It was still dark as I left my camping spot, days are getting shorter. From my position in the mountains I could look across at Sofia, maybe 40 kilometres away, a mass of twinkling lights, mainly white but with two noticeable red ones. The sun announced itself by lighting the eastern sky, turning the crossing vapour trails left by jets a pretty pink against a china blue sky.
Much of the day was through woodland on tracks and paths. One section of track had been deliberately dug up, I assume to stop vehicles using it. A WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) sign announced I was in an "Old Forest". The organisation is trying to preserve "primeval beech forest" in the Balkan peninsula and their associated biodiversity. There were also areas of grass, shortened by cows and horses, which allowed me to view the scenery to the north and south of me. To the north clouds covered the valleys while I enjoyed the sunshine.
I needed to find water to replace what I had drunk, but the first of the two places marked on my GPS was completely dry. At the second there were just a few muddy puddles. I struck lucky at the third, a piped spring with a model of a bear's head sticking out from the stonework. A rickety table and benches by the spring gave me a place to enjoy my lunch.
No sign of anyone today, no tarmac roads crossed, the area is remote. The trail has turned to the north west from its usual westerly trend as the mountain range curves up to the Serbian border.
I stopped early today, camping on Bigla mountain, tired and having completed 23.8 kilometres. Tomorrow I should reach Trastena hut.
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