Vitosha Mountain is so close to Sofia city and visible from almost everywhere in town. The affinity made me feel as if it was some kind of backyard hill for an easy hike. We didn’t do any research on how or where to hike, and headed out there on a weekend day, after a long stretch of raining days, with the only information from a colleague that the public transportation could take us to a location called “Golden Bridges”, that’s where we could start our hike.
The bus going up to Golden Bridges had ascended quite a bit, and we were impressed that a bus would even go up that high via the winding road and through the thick fog. It would be like there were a bus going up to Newfound Gap in the Smoky Mountain National Park. When we got there, we found the bridge to be small and just part of the road, but there were big boulders piling up along the water way, and the water was flowing beneath the boulders. The way the boulders laid and the huge amount of boulders would only be made possible by the nature. Lots of leaves had turned yellow all around.
Then we found that there were multiple trails from Golden Bridges. We asked a couple where they would go, and we went along the same route as they did initially, but that would lead to a downhill trail back to Sofia, so they recommended us to take another trail to reach the summit since it was our first time there.
Once we decided to take the route to the summit, we marched on. On the way up, we passed another parking lot for cars, although the bus wouldn’t go up there. The people who could drive up there would save some time in the climbing. We didn’t know how long the hike would be (we wish that the trail markings could show the distance of each trail), but we had an app of hiking trails and found the peak (Cherni Vrah) on it, so we wouldn’t go off from the trail too much.
When we got out of the trail in the woody area, suddenly a flat plateau opened up, and we saw the mountains with snow on top! We never knew that we would climb some snow mountains on a hike intending to see the fall foliage. We walked and walked, and the surroundings changed from big trees to shrubs, and we literally went from autumn to winter.
There were some yellow-painted metal posts along the trail, and we tried to follow them. However, after days of precipitation, while the snow was melting, the posted trail was muddy and wet. We had to walk around the posted trail that was a bit more walkable.
We could see the snowy peak from a long distance away, but it was such a long hike that seemed never ending. Even when we got to the very bottom of the last segment of the hike, the distance looked to be no more than half an hour if in some good weather, but the snow made it much harder to hike up (we just wore our regular sneakers). We thought of going back, but with the peak so close in sight, it was hard not to persist. There were mountain-bikers there, too.
On our way to the summit, all we could see was a building on top and the side was steep, and we thought that the peak wouldn’t be too wide, but unexpectedly the top was quite flat with a very wide area. There were several buildings and some measurement sties at some distance away. Later we got to know that Vitosha Mountain was an inactive volcano, no wonder its top was relatively flat.
At Peak Musala, the only buildings on top were for scientific measurements, and at the top of Vitosha Mountain, we assumed the buildings to have similar purposes. However, we saw some people coming out of a building, and there were even kids, so we went inside, too. It was such a pleasant discovery that there was warm food inside! Everything they offered was simple, but they were in traditionally Bulgarian flavors and tasty, and having some warm food at the top of a snowy mountain couldn’t be any more heavenly.
After we finished the meal, we walked the same way back down. There were still people at the restaurant, and we were wondering how they would manage their descent. It’s only after we got home and did some research to know that there was another road on the other side of the mountain that led to the peak and the parking lot at the end of that road was much closer to the peak than the road we took. Also, there is a ski lift along that road, and the lift stops at an even higher place than that parking lot, for people to ski down. The lift is running all year round (but only on weekends before the ski season) for people to get to the peak, and it would have been a much easier walk up there. Well, we didn’t know this lift at that time (in hindsight, others did tell me about the lift, but somehow it didn’t register with me and I forgot about it), and we chose the harder route but it made it more memorable.
Near evening time, we saw two deer with long and curly antlers on the grassy hill in the dusk. It was a bit rare to see wild animals on most of the hiking trails we’ve been on, and we were excited to spot those two. The deer didn’t stay in sight for long, though, perhaps they had also sensed our presence and walked away quickly. We liked the wild vibe in the Vitosha Mountain. In comparison, in many national parks in the U.S., there are many wild animals, although wild, they are used to visitors and they are easy to spot. For example, in the Smoky Mountain National Park, there are so many elks, especially in winter time near the Oconaluftee Visiting Center with a large open field, that’s where the elks love to congregate. Also, there is a very good chance for people to see a bear, and sometimes a bear family, in the Cades Cove area. In the Shenandoah National Park, there are so many deer in the Big Meadows area, and they often ignore people but are perhaps responsive only to car noises.
We could still use our phones most of the time, and we searched the bus schedule to figure out that we wouldn’t be able to catch the last bus getting down, but we knew that there was a small hotel near the Golden Bridges and we could call a taxi to go home from there. The way down was equally long, and we were glad to get to the segment of the relatively regular trail by sunset. We could continue our hike using our phones as flashlights, without worrying about the snow or mud any more. When we got back to the Golden Bridges, the small hotel was the only place with lights on.
We didn’t want to stay the night there, but the owner still waved us inside to keep warm. He didn’t speak English, and I had to use Google Translate to order some tea, but when he figured that we came from America, he took out a guitar and sang an American song. It was such a lovely encounter.
Well, calling a taxi from there was not that easy, as the phone signal was weak, and the hotel didn’t have wifi, either. I got two phones (one using a local SIM card and one on Google Fi). The one with the local SIM card was from a single provider that happened not to have a signal there, while Google Fi could use multiple providers and it got some signal, although we didn’t know which provider it used. We added some tips while calling the taxi on the Taxime app, and a driver responded. Then we could finally relax. It was a long day, as we didn’t even know which trail to take nor expect what would be on the trail, and we didn’t bring much food, either, but the restaurant on the mountain top, the hotel at the Golden Bridges, and the taxi that would come, all made the trip so much more pleasant. Of course, the view on the trail was amazing by itself.
We would never treat Vitosha Mountain as a backyard hill from now on for sure, at least if/when we are not taking the lift from the other road.
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