The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

European town & country walks (and a few hikes)

In reviewing my photos from this past summer, I realized there were quite a few that had been excluded from the limited blog topics chosen. This miscellaneous blog post is meant to remedy that shortcoming, and highlights some of the wonderful cities’ Old Towns as well as a few interesting hikes that had slipped between the cracks.

The Town Walks

There is no better way to see the Old Town of nearly any European city than simply to walk around it. Rarely have I found that a morning perambulating has not yielded great rewards. . .

Sofia, Bulgaria City Garden, near the Grand Hotel Sofia where I stayed for 3 nights waiting for my luggage. . .
Church of St. George, Sofia, the oldest building in the city, began in the 4th century as Roman baths.
The iconic St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia
My favorite building in Sofia, the Church of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Maker
Krakow main square panorama from my breakfast table. Normally jammed, the square was nearly empty at 7:30 Sunday morning. Staying on the main square was wonderful – and quiet – since my hotel room was in the back.
Night view of St. Mary’s Basilica, Krakow, Poland
Vltava River view, Prague, with the cathedral and castle. Two mornings spent walking around Prague were very enjoyable, and being mid-week it was not as crowded as I had feared.
Astronomical clock, Prague, the oldest Astronomical clock in the world still functioning
Modern stained glass in the St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague
View from the upper part of Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.
Town hall square, Tallinn. The city seemed almost empty.
Old town wall, Tallinn
Helsinki Cathedral, Finland. I took the 2 1/2 hour ferry from Tallinn across the Gulf of Finland to Helsinki. As the city was built in the 19th century from a fishing village, the town center is far more modern than most European cities.
Havis Amanda fountain, Helsinki

The Country Walks

My three days in southern Finland was for the most part spent away from Helsinki and makes a great starting point for the country walks. . .

Hotel Hanaholmen view from my window. About an hour walk from Helsinki center, but a world away.
Sculptures and the Baltic Sea, Porkkala Peninsula. I went on a guided walk in this nature reserve about 45 minutes west of Helsinki. This was part of a temporary mixed-media art exhibition.
Liesjärvi Lake, Liesjärvi National Park. Inland about 90 minutes from Helsinki I went on a second guided walk where we foraged for mushrooms.
Reindeer lichen (Cladonia rangiferina), Liesjärvi
Dutchman’s pipe (Monotropa hypopitys), Liesjärvi

In July, I took a weekend road trip from my Val d’Aosta base across the Col du Grand St Bernard to Switzerland to watch the men play tennis in Gstaad. I of course had some time for walking.

Chateau d’Oex, Switzerland. I stayed here rather than pricey, touristy Gstaad where the men’s tennis tournament was held.
Near Chateau d’Oex, a pedestrian bridge across La Sarine River
Another view of bucolic Chateau d’Oex, from my hike ascending to Pra-Perron

More Northern Italian Hikes

Apart from the Parco Nationale Gran Paradiso (PNGP) hikes (already described in an earlier blog) I returned twice to Italy between my other trekking and traveling adventures and managed to squeeze in a few more. . .

Derelict house on the south slopes of Monte Faie, near Lago Maggiore. I stayed near the southern end of the lake for 5 days between two trips.
View of Lago Maggiore from Monte Faie summit
Ragged (Seguier’s) Pink (Dianthus seguieri), seen on Monte Faie
View of Cima Sasso (1916m) view on the descent of Monte Faie
An Ibex above the Col du Grand St Bernard. While spending a week in Aosta in early September, I did a spectacular hike: 8 miles, 6 lakes, 4 passes, and 2 countries!
A zoom photo of this old male Ibex (Capra ibex)
View towards Mt Dolent (3823m, center-left and just free of clouds) from the Col des Chevaux. The tri-point border of France, Switzerland, and Italy is 100m NW of the summit.
The 3rd of the Lacs de Fenetre near the Col du Grand St Bernard
Lago Chamole, seen on the ascent of the Punta della Valletta.
View from Cresta Nera towards Mt Blanc (in clouds). My traverse of the Punta della Valletta near Aosta was another spectacular hike in early September. This point was a short diversion on the way to the summit.
View of La Grivola from Cresta Nera. The Punta Rossa della Grivola which I climbed (see earlier post) is the left-most visible peak here.
The village of Cogne from Punta della Valletta (3090m). Amazingly, from this point I could also see the city of Aosta in the main valley.
Selfie of The Vagabond Hiker on Punta della Valletta summit
View of the knife edge traverse of Punta della Valletta
A backward look at an assisted traverse, Punta della Valletta. Despite some initial misgivings, I did this without protection.

With this blog I finally conclude my Europe 2022 adventures! Planning for the summer of 2023 when I once again will return to Europe and perhaps even Central Asia has already begun. For now, though, I am busy preparing for a two week, three country trip to the Guianas on the northern coast of South America, leaving Tuesday. That last minute trip will be the focus of my next blog post.

The Vagabond Hiker

Trekking the Ridges and Summits of Bulgaria

For my second KE Adventures trip of the season, last month I flew to Sofia, Bulgaria where the one week trip began. This fantastic week of hiking encompassed the two highest mountain ranges in Bulgaria, the Rila and Pirin Mountains, split three days in each range, where we summitted the highest peaks in the country and enjoyed some fantastic ridge walking. While only totaling 42 miles for the 6 days of hiking, with more than 18,000 vertical feet gain this was a more challenging week than I had expected. Our strong group of eleven, ranging in age from 19 to 69, accomplished everything with aplomb.

I took most of the photos that follow with my Panasonic Lumix, except the first day’s hike and the flowers, where I used my Samsung A52 camera, and the few photos with me, which were obviously taken by others. Two great early morning photos from near Dark Lake (Tevno Ezero), the location of the only hut we stayed at, were taken (and likely photo-edited!) by another client. Enjoy!

The Rila and Pirin mountains are the highest – and by far the most rugged – in the country. Along with the Rhodope Mountains, they occupy much of the southwest of the country. (By Ikonact – File:Bulgaria-geographic map-bg.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24850742)
Our first hike was to the summit of the highest mountain in Bulgaria, Musala, in the Rila mountains. This photo was taken near the trailhead, at the top of the cable car. Despite the poor weather, as it was a Sunday the trail was crowded.
View from above Musala Hut, a bit more than half-way to the top.
Musala (2925m) summit cairn and flag. No views were had in the rain and fog.
Spreading bellflower (Campanula patula), one of many bellflower species I’ve seen this summer, taken during the hike up Musala.
Our second day of hiking in the Rila mountains was the first of two days traversing near the Seven Lakes. Here is one of the lakes, shown with the near-ubiquitous fireweed (rosebay willow-herb).
Vista of two of the Seven Lakes. Fortunately, the weather improved during the week.
View west towards Musala from the Green Ridge descent from the Seven Lakes on day 2.
Viola, possibly a hybrid. Gorgeous with the water droplets.
Crossing a brook in the forest on descent from Green Ridge. Lest you think we were always above tree-line!
Our third day featured the most challenging hike in the Rila mountains, the ascent of Maliovitsa Peak. Here our KE group is seen ascending from the head of the valley.
The Vagabond Hiker on Maliavitsa summit during our leisurely lunch stop. The valley we ascended/descended is seen here.
Mount Maliovitsa (2729m) summit view with lakes, taken with my Samsung
The famous Rila Monastery, where we stopped for a cultural infusion during the 3 hour transfer to the Pirin Mountains – after we had climbed Maliovitsa. A long day indeed!
Our first of three days hiking in the Pirins was from Vihren hut at Lake Bezbog to Dark Lake (Tevno Ezero). Here some of our group are seen ascending from an unnamed lake. Our guide, Rossen, shirtless, is leading across this lateral moraine.
Scarlet avens (Geum coccineum)
Mark, one of our more serious hikers, resting on a ridge. We traversed several during our three days in the Pirins.
Early morning at Dark Lake (Tevno Ezero). The first of two landscape photos NOT taken by me. The hut we stayed at was not hygienic, and is to be avoided. We could have combined the two days into one big day with a chairlift to near the start of the Seven Lakes, though the amazing dawn light at Tevno Ezero would have been missed (by those up early enough).
Stream near Tevno Ezero in the early morning. Sadly, NOT mine either!
Popovo Lake view during our long descent on our second day in the Pirins.
A hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) on a thistle. It even sounded like a hummingbird! After long struggles to get a decent photo of this moth, I realized why I prefer wildflowers.
Mullein (Verbascum longifolium). We saw scads of this statuesque flower on our descent from Tevno Ezero.
Two of our group descending along a stream on our penultimate day
Our last and most spectacular day of hiking in Bulgaria, a traverse of Marble Ridge and Vihren Peak. Here is a herd of chamois we encountered on our ascent towards Vihren Col.
View from the col towards Kutelo Peak 1. Marble Ridge is on the left here. We did a mid-level traverse on the left side of the near ridge to attain Marble Ridge.
Rhaetian poppy (Papaver alpinum), one of my faves. I saw only a couple.
The Vagabond Hiker leaning back and relaxing, with some of our group on Marble Ridge. We were in harness with ferrata-style lanyards, a first for several of us.
On the summit of Kutelo Peak 2 with Marble Ridge behind. Several “ants” on the ridge are people.
Vihren summit ridge view, our next objective. Though not technical, it was a fine scramble from Vihren Col, seen here.
Vihren summit group photo, our guide Rossen in front and me at the top. At 2914m, it is the highest point in the Pirin Mountains and the 2nd highest in Bulgaria.
After the week of hiking, the rest of the group caught an early shuttle the next morning for the 2+ hour drive to Sofia. I relaxed at Molerite Hotel in Bansko with lunch as I had an evening flight to Krakow.

Currently, I am back in Aosta, Italy for a few days before a quick trip to Tallinn Estonia and Helsinki. One blog post done and one to go! Stay tuned for some photos from the Tatras of Poland and Slovakia.

The Vagabond Hiker

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