Winter this year has been a bit of a mixed bag. We’ve swung between brutal, snowy cold and milder days when the city slush finally begins to melt. Last weekend was all cold and wet and we stayed hunkered down by the radiator, enjoying the warmth of the central heating and our other hobbies.
This week there's some warming up, it's peak was yesterday and a new significant drop in temperatures is expected in the coming days. So today was somewhere in-between - mostly cloudy and not very warm, but with almost no wind and still positive temperatures.
For our weekly hike we chose a place near to home - Kokalyane, a perfect choice for our modest city car. Since the trailhead sits right off the main road between Sofia and Samokov, we didn't have to worry about navigating treacherous, snowy mountain passes.
Me-made items, worn on this hike:
As the elevation increased, the dry leaves and earth on the trail gave way to a messy cocktail of mud, snow and ice, which turned the climbing into a real workout and made us definitely earn our lunch :)
Up on the ridge, the world was covered in a blanket of melting snow. We headed straight for a spot we discovered last year: a brick wall at the edge of a meadow.
The ground was wet, but the mossy wall was dry and comfortable enough and we had a very nice time with our tortillas and warm herbal tea, enjoying the shy sun, which occasionally peeked through the clouds.
For the descent we decided to take a steep track down to the monastery, decreasing abruptly the elevation and with it - the presence of melting snow and ice. It was an adventurous gamble, because of the many fallen trees on the partially overgrown track, but an excellent choice, as it turned out in the end!
A glimpse towards Lozen and the excavations on Urvich on the hill across the river Iskar.
All in all, a deeply satisfying winter trek. Kokalyane remains one of my favorite escapes for these 'indifferent' winter days when you just need to breathe some mountain air.
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