Hiking trip to Golyama Chatalka peak

I have been looking for a beautiful mountain flower Pulsatilla halleri for several years, but I still can't find it. It grows in specific places and now I finally know exactly where I can find it.

Fortunately, I even found a some friends to look for it with, and so this Saturday, despite the unfavorable forecast, we headed to the Sliven Balkan.

We were going to look for the flower around Golyama Chatalka peak. So we drove up to Karandila and stopped shortly after the upper lift station.

From there we set off on foot towards the peak.

From the very first steps we began to see an abundance of spring flowers - bluebells and hundreds of crocuses not only in orange but also in purple.

The forest welcomed us with the majestic postures of the trees.

We continued towards the Ravna Reka area.

We crossed a small wooden bridge.

Soon we emerged into an open meadow and the peak was visible in the distance.

We continued to be surrounded by beautiful flowers, but soon we also began to see Pulsatilla halleri.

It kept raining and it was very difficult to photograph the beautiful flowers.

Unfortunately, due to the bad weather, their flowers were closed and we could not see them in their full beauty.

The whole thing was covered with fine white hairs, which actually protect them from the adverse conditions of early spring in the mountains.

The flower is also known as "mountain kitten", because when touched, the fine white hairs create a feeling of stroking the fur of a small kitten.

We continued towards Golyama Chatalka peak.

The views from up there were beautiful.

We met other tourists and even a dog.

Despite the bad weather, we were all in a great mood and our hike will continue. I'll tell you about that soon.

Thank you for stopping by!