12 km hike on a beautiful day

One of the nicest days we've had in a while, so we decided to stay put. We were overdue for a good hike, so we set off on one of the many trails here at the Blue Rocks Nature Park near Sliven, Bulgaria.

Because we were parked up at the antenna tower, we were already at the top of the mountain! So it was a little different to be doing the downhill section first and having to climb back up at the end.

Here is where Max is parked...

Max, at GPS 42.715305, 26.363561

Looking back at the antenna near where Max is parked.

Ruth enjoying a view along the way.

We set off just after 10:00am. We had to walk down the road to get to the trail, and there are some overnight accommodations up here. Some are old and falling apart, while others are brand new.

Would have been a nice place in its day.

The back side.

The place next door is brand new and has this outdoor adventure facility for young people.

Heading over to another viewpoint.

Me, and the view.

Ruth, coming up to another viewpoint.

Beautiful scenery.

And then the trail started heading down. I was trying to follow a trail on my maps.me app that would have given us a bit of circular route, but when we came to the turn off... there was no turn off! So we had a choice to either keep going and hope for another possibility or turn around. We hate having to retrace our steps back up, so we kept going. 

It turned out okay, but of course the further down you go, the more you have to climb back up. We ended up doing 580 meters (1,900') altitude change and an added 2 kms to our planned 10 km hike. Not bad... we needed the exercise anyhow!

European robin.

Spring flowers along the trail.

More spring flowers.

Nice to be hiking in just a t-shirt for a change!

Coming back up.

Shorts and t-shirt weather!

More spring flowers.

We made it back to Max just before 2:00pm so we had been gone almost four hours. 12 kms (7.5 miles) with a fair bit of uphill, so it was a good workout. Gotta keep in shape for the Norway hikes that we have planned!

Had an afternoon nap, and a late dinner. In fact the sun was setting during dinner, and although it looked like a really pretty sunset, we just stayed put.

Sunset through Max's side window.

Today we are moving on to the historical town of Veliko Tarnovo.

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