We couldn't remember whether we were supposed to distinguish the wood for the trees; maybe it was separating the wood or trees from the forest. Anyway, we thought it attractive.
It took a while to find a starting point for a hike which resulted in a 3,000 feet elevation gain, mostly in forests, gorgeous ones at that. We had arrived in Sofia (again) the day before to return a car and collect another. It sounds strange but the complication occurred because of a number of changes that we made to our plans when we decided to forego Ukraine.
Rather than become embroiled in the Trump-Biden-Ukraine controversies, we decided adding the Lazarow name to the scandal would further exacerbate the impeachment debacle. Heck, we're simple people—we just want to trudge up mountains, walk down again and then spend the evening wondering why we do such things. So, we found ourselves in the sprawling city of Sofia, at the mercy of aggressive Bulgarian drivers who, like our fellow South African motorists, do not understand the concept of the solid white line painted in the middle of the road. They also cannot understand why anyone would wish to obey the strictly enforced speed limit in the towns. Rather, they prefer to intimidate one into breaking the regulations to avoid holding them up. Enough of the roads, including those that are extremely narrow and even narrower because motorists park along them. We understand the concept of the small car including the idea of the battery powered car but have yet to find a 'thin' car which would still struggle negotiating some of the roads.
The 'kids' leading Jenni astray.
Caught between a rock and a...dog.
We began the hike uncertain of the trail although we knew it was directly up toward one of the cable stations. (By the way, over the years, we have yet to find a low or easy mountain.) We made a few corrections and discovered some trail-markers, felt good about the find and headed toward the great peak of Cherni Vrah in Vitosha, south of Sofia. The forest is attractive and airy, steep and unforgiving, but a great hike. The mountain, reaching an altitude of over 7,000 feet is considered one of the highest in Europe in the sense it's effectively in the city—outskirts to be accurate. As an aside, two days later, we were in the great Rila National Park and could see the observatory from our position. We had stood next to the observatory upon reaching the Black Peak.
Getting back to the original story, when we commenced the hike, two dogs approached. We had seen them earlier when we passed in the car and decided to park rather than hazard driving over some terrible roads. The dogs were neither hostile nor friendly, rather tagging along because they probably had little else to do. We believe it was a holiday. We entered the forest after making some adjustments (getting lost a few times) and they followed. They ran ahead as dogs do but always came back to us or waited for us to catch up. It was typical pet behavior where the dog appears to be leading but always returns to ensure it is not without human company. They did tend to sniff out the trail but never failed to return to us. After an hour, we realized we had assumed responsibility for two dogs. We felt we were with children. Fortunately, we could return them after the hike or so we expected.
Will they ever respect other people's property?
A telephoto view of Sofia from Cherni Vrah, perhaps from a little lower than the peak.
Another of the city as Jen returns.
She's become a tour guide. The observatory close by is the same one we spotted from Rila National Park two days later. Always fascinating when these things tie up, when it comes together and makes sense.
From the ridge above 7 Rila Lakes, we notice the observatory on Vitosha mountain.
Some rock climbing at the peak.
We did not know their names, their owners, addresses or were able to communicate. We presumed they understood Bulgarian but probably had very little schooling in English. Sometimes, Jen and I have moments of brilliant deduction. After nearly 2 hours in the forest, we reached the road that allows motorists to drive to the hotel and cable station. We made a marker for our return, walked on the road for a little less than a mile and re-entered the forest to follow the overhead cables up to our destination.
While walking along the road, the dogs committed a cardinal error—they chased after cars, particularly the wheels. We shouted and made it very clear in English that this was shocking behavior. To their credit, they only tried it once more. Thereafter, they ignored the cars. We found this satisfying. We then decided to share our water with them. After all, it had been a couple of hours by then up a steep incline.
Unfortunately, the one dog seemed intimidated by me even though, besides the chasing wheels issue, I had been friendly. We suspected he had been mistreated by a male. The other dog had no qualms about the water or me, tending to get under my feet on the stiff inclines. After three hours, we had reached our target but thought of going higher. We decided if it became too long and tiring for the 'children', we could always try for a ride down. However, it would be unlikely that anyone would offer to take the dogs as well. The situation had developed into one in which the two fellas had latched onto us, walked the whole hike outwards and we now felt responsible for them. They were also tiring quickly. These two strangers had influenced the outcome of our hike.
Rather than put them to additional climbing stress and then return, we decided to turn at our original destination although we wished to continue. We stopped for brunch and then felt guilty we had no food for them, but water. We fed the one flakes while the other dog kept his distance, always close to Jenni when not sprinting ahead. As an aside, we have no doubt that motorists who passed us while we walked on the road for a short while would have sworn we were walking our dogs. They probably swore at us for not leashing the animals while walking on that road. Shows you how perceptions can vary from reality if we are correct in our assumptions.
Within less than a mile from our commencement, we heard another dog approaching. Oh, no!—three's a crowd. A man and his young daughter were out for a walk. The dog, a rather large breed charged at us. We tried to calm it and together with its master did succeed. In the meantime, our two 'heroes' turned tail and scurried away like a couple of cowards. The one dog returned soon thereafter but not the other. After over 5 hours together, we had lost a dog. We wondered what the owners felt not having seen their dogs for such a long period. Did they even know the dogs were away...hiking. Did they care? They certainly did not bother to pack them a lunch.
The dog remaining with us looked dejected. We felt a little, maybe more than that, sad ourselves. We whistled, called out but to no avail. We reached our car, bid the dog farewell and wondered about the fate of the other, an animal we had spent 5 hours with, did not know its name, family or where it was. Is there a happy conclusion to this tale? We hope so of course but we can't say. We did not write the script.
The following day, we headed for our second and last hike during this short stay in the capital, passing the area where we had 'picked up' the children the day before. Alas! Neither of them were there. That's it—no more allowing dogs to join us on the trails.
"No more dogs on future hikes? That's an order. Uh! Oh!"
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
Some local flavor and character.
The elderly are, in many cases, delightful especially those still with a twinkle in the eye. The earlier generations take us back to times that were tough in many ways but also, preferable to so much we see and endure in these modern times of incredible technology and unsavory behavior. Of course, that's an opinion but it's the one that counts for us.
On our way down south as we headed toward the Rhodope Mountains, first stopping in Saparevo Banya, we encountered scenes in little towns that were reminiscent of earlier centuries. Here are a few:
We walked into the restaurant to order some tea; silence prevailed as they looked us up and down. We get a lot of that; apparently (clearly) we do not look like locals. One group of women sat at a long table. The picture is after the meeting broke-up.
Some serious thinking at the preliminary chess tryouts.
A great shot of Jenni after failing to negotiate the opportunity of taking a trike around the parking lot.
And this gives a good example of 'relative'. Amongst our grandchildren, we are old. In this environment, we appear young. Thus we can be as old or young as we want...actually that's another concept in and of itself. Taken in Devin, from our 2nd floor apartment entrance. 'Hats' off to those who opened the way for the younger generations.
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