Pancharevo 2018

On the shortest day of the year, among the Christmas shopping and lots of before the holidays work we've been piled under, as always at this time of the year, we went for a short 8-9 km hike around Pancharevo lake. The day was sunny and fairly warm, with above 0C temperatures (which made the icy paths rather tricky to walk on). I hope next year we'll finally be able to plan our work better and go to a "real" mountain, these low mountains near Sofia are convenient to reach and easy to climb, but they kind of lack the atmosphere of being into the wild. Still, when it comes to hiking, I'm ready to grab whatever I can get, even a short hike near an urbanized zone at the skirts of Sofia.

:Pancharevo lake under the winter sun

: The path climbs along the hills of Lozen mountain, following the curves of the lake

: The peaks of Vitosha are visible across the lake

: The lake and the village of Pancharevo

: Lots of water birds were resting on the thin ice or swimming in the cold waters

: A common kingfisher - I know the picture is out of focus, as it stayed on the branch for a second and flew away, but this is the first time I've seen it in the wild

: A grey heron in the distance

: Last glimpse of winter sunlight