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Early morning (04:40) bus to Sofia. Bulgaria now uses euro. A1 at Mall of Sofia didn't have prepaid SIMs allowiy calling, so bought 15GB data only SIM for 30 days for €7. Then decided I wanted calling feature. Yettle prepaid SIMs also data only. A1 store in Central Hall (Sofia Center, Knyagina Maria Luisa Blvd 25) did have SIMs for prepaid calling for €10 valid for 30 days, with 35GB data (and apparently 25GB for each refill of €6 valid for 25 days, though as usual exact terms and conditions are very difficult to understand). So now both primary and backup phone loaded with SIMs.
Even though I paid for yesterday and today at EasyHotel (€35 both nights through booking.com), desk clerk considered today's check-in as early check-in, on the other hand didn't charge extra for this early check-in. Early morning bus from Niš is definitely the way to go, so nect time just book one night at EasyHotel and pay for early check-in.
Bought food for today and next 3 days: fresh tomatoes for today only, 2 cans fish, 2*200g chese, 4*85g dark chocolate, 700g peanuts, 4*700g whole wheat bread. Pullups in St Nicholas Park.
Left hotel before 06:00, did pullups and ate remaining can of fish in park together with 2L, subway to Vitosha stop (fare is €.80), bus 66 to ski center (fare is €1, I paid with €2 coin). Picked up 4L at spring on ascent of Vitosha just to be safe. Spring on descent (south side) running strong, so didn't need to carry that 4L uphill. After eating lunch and drinking 2L, left spring with 4L. Arrived at usual campsite about 16:30. Bad headache, possibly due to hiking in heat, though two weeks in Niš should have acclimated me. Spotted adult tick crawling on bugbivy netting. Caught it between my fingers, slid out of bugbivy, then spent 10 minutes wandering around looking for rocks to crush it with, since mostly leaves and sticks atop dirt.
Rave nearby, so thumping "music" audible in distance all last night. Slept well enough, with headache from yesterday gone by morning. Drank 2L with breakfast. Spring at bend in road running maybe .5L/minute. Picked up 2L at spring, drank 1L with lunch,left spring with 3L. Camped at usual spot. 1.5L available for tomorrow morning. Blister on medial side of ring toe of right foot. Rained during night, which helped reduce temperature. Occasional thunder and lightning.
Power pack slid outside tarp during night, so wetted by rain, but no lasting damage. Drank 1.5L with breakfast. Drank 1.5L and loaded bottles with 4L at piped spring before Klisura. 2 kebabs and small salad at cafe in Klisura. Camped at usual spot.
Early start to arrive at Govedartsi in time for for 11:45 bus to Samokov (€1.50, additional buses leave at 13:15 14:20). €55 for 2 nights at Alex Rooms in Samokov. Some sort of screwup with booking.com: system first duplicated the reservation, then it duplicated the attempt to cancel the duplicate reservation. So just left the reservation fully canceled and booked directly.
Blister on right foot is healing. Left knee is acting up, similar to but not as bad as right knee back in March, which started first week of hiking in Spain. Might need to take rest break to allow knee to heal.
€60 for 2 more nights at hotel. Knee improving but I don't want to risk a repeat of the Spain experience on the left knee. Blister on right foot mostly healed. Probably need to plan on 4 days in Samokov evert year, to allow body to reorganize itself back into hiking condition after shock of 4 day hike from Sofia following 3 months of summer inactivity.
Left knee not improving or improving very slowly. Skipped leg exercises and stretches. Hopefully, will be okay for hiking tomorrow. Blister on right foot is fully healed.
Left knee feeling much better in morning. Skipped leg exercises and stretches again. 6 days to Razlog or 4 days not counting first and last. Plan to buy lunch at Ribni Ezero hut, possibly buy lunch at Semkovo hut and breakfast at Makedonia hut, so carry 4 days bread, 3 days cheese. Canned fish, yogurt, fruit for eating in town. Additional food for town and backpack: 5 * 700g bread, 3 * 200g cheese, 5 * 200g peanuts, 6 * 85g dark chocolate. Camped at usual spot at 1800m. Cool in evening: first feeling of coolness since return to Europe from Argentina.
No pain in left knee today. Problem might have been due to hiking with bad gait or maybe due to sitting cross-legged (ardha siddhasana pose) 30 minutes in morning before rather than after exercises, and thus before hips loosened up, causing stress to be transferred to knees. I started sitting before rather than after exercises during last week in Serbia, because it was more convenient that way. I plan to continue sitting before exercises during town stays henceforth (and did so every morning here in Samokov) and hopefully body will eventually adjust, same as it adjusted when I first began sitting cross-legged each morning (after exercises) some 30 years ago.
Grazing horses with bells around their necks disrupted my sleep numerous times. Mild and sunny. Long hard day, probably hardest of trip because not yet acclimated to altitude and back and leg muscles not yet in full hiking condition. No problems with left knee. Camped at usual spot.
Big lunch at Ribni Ezera hut. Camped at usual spot before Semkovo hut. Lower legs, especially soleus muscle, sore and tight.
Camped at usual spot in valley just east of Makedonia hut.
Couple hunting for mushrooms walked through campsite as I was packing up about 9:00. Woman asked about bears and I scoffed. Later, I noticed bear scat on rock on trail ascending south from Makedonia hut. Maybe bear raids garbage there. Both Makedonia and Dob'rsko huts open, but I didn't visit either, just water from Dob'rsko hut. Camped at usual spot just south of Dob'rsko hut. Mild pain on medial side of left knee in morning, but no problems while hiking. Body feels weaker than in previous years. Losing enthusiasm for hiking, same as with bicycle touring. Need to settle down somewhere.
Noticed tear in right knee of pants. Pants have been worn daily since Nov 2024, or almost 2 years, so overdue for replacement.
€27 through booking.com for Hotel Nadezhda, then additional €108 for 4 more nights. Need to give left knee time to heal.
Sewed patch onto pants. Decided to skip Pirin loop. Did normal morning exercises without difficulty, including pullups using gate between hotel and auto repair shop, though with some pain in left knee. Pain disappeared later. Muscles of both lower legs slowly relaxing. Weather unusually warm (31°C and sunny today and tomorrow), so good thing I'm resting in town.
Did most morning exercises normally, except only 10 cossack squats, because left knee felt painful in the fully flexed position. New pullup bars in park at Alexander Stambolski and Gotze Delchev.
Heavy rain in the evening.
Much cooler today than previous days. Left knee is slowly improving. Continuing to sit cross-legged for 30 minutes before morning exercises, in hopes knee and hip together will eventually adjust so that knee pain disappears but sitting is comfortable.
Purchased flight ticket for $1391 on United (SOF-RNO leaving midday Saturday Oct 31, arriving next morning after spending night in SFO airport, RNO-MAD leaving early morning Monday Mar 1, which is Día de Andalucía holiday, arriving next morning). Compare with $1239 last year on Turkish/United. So 12% higher price, perhaps due to oil price change, however last year required transit through IST, so substantially longer travel duration in both directions. SOF-SFO layover of 1:30 hours in Munich. RNO-MAD layovers in Denver and Newark, both over 2:30 hours. No problems paying with BofA credit card, accessing United website via Chrome on Android. Also booked room at EasyHotel for Friday,Oct 30.
After eating breakfast in town, left Razlog with 4*400g dark bread, 3*200g cheese, 5*85g dark chocolate, at least 1000g peanuts. Camped at usual spot near Dob'rsko hut.
Left knee feels better. Possible that something changed in my gait recently that caused over pronation of left foot. Never had this problem previously. Made an effort to avoid left foot pronation, which caused outside left hip (gluteus medius) muscle to feel sore. Maybe gait problem related to opening of left hip, which is something I've long been working on, and now I need to build muscle in left hip to compensate for this opening.
Followed forest roads (shown on map) to campsite north of Semkovo hut. Left knee feels nuch better now that I'm consciously using left gluteus muscles more, which causes left foot to slightly rotate laterally and supinate more. Body feels tired. Maybe body getting old,maybe mind losing interest in hiking. Need to find somewhere to settle down.
Lost mil-550 cord used for inclined rowing. Stupidly left it hanging on tree yesterday after finishing rowing and starting heel raises, instead of immediately folding it back up and putting in my pocket.
Camped at usual spot before Yakoruda.
Pullups using children's play equipment in park in Yakoruda. Bought loaf of bread and some fruit. Camped at usual spot.
Body feels back to normal: no more pain in left knee, no tiredness, strong hiking uphill. Weakness a few days ago might have been due to an illness. Or maybe body now takes longer to get into hiking condition than in previous years.
Pullups using children's play equipment in vacation village on descent to Yundola. Bought food at store there. Camped at usual spot.
Like yesterday, no pain in left knee and body feels much stronger. Extreme tiredness during traverse of Rilas (Sep 5-8) was either illness or body weakened tremendously during summer rest. Illness seems more likely, given quick recovery. On the other hand, no illness symptoms other than tiredness: no headache, no cough or clogged sinuses or other respiratory system problems.
€72 through Booking.com for 2 nights at VeliHouse in Velingrad. Pullups in park.
nights in Bulgaria ( nights camping, nights in hotels/huts). total hotel expenses, or average of about /night.