Pchelina 2025

As has been our tradition for some years now, after Rudina mountain, we climbed in the car and drove to the village of Potzurnentzi, at the outskirts of which are situated the beautiful grounds of Pchelina dam.

The drive from Sofia to the village of Sirishtnik is fairly long, the hike on Rudina mountain short, so it really makes more sense to combine both of these places in one day, with the distance between the two taking less than half an hour by car.

As it was Saturday and a sunny and warm May day, the place was unfortunately packed with people, including some, who had the audacity to drive along the dirt tracks right up to the foot of the chapel. I really don't know what the solution to nature preservation is - over-regulation is a bad idea and not all pieces of nature can be turned into national parks, so most of the times it is up to the consciousness of the people themselves and their desire to care and protect the beauty around us, not only to exploit and consume it. 90% of the people actually understand that, but those 10% ...

We walked up to the high rocks above the dam and then gradually down towards the lake, where we found a quiet spot, drank our cold beers and enjoyed the views and the birds.

Hike info:

Date: 03 May 2025

Destination: Pchelina

Mountain region: Kraishte

Total length: 8 km

Elevation gain: 160 m

Total duration (plus rests): 3 hours

Average difficulty:  2.5 / 10

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

I: lingerie, Burda blouse, Knipmode flared joggings, (Houndstooth Hoodie in the backpack)

Husband: men's boxers, Burda cargo pants, Burda blouse, (Burda hoodie in the backpack)

After probably an hour at the dam, we decided to do a little reconnoitering and explored the grounds under the high rocks, where we found a perfect place for our picnic next time we come here :)

On our way back we took a detour, away from the dusty road - a bit longer walking, but totally worth it