City of Sopot and Hija Dobrila

This weekend was the Birthday of Vasil Levski – a famous revolutionary in Bulgaria. One of the annual trips with the Trapezitsa 1902 association’s hiking group is to Hija (Hut) Dobrila, in the mountains above Sopot, next door to Karlovo (the city where Vasil Levski was born).

Last year, it was an overcast, rain day when we started our hike

This year, we had snow..so much snow! And the snow did not stop.

When our minibus couldn’t quite make it up one of the hills, heading towards the lift we would need take to get half-way to the top of the mountain, we turned back to find an alternate, less steep road..but not before trying every possible way to get that bus up the hill - everyone out of the bus; everyone in the bus (to weigh it down); half us out (to push), and half in.

Cars start coming down the hill that we're trying to drive up..we weren’t sure if the lift would be working, with this snow (and a light wind) coming down. Cars are passing by, but no one from our group is asking if the lift is working. The girl’s and I are in the back of the bus, and they’re talking about the guys from our group standing around outside, saying ‘Oh, they’re all too shy, why don’t they stop someone..that’s the problem with men’, and they catch me laughing. I explained to them it’s the same in the USA..  Guys would rather drive in circles than ask someone for directions..

We finally made it to the lift. Last year we were lucky enough that we had enough people join our group at the lift that we could get both lifts working, to get to the top of the mountain.  This year, either we were 1-2 people shy of the 20 needed, or it was the wind..I think it was because of the wind that they wouldn't open the second lift..because as we started hiking up the mountain after the lift, the wind was blowing pretty forcefully, and lots of snow still coming down, spraying back in our faces.



  During the drive, Katia keeps talking about a Rat-trap, or rak-trak that you could ride up to the hija..I couldn’t really understand this Bulgarian word. I thought it was maybe a lift for skiers that you hold onto with your hands, and it drags you to the top..yeah, No..a RAK-TRAK is this - see the pic

We saw the rak-trak, and we passed the rak-trak when it could go no further because of the deep snow. Luckily there were 2 snowshoers that had taken the lift up with us; since there were no tracks to follow..and together, we made a path..oftentimes walking in snow up to my hips. But, really, I don’t think you can imagine how beautiful it was (yes, it was windy and snowy, but not so cold, because of all the energy required to hike through the deep snow)..the tall snow-encapsuled (is that a word?) trees everywhere, with icicles hanging off of some of them.

I guess they got the rak-trak going again, because we all had to swim off in the snow to the side, so it could pass again..but, it actually made it harder to walk..it seemed to churn the light fresh snow, instead of packing it down. I found this out quickly as I took my first 2 steps and couldn’t get my legs out of the snow..I tried to drag one leg to the other track that was a little firmer, but it was about 2 feet away – but all I managed to do was fall and roll in the deep snow..Thanks to Albena I was able to get my footing back..It was all soooo much fun! I could write so much more..I wrote more on the pictures you can see by clicking HERE.

We almost passed the hija – it was covered up to the roof in snow – See the pic

Ok..maybe that’s not the pic of the entire hut ;)  Here is the whole hija..

My all-time favorite hikes used to be – in first place (always) Mt. Botev..the adventure was amazing; Second place was tied between Mt. Paskal, and the hike to Hija Dobrila. After this fun-filled adventure, I’d have to say Dobrila holds a solid 2nd place!

This was me at the beginning, middle, and end of the first day hike:

Compare these two pictures, and you can really see the difference from last year:

This was February 2011

And this is February 2012

Hija Pleven - Hike

It has been a flurry of weeks, months even..and as I’m sure life here in Bulgaria is not about to slow down, I need to make the time to update some of my activities over the past few months..but, going back

– starting from Christmas and New Year’s in Istanbul. I wrote a lot of my stories about Istanbul for the holidays on the pics..and some of the pics are from Patricia (the volunteer that I travelled with..she’s much more of a picture taker than I am), so click here – or go to the ‘Tricia’s newest pics’ link at the bottom of this page.

And below are just a few of my pics from this weekend – full of ups and downs. I went with my regular favorite hiking group to Hija Pleven..last year when I did this hike, I had broken off with a smaller subset to hike Botev (the tallest mountain in Stara Planina) before heading to the hija. This year there was no chance of that, since I've been fighting off a cold..but knowing that all that fresh snow was waiting in the mountains..I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. So, here are the hi’s and low’s of the weekend:

• There was snow – lot os snow..up to my hips at some points

• It snowed the entire hike..but it wasn’t cold or windy

• The street to our starting point for the hike had so much snow that the bus couldn’t get through, and our hike started sooner than anticipated
• Along the way we passed to stranded vehicles..left in the middle of the road

• Our feet got wet when we had to cross a couple creeks
• There were covered cars in a parking lot..they had been there for 2 days stranded..that’s the first time we heard that there was no electricity in the hija

• We arrived at the hija, to find it confirmed..no electricity (glad I remembered my flashlight, even though I forgot the headlamp)..we had candle light dinners, no lights, no heat, no hot water..it was a very cold night’s sleep

• Everyone was fighting for a place to dry their clothes in front of a little fireplace, and 100+ people coming in from the snow..so instead of waiting, Stella and I played a couple games of Backgammon (Bulgarian style – did you know that Backgammon originated in Turkey – or that’s what I was told..it was pretty interesting background when I googled it.

• Reneta had the great idea (sarcasm) of sledding in pampers..yes, she brought pampers..there are probably a few pics floating around on Facebook..but I only got one of Stella..we tried..it didn’t work..but I did have fun playing in the snow!