Aug-Oct 2019, Hiking in Bulgaria and Greece

Fri, 23 Aug 2019

Flight from Kyiv to Sofia, Windrose airline, arrival 11:20. Small room at EasyHotel for 50 lev, reserved and paid for through booking.com.

A1 mobile, 15 lev for 15GB data valid for 30 days, no SMS or calling minutes. Each time 10 lev added to number, another 5GB data valid for 30 days. Better deal than plans with calling minutes.

Dislike idea of repeating E4 in Bulgaria yet again, though I will do initial stretch to Samokov just to get moving. Maybe do E8, which is now shown on OpenAndroMaps map for Bulgaria. Then maybe northern part of E4 in Greece, which is shown on OpenAndroMaps map for Greece, plus I have John Pone's GPX and trip report. He took 47 days for entire mainland Greece E4 and 18 days just from border of Bulgaria to near Veria, which is not far from Thessaloniki. So after finishing E8 in mid September, bus to Thessaloniki, buy Cosmote SIM (according to www.traveltomtom.net, Cosmote has best network coverage in Greece), bus to Veria, allow 20 days for hiking to border. Then continue east along E6, road walk or hitchhike to Drama, bus to Kavala, hike O4 trail to Thessaloniki, bus to Sofia.

Sat, 24 Aug 2019

Slept poorly, maybe because of barking dogs outside. Took bus 66 to top of ski lift. Spring at Petrus shelter running very slow, like 10 minutes per liter. Patiently collected 2L to supplement remaining 1.5 liter from spring on Vitosha plateau. Then group of young people stopped by for picnic and gave me liter from their supply, so all bottles filled in case problems with springs further south. They also nicely offered cold beer. I declined the offer because it would make me sick in the heat. Camped amid beeches about 1km south of shelter. Feels good to be back camping in forest.

Sun, 25 Aug 2019

Slept well, though shoulders and buttocks sore from unaccustomed work. Spring 1km south of Buka Preslap running about 1 liter per minute. Collected 2 liters there, to add to 2.5 liters in pack, after drinking 1.5 liters with breakfast. Thunder and black clouds in mountains to south. Where I was, just occasional drops of rain in late afternoon. Camped about 4km from Klisura, amid beeches, 1140m altitude, lots of mosquitoes in late afternoon. About .5 liter water remaining in bottles, so drank about 5.5 liters, part of which went out as clear urine.

Mon, 26 Aug 2019

Slept well. Continued soreness in buttocks, plus tightness of right shoulder, which already existed in Ukraine because I strained muscles doing pullups. Bus to Samokov at 10:00. 30 lev for single room at Hotel Grand. Plan to stay several nights.

Tue, 27 Aug 2019

Slept well and body felt much better in morning, though shoulder has long way to go before full recovery. Bad movement habits in right shoulder made it susceptible to injury. Need to heal injury plus develop correct movement habits. Also have soreness in left elbow from pullups, though less painful than right shoulder problem. Should have been much more careful with those pullups in Ukraine.

Carried mix of bread and crackers from Sofia to Klisura, but will carry crackers only henceforth, because lighter weight and longer lasting than bread.

Downloaded E8 GPX track from waymarkedtrails.org. Not sure why I didn't use that site previously. Need computer to split E3 and E4 tracks into smaller segments, since tracks from waymarkedtrails.org for those trails for all Europe, hence very large file size which blows up both Locus mapping app and DroidEdit text editor. For whatever reason, E8 track just for Bulgaria, hence not too large, though it could still be compressed significantly.

Repeating Pimsleur Greek course, odd numbered lessons starting with lesson 3. Language comes back quickly because I learned so thoroughly back in 2007.

Wed, 28 Aug 2019

Shoulder improving slowly. Body feels weak, not at all ready for mountains, though nevertheless plan to start out tomorrow.

Thu, 29 Aug 2019

Shoulder continues improving. Bus from Samokov to Borovets. Left town with 2.7kg crackers and peanuts, 2.5L water. Right buttock sore by end of day, whereas left buttock, both front thighs and both shoulders feel strong. 15 lev for bunk at Ledenoto primitive hut (no cooked food, just some beverages and snacks, no running water, no toilets), 2711m altitude. Young German couple only other people in dormitory.

Big crack in sole of right boot, where it flexes. Smaller crack in left boot. Feeling some abrasion of little right toe, despite trying to keep this toe from spreading out, to avoid another corn like one which caused so much agony in Spain.

Fri, 30 Aug 2019

No snoring by couple. Slept well, despite mild headache that continued into morning. Headache could be from altitude, from chocolate withdrawal, or from eating too many crackers and thus carbs yesterday evening. Headache gone by evening. 15 lev for bunk at Zavrachitsa hut, room to myself. Lentil soup, sausages, bread, milk chocolate for dinner. Talked with hut guardian in Russian.

Sat, 31 Aug 2019

Slept well. Steep descent from Sivri Chal peak, with chains for safety in case of wet weather. Bean soup, beef stew, bread at Belmeken hut. Talked with hut guardian in Russian. Appeared to be crowd of people staying there, so decided to camp outside.

Decided to abandon Greek after 5 days and thus 5 hours study. Pronunciation, script and basic vocabulary all coming back very easily, however studying Greek feels like an unpleasant and pointless chore, with none of the pleasure I get from my daily Russian study. Greek probably not as useful as in 2007: smartphone for GPS mapping, booking.com, and internet searches means less need to ask locals for information; can use Google translate; English levels better everywhere. All I need is a few basic words and phrases, same as with Bulgarian: "Yes. No. Hello. Goodbye. Please. Thank you. Do you speak English? I do not speak Greek/Bulgarian. I am American. Is there a store/water? Where is the hotel?"

Sun, 1 Sep 2019

Big lunch at Hristo Smirnenski hut: shopska salad, soup, pork with rice, bread, strudel for dessert. Camped in forest about 7km further on.

Mon, 2 Sep 2019

Arrived in Velingrad with 2 packages or crackers and maybe 300g peanuts, so carried excess of food. Not sorry, since I wasn't sure of food availability at huts and I don't like hiking on an empty stomach. Seems like I'm gaining weight, however. Could stand to lose 10 pounds and be lean again, like cross-country ski team I saw practicing yesterday and then eating at same hut where I had lunch.

Paid for one night at Guesthouse Casa Divna through booking.com for 37 lev, second night 35 lev cash.

Tue, 3 Sep 2019

Feeling very lazy and sore. Body still not in hiking shape.

Wed, 4 Sep 2019

Body finally feels back to normal. Needed that rest day. Ate breakfast of sardines, bread and 1L water, then carried out of town 200g bread, 1800g crackers, 900g peanuts, 4.5L water. Camped at 1600m, place labeled Lokvata on map, on way to Yundola. Piped spring nearby, shown on bgmountains.org map, running 1L/minute. Should have checked spring when I passed through two days ago, so as to avoid hauling all that water up from Velingrad.

Sewed some more duct tape patches onto backpack and also repaired stitching on previous patches. Need to use more abrasion resistant fabric for back panel when I redesign backpack.

Thu, 5 Sep 2019

Water available at fountain just east of Yundola, along highway. Bought bread, canned mackeral and some peppers at store there. About 8km on busy highway with no shoulder then finally turnoff to quiet road. Loaded up with 4.5L water at public fountain in Abramovo, after drinking maybe 3L earlier in day. Maps show sources ahead, but they might be dry. And indeed, fountain at Zaslon Velitsa almost dry, just dripping. Young people repairing hut nicely offered some of their water, which I declined since I still had 3L and water available at Zlataritsa tomorrow morning. I asked about water situation after Zlataritsa. One of the men, who was familiar with E8, assured me there should be no problem given my 4.5L capacity. Camped in forest about 2km past Zaslon.

Fri, 6 Sep 2019

Water faucet along road, just before Zlataritsa, so no need to go into town. Next guaranteed water about 26km away, at highway between Velingrad and Surnitsa, where there might also be a restaurant. Drank 1.5L with breakfast, 2L at faucet, then loaded up with 3.5L, enough for remainder of today and morning tomorrow. Camped on abandoned forest road about 6km before highway. 2L remaining in bottles.

Sat, 7 Sep 2019

Mountain cranberries (брусника in Russian) for breakfast. Tasty, but acidity hurts my teeth due to receded gums. Filled bottles (4.5L) at fountain along highway marked dry on bgmountains.org map, but which was running strong. If there was a restaurant or store at this highway hamlet, no signs on buildings. Hamlet didn't look inviting, so continued without inquiring. At lake Yazovir Golyam Beglik, some fountains shown on bgmountains map do not exist, however working faucet about 200m before dam, lake side of road. Camped in field about 500m past dam.

Sun, 8 Sep 2019

Tired in morning, so skipped usual calisthenics/yoga. Feeling disgusted with hiking due to combination of excessively long days, bad food (those crackers), and blister on right small toe, same toe that gave me so many problems in Spain. Test of whether something is enjoyable or not is whether I want to repeat it. Currently, no desire to repeat this section of E8, just as I feel no desire to repeat Bulgarian E3 or E4 (other than first 2 days). Sultan's Trail had shorter distances between towns, so worth repeating. If E4 in Greece also has short distances between towns, then split autumn between Sultan's Trail in Bulgaria and E4 in Greece henceforth. As for toe, hopefully just another consequence of badly made boot and foot problems will go away once I get replacement boots. Need to be much more careful about testing boots in the future. Camped 4km from Borino, after switching to Sultan's Trail where it diverges from E8, which goes to Orfey hut.

Mon, 9 Sep 2019

Blister more or less healed during night. 30 lev through booking.com for very nice room at Guesthouse Melisa in Borino. Host doesn't speak English or Russian, but we managed to communicate with Google Translate. Before checking into guesthouse, bought loaf of bread, 2 cans mackerel and some fruit at first store I passed and gobbled it all down sitting on nearby bench. Mood much better than yesterday after that meal followed by shower and shave at guesthouse.

Tue, 10 Sep 2019

Threw out remaining package of crackers. So much for that experiment. Bread may be heavier and prone to mold, but those disadvantages compensated for by greater value of bread as food. Something nutritionally missing in those crackers. Also, despite not giving energy for hiking, crackers had enough empty fat calories to cause me to gain yet more excess weight.

32 lev at Guesthouse Jani in Trigrad, reserved through booking.com. Right foot feels fine again.

Wed, 11 Sep 2019

Saw small bear, maybe 80kg, just before descent to Mugla. Ran away as soon as it spotted me. 15 lev for bunk in tourist dorm, arranged with woman at store, who speaks some Russian.

Thu, 12 Sep 2019

Followed E8 out of Mugla to 1660m contour, then turned left on road so as to join Sultan's Trail, since I incorrectly thought it was initial stretch of Sultan's Trail (below 1600m) that was overgrown. In fact, it was stretch above 1600m, so same struggling through dense brush as last year. Saved about 2km hiking, but probably didn't save any time. Several km past Perelik hut, at about 1750m, where E8 and Sultan's Trail separate, followed E8 north about one km then camped in forest, about 50m from road but hidden by brush.

Fri, 13 Sep 2019

Followed highway 866 into Smolyan. Bad idea, since busy and no shoulder. Should have followed Sultan's Trail route. 30 lev/night for 2 nights at Guesthouse Sportna 17, same place I stayed last year. Not visible on booking.com because owner was away until just recently, visiting his son's family in Chicago for 3 months. We conversed in Russian.

Sat, 14 Sep 2019

Sun, 15 Sep 2019

Ate big meal in town then left with 3*600g bread, 3*220g cheese, 700g peanuts, or about 3200g food total. Followed dirt road then well maintained foot trail (maybe downhill dirt bike trail) to Nevyastata area, then highway 8641, which has sidewalk separated from traffic, so walking. Store closed at Pamporovo. Loaded up with 3L water and proceeded. Dog annoyingly followed me from near Pamporovo. Finally lost him when he ran ahead and I left road for campsite, few km before Hizha Momchil Yunak.

Mon, 16 Sep 2019

Woke up feeling very tired after being full of energy yesterday. Maybe not eating enough, or maybe illness, because headache later in day. Skipped morning exercises. Passed lots of water fountains today. Camped on trail itself, due to lack of flats spots off trail, just after road 8611. Should have brought another day of food, to allow going slower.

Tue, 17 Sep 2019

Might have heard bear nearby during night, though it didn't growl. Maybe young bear. Mild headache persisted all last night and into morning today. Not so tired as yesterday, but nevertheless skipped most morning exercises. Long ridge walk, so no water sources until mid-afternoon. Drank 2L with breakfast, 1L while hiking, which was sufficient to reach source. Passed another hiker, older Bulgarian man. We conversed briefly in Russian. Hizha Sini Vrah showed signs of occupancy, but no one around. Loaded up with 4.5L water and proceeded. About 1km down road, met hut guardian. Conversed with him in Russian. Camped a few km further on, just off road, amid young beeches. Hiking feels tedious, constantly walking, unable to relax and go slow because not enough food. Reminds me of Appalachian Trail.

Wed, 18 Sep 2019

Felt exhausted in morning again, plus continued mild headache. Very foul smelling shit, same as has been the case for a week now, including back in Smolyan. Did pushups and rowing, but skipped other exercises. Decided to take rest day and fast. Warm temps, over 30°C, and sunny, so not very comfortable resting, even mostly shaded by trees.

Thu, 19 Sep 2019

Light rain during night. Headache gone in morning and feeling much better overall. Urine in morning foul smelling, maybe from poison finally leaving my body. Did morning exercises without difficulty. Temperatures much cooler than yesterday. At hamlet of Zhalt Hamak, load up with water, since fountains further on dry. Could also buy water at stores. Bought some food at store in Panichkovo, which is on rerouted E8. Several restaurants and mini-market along highway 58, few km past Panichkovo. Given all these food sources, no need for more food than what I carried out of Smolyan. E8 waymarking deviates from GPX in several places today. Lost E8 at Yonchovo and ended up following rugged dirt road that runs next to Lyavata river. Loaded up with 4.5L at piped spring beside river, so ready for tomorrow. Rejoined E8 eventually and camped amid beeches at 570m altitude. Made booking.com reservation for tomorrow.

Fri, 20 Sep 2019

Rained much of night, stopped about 9am. Startled some wild boar while hiking, one of them very large. Previously paid 32 lev through booking.com for first night at Family Hotel National in Mineralni Bani. After confirming nice room, paid another 35 lev cash for tomorrow. Very nice town, with beautifully landscaped park near hotel.

At mini-market, added 10 lev to A1 mobile, for 5GB data valid for 30 days. Put chlorine dioxide tablet in each water bottle, as regular maintenance.

Sat, 21 Sep 2019

Sun, 22 Sep 2019

Ate breakfast in town, left carrying 1000g bread, 400g cheese, 650g peanuts, 2L water. Bought another 650g loaf bread and loaded up with 4.5L water in Trakiets (2 stores in center of town, fountain to west side of one of these stores, another store and fountain on east end of town). Camped a few km past Teketo, in oak forest clogged with underbrush.

Mon, 23 Sep 2019

Spotted adult tick crawling on bugbivy in morning, while eating breakfast. Flicked it away, then did quick tick inspection, found nothing. First tick I've ever encountered in late August through October period.

Used bugnet today and also previous two days to protect from hordes of small flies trying to get into eyes and ears. Would drive me crazy without bugnet.

Ever since descent into Mineralni Bani, no white-red-white E8 waymarks on trees and other objects. Also, GPX often goes directly through forest, without trail.

Between campsite and highway 5, GPX went into overgrown brush, so followed best trail I could find, which was abandoned road, until highway 5. Bought more food at store in Orlovo. Fountain 100m south of store there. Fountains dry in Tsareva Polyana but store there, so bought 2.5L water. Maybe should have bought more, since water will be issue for next two days. Camped in beech forest a few km before Kladenets.

Tue, 24 Sep 2019

Someone evidently got suspicious seeing me turn off highway south of Kladenets and called police, who met me on dirt road I was following. Gave them passport and tried to communicate in Russian and English, but they didn't speak either, though they seemed to understand from my Russian explanation that I was hiking and camping. They handed passport back and drove off without looking inside or checking with national database.

Strongly running fountain next to highway at Lyaskovets. Drank 2L while eating early lunch there, then loaded up with 6L, using discarded 1.5L bottle I picked up at fountain to add to carrying capacity. Since I drank another 2L with breakfast, should be enough for remainder of today, tomorrow, Thursday morning. GPX goes into brush between Lyaskovets and Dolno Sadievo. Pay close attention to GPS device, since even few meters makes a big difference in difficulty in this sort of dense thorn-infested brush. After Dolno Sadievo, pleasant dirt road until paved road to Tankovo. East of there, I followed GPX, which led into dense young beech forest mixed with thorns. Struggled my way through for 2km, then came upon abandoned dirt road (overgrown with thorns), then finally good dirt road. Probably good dirt road extends all the way back to paved road. If so, not shown correctly on bgmountains.org map. My mistake was in following GPX versus staying on good dirt roads only, backtracking as necessary. Normally, I have sense not to bushwhack, however earlier Lyaskovets and Dolno Sadievo stretch required bushwhacking, so I assumed bushwhacking is common on the E8, when in fact it is infrequent. Finally reached paved road 808. GPX follows good dirt road east from there. Camped off this good dirt road, on abandoned road. 5L water remaining in bottles at end of day. Cloudy day, with occasional light drizzle, then steady drizzle in evening. Whole body itching, probably from chiggers picked up from walking through high grass.

Blister on left small toe, similar position as blister on right small toe a few weeks back that has since turned into callous. Both blisters/calluses due to turning small toe under, which is necessary to avoid corn on outside of small toe. Blister that soon heals is small price to pay for avoiding corns, which take much longer to heal and are excruciatingly painful.

Wed, 25 Sep 2019

Drizzle turned to rain during night, stopped by morning. Drained blister in morning. Blister hardly noticeable while hiking. GPX forked onto abandoned road, so 2km of pushing through high grass and occasional thorns, then road gradually improved as it approached paved road to Oreshets.

While drying tarp and other gear at clearing near this paved road, traffic police car passed and stopped. One of policemen spoke English. Asked what I was doing, then asked to inspect contents of backpack and view PDF of airline ticket leaving Sofia, then made telephone call to confirm my passport registered in national database. Everything in order, so they wished me well and drove off.

East of paved road to Oreshets is good dirt road all the way to paved road to Malko Gradishte, east of which is another good dirt road, at least for initial 4km. Border police stopped me there. One policeman spoke good English. He asked what I was doing then made telephone call to confirm my passport in national database, then informed me that I could not continue on dirt road, as this was border control area. Returned to paved road to Malko Gradishte, followed that downhill about 2km, then camped in forest.

Drained blister in left small toe again in evening. Whole body continues to itch. Couldn't resist scratching myself until I bled in some areas.

Thu, 26 Sep 2019

Another encounter with border police at road checkpoint near Malko Gradishte. Large group, including older officers with whom I talked in Russian. They again checked my passport against national database, found no problems, so I was waved on with smiles. Made booking.com reservation for Hotel Maritsa in Lyubimets for 40 lev. Feels wonderful to be showered and shaved. Underarms covered with red welts from chiggers or something similar. At least not ticks (though same family). Blister on left toe almost healed.

Fri, 27 Sep 2019

Up early for 5:30 train to Plovdiv for 7 lev. Bus to Sofia for 14 lev. Bought ticket for Thessaloníki for tomorrow for 38 lev, leaving 8:00, arriving 13:00. Paid for EasyHotel for 49 lev via booking.com. Still have 575 lev in cash. Would have 188 lev less if those booking.com hotels had all been pay at hotel rather than pay in advance.

Downloaded John Pone's blog entries and relevant pages from www.oreivatein.com, so information available offline.

Noisy neighbors at hotel finally shut up about midnight, too late to allow sufficient sleep, since I need to be up early tomorrow.

Sat, 28 Sep 2019

Again forgot to enable Schwab ATM card back when I still had internet service, so unable to use that, but CapitalOne card worked. Money from ATM added to euros left over from Spain. Bought 1€ bus ticket from cashier, who was able to break 50€ bill. Buses 12 and 31 go to Thessaloníki city center (near White Tower monument). Should have bought 2 tickets, since I'll need to return to bus station tomorrow and exact change required to buy tickets on bus itself.

Cosmote store at 109 Tsimiski @ Dim. Gounari. Another Cosmote store on Ermou @ Karolou Ntil. Paid 20€ for SIM with 8GB data, valid for 90 days. Cosmote stores close at 15:00 Saturday and are closed all day Sunday, so reason to arrive weekday. Bus arrived at 12:30, ahead of schedule, but could easily be delayed at border.

Another reason to arrive weekday is that hotels fill and prices go up on weekends. Some homestay apartments still available in Thessaloníki for 50€, but I decided to play it safe with booking.com reservation for centrally located business class Astoria Hotel for 68€, or at least twice what such a room would cost in Sofia. Probably should have stayed in Lyubimets another 2 nights, so arrival in Sofia Sunday, Thessaloníki Monday.

Sun, 29 Sep 2019

Slept okay but not long enough. Again skipped morning exercises other than pushups and squats. Red welts and itching from that chigger attack finally disappearing.

Bus to Véria for 7.40€, leaving 8:00, arriving 9:20 (buses to Véria run frequently, every day of week). Upon arrival, discovered all supermarkets closed Sunday, unlike Bulgaria, Spain, Ukraine, so yet another reason to arrive weekdays. Note that many shops in Greece also close 14:30 to 17:00. Made booking.com reservation for Hotel Villa Elias for 50€. Left backpack at hotel and wandered around for several hours. Matsoutis looks like big supermarket chain, with several locations near center city, so will buy food there tomorrow.

Noticed Cosmote shop on Venizelou at Elias, so possible to buy service here. Then again, only one store in Véria and they might be out-of-stock of data-only SIMs like the one I bought, or workers might not speak English as well as workers in Thessaloníki. SIM didn't immediately work, so worker in Thessaloníki edited some settings to match those on his phone (changed Cosmote Internet APN type from "default,supl" to "default,supl,xcap"). Possibly network simply needed about 5 minutes to update with newly activated number. Then again, maybe editing was necessary and workers in Véria might not be so competent.

Mon, 30 Sep 2019

Slept long and well and did full morning exercise routine for a change. Chigger bites almost completely healed.

Ate big breakfast and drank 2L in town. Carrying 2L water, 2400g bread, 400g cheese, 800g peanuts, 340g chocolate. About 115km to Amínteo, 95km on E4 plus maybe 20km to connect with E4 from Véria: paved road to after Ráchi, dirt road, paved road near Levkópetra, steep dirt road to Mikrí Sánta. Accuweather forecasts high temperatures of 29°C until Thursday, then under 25° rest of month. 29°C is mild sitting or even hiking in shade, especially with breeze, but brutal going uphill in sun on paved road with heavy backpack. Need to be very careful with water management. Probably should have taken taxi to Ráchi, to eliminate initial 250m ascent (starting at 150m elevation in Véria). At fountain before Mikrí Sánta, rinsed face, soaked hat and shirt, drank 2L water (total of 6L for day, more than I ever drank in Bulgaria), loaded up with another 2.5L for tonight and tomorrow morning. Rested there in shade, then proceeded with another 40 minutes of ascent. Late afternoon at this point and so sun mostly hidden behind mountains or trees. What a difference that makes! Camped at 1100m. Weak Cosmote connection in Mikrí Sánta itself, but good where I camped.

sfikía valley

near mikrí sánta

Tue, 1 Oct 2019

Slept well again. Delightfully cool in morning. Picked up 2L water at fountain in Kastaniá. Passed strongly running spring at Agía Paraskeví, marked on map, but didn't use it. Public fountain shut off in Xerolívado, but resident filled bottles with 2L. Working fountain about 1km west of town, on road. No Cosmote signal in town. Much cooler than yesterday, mainly because hiking at 1200m or higher all day, but nevertheless drank 5L total. Camped in pasture surrounded by beeches at 1500m.

windmills

Wed, 2 Oct 2019

Chilly in morning, but back to rolled up shirt sleeves and pants legs as soon as I left shade for sun. Piped spring shown on map near Mavrolívado dry, but muddy area nearby, trampled by cows. Collected 2L from stream shown on map 2km before Káto Vérmio. Cow crap on sides of stream near road, but looked cleaner slightly upstream. Strong Cosmote signal at Káto Vérmio. Horribly overgrown path north of Káto Vérmio: stick to more direct road rather than passing close to ski resort. After crossing dirt road, I lost trail, assuming there is trail, and just followed GPS track cross-country steeply downhill through pine forest. Clear trail, with E4 signs, resumed after crossing next dirt road. Stream running alongside next dirt road, at least initially, though I would be hesitant about its purity. This dirt road leads to Áno Séli, which has water fountain on road south of town and another at chapel in town. Drank 1L at fountain, so 5L total for day, loaded up with 4.5L for tomorrow. Camped 2km past town, on abandoned forestry road amid pines at 1700m. Light rain soon after setting up tarp, but rain didn't last long.

Averaging my usual 25km/day versus John Pone's 35km average. I remember hiking long days long ago. Oldest records I have are for PCT for 2011, which show consistent 20+ mile (32+ km) days, but I was already slowing down then. Then late 2011, began bicycle touring and gave up long days hiking. A few years later, gave up long days bicycle touring as well. Lack of mental rather than physical endurance. Life now seems too short to waste even a single day, and that's what those long days feel like: day wasted doing nothing but hiking. Ideally, hike only 4 hours or 20km per day, however food and water resupply becomes a problem when going that slow.

arsoumbasi

Thu, 3 Oct 2019

Passed some piped springs high up, then stream later, but nevertheless glad I carried 4.5L from Áno Séli. Temps much cooler than past few days, with some light drizzle, so didn't need that much water. Strong Cosmote signal near Voulgára ski resort. For about 4km before and after Mávri Pétra, GPX leaves road and follows rough trail through beech forest then high grass. Then several km on dirt road, then GPX leaves road and steeply descends through dense brush directly towards Pírgi. I decided to continue on road, based on what John Pone wrote in his trip report about this direct route. Pack of huge dogs surrounded me where road passed through flock of sheep. Shepherd escorted me through flock. Camped in hills west of Pírgi, near powerline.

mavri petra

near voulgara

Fri, 4 Oct 2019

Rained all night and into morning. High winds during night for several hours, with occasional lightning and thunder. Tarp positioned on top of ridge with wind blowing right in front, so pulled out front pole until wind subsided. Packed up during lull in rain. Bought food in Maniáki and ate under awning outside, sheltered from rain, then more food in Amínteo, where there was some sort of festival in progress. Rain stopped in afternoon. Made booking.com reservation for tomorrow in Nimféo, 61€ at Hotel La Galba. Camped in pasture at 980m.

near nimfeo

Sat, 5 Oct 2019

Only small store in Nimféo, but scrounged up enough to get me to Flórina. Feels good to finally clean up. Boots stinking horribly.

bear footprint

Sun, 6 Oct 2019

Splitting headache during night, mostly disappeared after morning bowel movement, exercises, cold shower. Maybe mild illness, maybe from 70% cacao chocolate I ate yesterday. Need to switch to milk chocolate only. Big breakfast at hotel, including bread, omelet, ham and cheese, so won't need all the food I scrounged up yesterday. Drank 2L in town, picked up 3L at fountain on descent towards Drosopigí. No fountains after that. Beautiful autumn weather in mountains: cool, low humidity, blue sky, not much wind. Easy walking along solid dirt road, with only occasional muddy spots from recent rain. Camped amid beeches at 1600m, about 13km (along trail) from Flórina.

Mon, 7 Oct 2019

Hotel Filareti in Flórina, €30, reservation via booking.com.

trail through beeches

Tue, 8 Oct 2019

Carrying 2.5 days food out of town. Cool and overcast, with evidence of heavy rain last night. Loaded up with 4.5L at Skopós town, to be ready for tomorrow. Camped before Skopós reservoir, next to road but hidden in ravine.

camped in ravine

Wed, 9 Oct 2019

Took southern E4/E6 variant, which sticks to roads, since I've had enough of overgrown foot trails, which is what northern variant appears to entail. Picked up water at piped spring near high point of road. Because of screwing around on internet, didn't arrive at suitable campsite until after dark. Able to setup camp with aid of flashlight. Campsite at 1550m, amid beeches, abandoned forestry road off dirt road descending to Órma.

clouds in mountains

Thu, 10 Oct 2019

No more water, other than stream alongside road, on way down. 26€ for room with kitchen at Guesthouse Agnandi in Loutráki, reservation made with booking.com. Owner only spoke Greek but we managed to communicate. English levels in rural Greece worse than in rural Bulgaria, I've noticed, though I manage to communicate with the few words of Greek I still remember from 2007.

Fri, 11 Oct 2019

Very short day: slow start, dawdled on the way, early stop. Had to monitor LocusMap app constantly because of maze of farm roads. Camped in scrub past Garéfi.

ilariona monastery

Sat, 12 Oct 2019

Temperatures today about 26°C with sun and very high humidity, and forecast to be warmer next week. Very uncomfortable hiking uphill. Camped at 800m, versus 200m on plain, so cool enough in evening. Bought food for tomorrow.

Shepherd with flock and dogs passed nearby about 8pm, after dark, and noticed me. Then at midnight, truck came by and group of men cut down tree with chainsaw not 50m from tarp. Illegal logging? Why so close to where I was camped? Miracle they didn't see me, since full moon and not that much vegetation between us. After an hour cutting up tree and loading into truck, they drove off.

petra filipou

Sun, 13 Oct 2019

Examined remains of tree that was cut last night. In fact, there was plenty of vegetation concealing me, especially at night. Another maze of forest roads early today, so constant need to check GPS. Lots of hunters out, probably after boar.

campsite near metalliou reservoir

Mon, 14 Oct 2019

Near Pígi, old man driving old pickup truck, fat, bald, bad teeth, stopped while I was resting under tree and initiated conversation. He didn't speak much English, but we managed to communicate. "εγο γει", he said (Greek for "I am gay") then mimed fellatio. I pretended not to understand and eventually got rid of him.

30€ at Hotel Olympion in Políkastro. Owner speaks English. Decided to call hiking quits for season, return to Bulgaria, spend remaining weeks until flight in cities there. First, Vibram soles are fully cracked apart on both boots, with gaping hole in right boot that lets in water every time I cross a stream. Broken boots already affecting gait and only a matter of time before right boot falls apart completely. Backpack also on its last legs, though unlikely to fail in next few weeks. Second, though weather delightful after sun goes down (which it does early now) and before it rises next morning (which it does late now), weather during middle of day excessively warm and humid for comfortable hiking, especially going uphill, when sweat pours off me as if I were in a sauna. Third, inability to speak Greek is getting on my nerves, given low English levels in these villages, however I lack motivation to relearn Greek because I've already decided this is my last hiking trip here for the foreseeable future.

Tue, 15 Oct 2019

Bus to Thessaloníki 6€, leaving 7:20, arriving 8:20. Bus to Blagoevgrad 16€, leaving 9:45, arriving 13:00. Made booking.com reservation while waiting for bus in Políkastro, 29 lev at Hotel Alpha.

Now that I'm back in Bulgaria, more convinced than yesterday that Bulgaria better for my purposes than Greece: less language barrier; hotels half as expensive; cooler temperatures. Trail quality similar, at least for trails I would be walking in either country: similar occasional overgrown sections and long stretches of road walking; similar vegetation and terrain; similar occasional difficulty finding quality drinking water. Language probably dominant factor in making me feel more at home in Bulgaria, which confirms that I made right decision in putting so much effort into learning Russian. Not official language in either Ukraine or Bulgaria, but nevertheless very useful in both those countries.

If boots from inventory purchased in 2009, possibly Vibram rubber outer soles have hardened over time, so that they crack quickly in use. Oh well, bought that inventory on sale, so not that much money lost. Just throw entire inventory out and buy new boots each year (and hope boots don't go out of production). If recently purchased boots, maybe quality has declined since 2009. Manufacture date on cardboard box, but not on label inside boots, so won't know if old or new boots until I get back to Reno. More important issue is repeated instances of corns on outsides of small toes. Possible feet or gait has changed. If boots new rather than from 2009 inventory, possible boot design or sizing has changed. Maybe need to move up to 11 extra-wide rather than 11 wide, though that might introduce other problems, such as heel slippage.

Wed, 16 Oct 2019

Paid for 2 more nights at hotel for 29 lev/night. Added 10 lev to A1 mobile, received 5GB data valid for 30 days. So total of 35 lev for A1 mobile service for 72 days between arrival in Bulgaria and departure.

Fri, 18 Oct 2019

Paid for 4 more nights at 32 lev/night, higher rate than before because I did NOT use booking.com, which makes no sense given that hotel is saving 15% fee. Didn't feel like arguing.

Tue, 22 Oct 2019

2 nights at Hotel Oriente for 24 lev/night, because single rooms not available at Hotel Alpha. Also Airbnb reservation for 8 days starting Thursday, for 27 lev/night, including all fees. Also booking.com reservation for Nov 1 in Sofia.

Sat, 26 Oct 2019

Cold starting last night and continuing today. Throbbing headache, mucus, sneezing.

Sun, 27 Oct 2019

Throbbing headache again in morning, but other symptoms mostly gone. Probably some fever, because body feels hot despite cool air temps. Headache reduced by late afternoon.

Mon, 28 Oct 2019

Headache continues, though milder.

Tue, 29 Oct 2019

Headache gone in morning, as well as most other symptoms, other than occasionally coughing up mucus from lungs.

Wed, 30 Oct 2019

Headache in morning again, but different from before, more like from sinus infection.

Thu, 31 Oct 2019

Headache gone in morning, lungs and sinuses clear. Ate light lunch, in preparation for 3 day fast starting tomorrow.

Fri, 1 Nov 2019

Bus to Sofia for 10 lev. EasyHotel for 51 lev.

Sat, 2 Nov 2019

Flight to London. Felt much better after big bowel movement at London airport. Lack of bowel movement always a problem with previous multi-day fasts. Slept a few hours lying on seats.

Sun, 3 Nov 2019

Too weak from lack of sleep and fasting to do morning exercises other than 30 pushups. Flight to San Francisco, arrival in afternoon. Stay with friend several days.

Mon, 4 Nov 2019

Slept well. Able to do morning exercises before ending fast with big breakfast. About 98 hours since last meal Thursday, including 10 hour time zone change.

Thu, 7 Nov 2019

Discovered that boots were part of recent order in Oct 2017, whereas most of inventory from bulk order in 2009. Sizing has changed so that 10 wide now about half size smaller than boot purchased in 2009. Vibram sole is also slightly different and maybe some other design changes. So no need to discard boots in inventory, other than other another pair purchased in Oct 2017.

Sat, 9 Nov 2019

Washed quilt and insulated pullover in washing machine. Repaired small hole in tarp with silnet. Various other maintenance. Will stay at motel until next Friday while attending to chores.

Comments

Next year, Bulgaria only: 3 days on E4, several rest days while body adapts to hiking condition, 2 weeks on E3, descending at Dobrila hut, 5 to 6 weeks on E8 and Sultan's Trail, including rest days, final days in city.

If I eventually decide I don't like 2+ months in Bulgaria, then hiking October in Spain or France, where I know the languages, better than Greece.

Statistics

54 nights in Bulgaria, 19 camping, 2 in huts, 33 in hotels (total hotel expenses 1035 lev, average 31 lev/night). 70 lev on hand upon arrival, 120 lev upon departure, 1200 lev ATM withdrawals (not counting ATM or currency conversion fees), 505 lev credit card payments. Thus total expenses 1655 lev or about 31 lev/day (about 18 $/day, at exchange rate on Nov 2).

17 nights in Greece, 11 nights camping, 6 nights in hotels (total hotel expenses 264€, average 44€/night). 135€ on hand upon arrival, 185€ upon departure, 500€ ATM withdrawals (not counting ATM or currency conversion fees). Thus total expenses 450€, or about 26€/day (about $29/day, at exchange rate on Oct 15).