Hi there Hive Family,
In the last 2 weeks we were surprised with a lot of snow and really cold weather conditions reaching -20 degrees along with high speed wind. The wind makes it feel like -30 degrees. Really freezing temperatures. It was not suitable for alpine hiking and cliff climbing so we decided to do a very rarely walked route from a village called Bosnek to the highest peak in Vitosha mountain - Black Peak.
We were prepared with snowshoes and a lot of thermal clothing to protect ourselves against the cold. In the beginning, we were very fortunate to hike the first 8 km. relatively easy because high terrain vechicles had already made trail. It was comfortable.
We were advancing pretty fast. That were very good news because the route is very long and we really wanted to catch the sunset near the peak.
Out initial plan and drawn route was a little different than what the circumstances welcomed us. So we had to re-route and follow the amazing trail instead of going for the wild and losing precious time that we could spend on the peak itself.
Sooner or later all things come to an end.. sadly, in our case, the trail came to an end. The last picture showed that the trucks and ATV just had some fun in the plains and that was it. We were now completely on our own. Thank you for the pleasant 8 km. though.
The fun part has begun. Manual trail creation. This is a very taxing and exhausting activity. Let alone the hike and the denivelation... We had to do it, otherwise we cannot just teleport ourselves to the peak.
After hefty and slowly digging through the snow, we finaly began our ascend, fortunately in the upper regions, the surface is harder and frozen so we could increase our pace.
Another bonus of our higher altitude is that the wind began to increase its velocity and now we were even more overwhelmed the cold. There was no turning back. We had to endure.
The most interesting and beautiful part of our hike has just begun. It always happens when we are most tired. After prolonged hours of constant moving and overcoming obsticles.
The highest part were full of clouds and mist. But occasinally the sun could rip itself out and create stunning views. We felt the upper Earth and its influence on us. That was rather emotional and spiritual. We forgot quickly about the cold and the wind.
We were prepared with a standalone GPS and 2 smartwatch GPSes along with our phones. The region was very hard to navigate and we could get lost at any point. We can't afford to lose any more time because the sunset is coming.
It is 30 minutes before the sunset and I can officially say: We made it! The Lodge in the distance is actually the Shelter Black Peak. We made it, and yet just in time for the spectacular panoramic views. Because of the freezing cold, we were about to experience the most amazing views that we had ever witnessed.
We gathered the last of our virtually exhaused strength to reach the shelter, where we prepared ourselves for the sunset.
Here are some epic pictures of the cloudy and foggy sunset. But this is not the end! I have even more impressive stuff to show. I thought that the sunset would be the culmination, the best pictures, the cherry on top. But actually, the Moon was the one which really took our breath away.
Can you imagine a bloody red vast Moon just appearing out of nowhere and shining so powerful, it could well compete with the Sun? Well we witnessed interplanetary views that could never be explained with single words. One word that could begly try is - Grandiose.
And also the surrouding forest was simply surreal. So much frozen snow, the nature paitings far exceeding any famous painter depictions. The nature just can't be copied. It can be obseved and that is it. And that is what we did. We were enveloped by the beauty and mesmerized by the virginity and its spontenuerty. It paints pictures that noone could replicate.
This was just epic!
Thank you for checking out my blog :)
Stay happy, be peaceful!
Namaste
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