top
Vitosha on the left
Me-made items, worn on this hike:
Husband: boxers, Burda Cargo pants, Burda blouse
I: lingerie, Burda Jeans, Burda raglan blouse
We had our beers and tortillas at the picnic table on the peak - a lunch with a view and atmosphere
We saw a number of mantises - it must be their season
After lunch we decided to explore a round trail we hadn't tried before, which goes all the way around the hill of the peak. The trail down we took was a bit too steep for my taste, next time we'll definitely make it different, but the round trail turned out to be totally worth it.
It passed mostly through forests and it the heat of the noon it was exactly the place we were disposed to appreciate most
And back on the main trail after a full circle around the peak. The detour added some 3 km to the hike and finally managed to make it a genuine hike, and not just a walk in the park, as it often feels. We are definitely adding this track to our staples.
