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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 €8 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.
Added €8 to A1 balance (1000min and 30GB valid for 25 days). Left town with 2.6L, 4*400g bread, 3*200g cheese, 8*85g chocolate, plenty of peanuts. Camped at usual location. Someone parked nearby played loud music for several hours. Fortunately, not all night, so i slept well enough.
Overcast and cool most of day. Followed ST512 on map to avoid most of highway walk to Batak. Trail was okay today but should be avoided in wet weather because it goes through boggy areas. Picked up 1L in Batak park. Followed ST512 again after hydropower station. About 1km of clean but steep footpath, thereafter forest roads. Left ST512 near Teheran hut and continued on forest road without visiting hut. If needing water, spring near hut is about 500m detour via forest road shown on map. New route much better than old overgrown route. Camped at usual site. Okay mobile connection. Started drizzling immediately after setting up tarp.
Cool and overcast. Picked up water along route. Decided to split long day into two pieces by camping in forest near Shipoka Polyana lake. Okay mobile connection near new campsite.
Cool and partly cloudy. Picked up 2.5L along route. Camped at usual spot. Paid in advance through booking.com for 2 nights at Къща за гости Еко Стил. Called Къща за гости Мелиса to attempt direct booking, but she said no room available, despite room showing on booking.com. Maybe she doesn't like working outside Booking.com.
€80 for 2 nights at Къща за гости Еко Стил. Pullup bar at north corner of football field.
Ate and drank 1.5L before leaving town, carried .5,L, drank that plus another 1L from piped spring along way, picked up 4L in Trigrad, camped at usual spot.
Picked up 3L before Mugla. Camped at usual spot.
Rain in morning, stopped about 10:00 but foggy and damp until afternoon, when air became cold and dry. Skipped morning exercises other than pushups, squatting and sitting. Found wallet with ID cards along trail, will give to police in Smolyan. Camped at usual spot.
Cold dry wind in morning. Skipped morning exercises other than pushups, squatting and sitting. Tripped and fell while walking around campsite, which is full of debris, and cut left hand. Turned wallet in at police. €120 for 4 nights at Hotel Katerina in Smolyan, direct booking.
Terrible headache, maybe caught another covid variant, maybe chemicals in room, maybe side effect of inflammation in left hand. Headache gone after morning exercises.
Pants wearing through in seat and patch on knee from two weeks ago, so swapped with spare. Will keep old pants for emergency use, since holes in seat are still small. Need to replace pants yearly without fail, rather than trying to make them last two years.
Left hand doesn't hurt as much as yesterday, so evidently healing properly, without infection.
Paid for 2 more nights, €60.
Sunny and warm during day, cool at night. Left town with 4*400g healthy bread, 3*270g cheese, 9*85g chocolate, about 1000g peanuts. [Carry 6*400g bread next year.] Paved road washed out for about 500m (washout shown as white on map, versus yellow for remainder of paved road). Descended into forest then ascended to get around washout. Also possible to use dirt road detour to east, as shown on map. Drank 1L and picked up 2L for tomorrow at spring just south of Pamporovo. Camped at usual spot. Body feels strong, with all problems resolved (cut on left hand, left knee, etc).
Bugbivy kept ants turn away during the night, but they were all over me while eating and packing up. Not biting ants, but annoying. Camped in usual spot.
Camped in usual spot.
Camped in usual spot.
Pullups using football goal in Panichkovo. Store closed soon after I bought food there. Definitely need to bring more bread in the future, in case store not open at all. Cafe in town and 2 more on highway, so should be possible to buy cooked meat, but not necessarily full loaf of bread to get me to Mineralni Bani.
Another day of beautiful weather, same as most days this trip. Pullups using equipment at picnic area along trail. Rain forecast for tonight and tomorrow. €66 for 2 nights at Къща за гости ЕГО (+359 88 747 4469) in center of Mineralni Bani.
Pullups using gate to basketball court next to police station / post office. Added another €8 to A1 mobile at post office, and received 30GB valid for 25 days, so beyond when I leave Bulgaria.
Ate in town, carried 3*400g dark bread, 2*230g cheese, 1000g peanuts, 5*85g dark chocolate. Can buy more bread and cheese in Iskra, Lenovo, Cherven. Picked up 4L for tomorrow at piped spring just before usual campsite. Started raining as I prepared to setup camp. Able to erect tarp during lull in rain, so only minimal wetting of gear.
Rained all night, continuing until late morning. After rain stopped, air was dry, so gear quickly dried, despite cloudy sky and cool temperature. Picked up 2L at piped spring midway to usual campsite.
Nymph tick crawling on bugbivy netting in the morning. Crushed it between fingernails. Bought fruit, bread, cheese in Iskar, plus 3L bottled water for tomorrow since no fountain. Should have bought more cheese and another 1.5L water for Saturday.
Light rain during night. Bought fruit, more cheese and 1.5L water in Lenovo. Pullups using old football goal in central park. Some rain in afternoon. Camped at usual spot in forest.
Bought fruit and canned fish and loaded up with 2L from fountain in Cherven. Camped at usual site.
€120 for 3 nights at Hotel Tedi in Asenovgrad, same place I stayed last year.
Made hotel reservation for next week. Ate in town, carrying 4*400g quality bread, 3*250g cheese, 4*85g dark chocolate, 800+g peanuts, 1 big apple. Loaded up with 3L water at spring and camped at usual site above Asenovgrad.
Light train during night. Spent day on in forest atop ridge near campsite, then returned late, so barely enough light to set up camp. Passed a parked car on my return to campsite. Two people hurried down dirt road next to campsite, started the car, then drove past my campsite, turned around and drove back, and then stopped and shined light towards my campsite. Car drove away after about 15 seconds of the light and I doubt they could see anything. Maybe someone noticed me this morning due to my lingering before breaking camp, and then these two people investigated my campsite and noticed signs of recent use. Or maybe it is a well known location. Probably should minimize use in the future.
Left camp at 7:00 (sunrise at 7:42 but adequate light at 7:00), drank 2L and picked up 4L at spring, camped at location in valley, on other side of creek. Trail down to creek more overgrown than last year. Set up tarp at new campsite at 10:00 because starting to rain. Okay mobile connection, better than at yesterday's ridge campsite.
Entire body itching from chigger bites. Maybe from grassy area where I lay down on Wednesday. Remained in campsite without packing up. Very peaceful and difficult to access due to need to cross creek, even though right off abandoned trail, so unlikely to have visitors. [Human visitors, that is, because some grunting sound nearby during night, either boar or bear. Animal left quietly after detecting me, so evidently not frightened enough to run away noisily but not desirous of confrontation either.]
€200 for 5 nights at Hotel Tedi. Body looks hideous from red chigger bites everywhere.
Dropped shampoo bottle in bathroom and it cracked open. So that makes 2 of these 125ml bottles I've lost this trip. Moved sewing kit to Aloksak to free up remaining 125ml bottle and poured remaining shampoo into it.
Chigger bites have stopped itching but still have nasty red marks all over body. Need to avoid scratching so much, such just aggravates the problem.
Train to Sofia (€6). EasyHotel through booking.com for €39. Made reservation for Sparks Motel6 starting Sunday, rate is $571/week ($82/night). Problems with credit card when using website but worked okay using app.
Early afternoon flight to San Francisco via Munich. Spend night in SFO airport.
Morning flight to Reno.
65 nights in Bulgaria (34 nights camping, 31 nights in hotels/huts). €1077 total hotel expenses, or average of about €35/night.
Both knees feeling strong and pain-free by end of trip, so full recovery from right knee problem starting early March and left knee problem starting late August. Morning exercise routine now includes exercises targeting knees at both full flexion (hindu squats, cosssack squats, reverse nordic curls) and full extension (tibialus raises), which may have helped with recovery.
Numerous pieces of gear need replacement. Whole lifestyle is fragile due to dependence on gear that is either difficult to purchase or hand-made and thus requiring access to sewing machine and fabrics and other materials.