Chasing the sun - mountain golden hour

Черни връх (the Black Peak) - 2290m, is the highest peak in Vitosha Mountain. Vitosha is probably the most visited mountain in Bulgaria, because it is so close to Sofia(the capital of Bulgaria) and it’s great place to escape from the city. In Vitosha was my first ever mountain experience - a trek to Черни връх years ago and I wasn’t even quite impressed. It took me some time to start enjoying being in the mountains but since than I’ve probably been to this peak at least 50 times or even 100.. The trail has a beautiful panoramic view of Sofia and it looks quite different throughout the year and to observe how the scenary changes with the seasons is beautiful. It’s great for ski-touring, hiking, and even mountain running or cycling because there are two ways(from the most popular start point - Aleko Hut), one is pretty steep and short, but the other is a long and wide pathway. The steep trail starts from around 1800m asl and you can go to the peak and come back for less than 2 hours.
I used to go there quite often to watch the sunrise or the sunset. I think I can do that every day without getting sick of it - it’s always different and always amazing, but for now my best is three sunset hikes to this peak in a row.
Watching the beautiful colorful clouds and the sun while trekking makes the experience move exciting. These shots are from last spring(29th may) it was not the most glorious time of Vitosha, because it was a still a little colorless, the snow had melted soon, and it was not so green yet. It’s most beautiful in the winter, but anyway my focus today is the sunset.

That time I chose the long trail, because I was there early and had plenty of time till the sunset. I used to see this running guy often, he was fast, sadly probably fast enough to come back without seeing the sunset.A lot of people go to the peak before or after work. It’s an amazing way to start or end up your day!