Polovrak on a Cloudy Day

Luckily, it happens rarely, but sometimes the forecasters get the weather completely wrong. I usually start monitoring the forecasts for the week come Monday and by Wednesday we have already fixed the best day for the hike we have planned. The forecasts for Friday in the Lozen mountain were for cold, but fairly sunny day and since Friday is the hiking day most convenient and preferred by us, it was decided for Friday on Polovrak.

The day started very cold and cloudy in Sofia, but we hoped it would be different on Lozen. There was actually some sun when we passed near Pancharevo, but as we approached Lozen, the cloud cover got only thicker.

So, we put our internal gears on max speed and climbed towards the top along the well-known trail at max possible speed without any stops. 

The closer we got, the thicker the cloud cover became and the lesser the visibility.

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxers, Burda cargo pants, Burda longsleeve, orange hat

I: lingerie, hat, gloves, snood, leg warmers, refashioned hoodie

The view from the top - fog and clouds everywhere

We decided to have our picnic on the small hill within the Polovrak memorial site - despite the cold and the mist, the place was sheltered, the wind was mild and we actually had a very enjoyable picnic with delicious hot herbal tea and our ubiquitous tortillas.

Hike info:

Date: 12 December 2025

Destination: peak Polovrak (1182 m)

Mountain: Lozen

Total length: 9.5 km

Elevation gain: 420 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 2 h 45 min

Average difficulty: 3 / 10

On the way back we stopped for a minute at the Lozen monastery. The view from the monastery wall - somewhere over the Sofia valley in the distance the sun did shine bright, but not for us :)

And back to the car along an alternative trail, making the hike almost completely circular.

The thick mist moved along and Sofia and the valley were somewhat visible again.

We kept the high pace on the way down and finished the hike in less than three hours - nice and refreshing, despite the mist and the absent sun.