Entry #32 - Snow under my feet and clouds moving across the ridges.

Story time: Peaks: Cheni Vruh (Черни връх) 2290m Skoparnika (Скопарника) 2226m Misho came from our hometown of Sliven to Sofia, so we took the whole Saturday and gave it to the mountain. The original plan was three peaks. We did two but the third can wait for another day. I had prepared for proper cold because this part of Vitosha is usually misty, windy, and unpleasant enough to make you regret not bringing another layer. Instead, the exact opposite happened. Sofia was buried under mist and cold, but as we drove higher toward the hut, we suddenly broke through it. Above us was blue sky. Below us, the entire capital had disappeared under a sea of clouds. And somehow it was warmer up there than it had been in the city. It was warm enough that I eventually took my shirt off and spent most of the hike walking through snow under the sun.A combination I definitely wasn't expecting. The views were one of a kind. As we continued toward Skoparnika, the clouds slowly began climbing toward us. At first they sat below. Then they reached our level. We could still see the ridges, the snow, and the surrounding mountains, but the clouds were getting closer. One of them rolled across the landscape like something straight out of a Ghibli film. It began swallowing the mountain little by little. Less than fifteen minutes later, it was on top of us. And suddenly we were walking inside it. This was also the first proper snow of the season for me. Last winter was when I really started falling in love with winter ascents, and I had been waiting for the chance to return to this environment. There is something about snow that changes a mountain completely. The white covering everything. The clean surface before too many footsteps cross it. The way the snow seems to absorb sound until the whole mountain becomes quieter. There is a particular kind of silence in winter. And somewhere inside that silence, something in me wakes up again. This is what I live for. Snow under my feet, clouds moving across the ridges, a good friend beside me, and an entire day with nowhere else we needed to be. In the end it was only a light day by mountain standards: around 12 kilometres, a few hundred metres of elevation gain, and two summits. But it was more than enough. Sometimes a successful day doesn't need to be difficult. It just needs to remind you why you keep coming back. Instagram:   / lyuboslav_nemtsov   Website: https://lyuboslavnemtsov.com/ #lyuboslavnemtsov #chernivruh #skoparnika #vitosha #sofia #bulgaria #hiking #mountains #snow #winterhiking #cloudinversion #adventure