Hello fellow walkers! (not the zombie kind, thank you) Today I'll be taking you on a little climb up the giant overlooking Skopje - Vodno! π
Vodno is a mountain that is located in the southwest of Skopje. It is relatively small - 1,066 m - and is visible from anywhere inside the capital. It is often used by joggers, bikers, climbers, and exercise people in general. It is a godsend and most people love to climb the familiar trails whenever they can. π
Today I won't be showing you the entire mountain since we didn't climb the entire thing. π We? Yas! I'm with two other buddies this time around! Anyways, we'll just be going halfway up i.e. Mid Vodno, and a little more ways off until we reach a certain spot for chilling. βοΈ
So, without further ado - Onwards! πΆ
π© HITTING THE TRACK π©
We went around 12:00 a.m. on a Saturday which isn't the best idea. π Vodno has a lot of people climbing it on the weekends, and the tracks are usually tight so experienced trackers tend to avoid climbing on the weekends.
One of my friends actually thought that we were just driving up the mountain to chill somewhere. We told him last minute that we were actually climbing. π He wasn't too pleased with us with that, since he got drunk af the previous night. π€’
Let's just say he was complaining for the first fifteen minutes of the climb. π
He kept saying we tricked him to come. Which we really didn't. It was just miscommunication. π Regardless, soon he was sweating and huffing, and soon after kept repeating how this was actually a good idea. Of course! Sweat out the poison!
The track from the bottom to Mid Vodno is relatively easy. Most people climb to the middle and then rest and descend.
The track from Mid Vodno to the top is a different story altogether. π I'll probably make a Wednesday Walk another time of that climb as well.
Winter just concluded so most of the flora is still in early bloom. π₯ Animal noises are a constant, chirping of birds, and the scurrying of squirils and foxes. it's amazing to have something like this in a city as busy as Skopje. A true blessing.
And since we see the main road it means that the track is over and we've made it to Mid Vodno! π©πΊ
π© MID VODNO π©
At this point, I was tired and happy to take a breather.
Mid Vodno is a popular destination for many reasons. First of all it's not that high comparatively, and most people just like driving up and enjoying the fresh air. π¬
It was pretty busy when we arrived.
Mid Vodno is massive. There are plenty of places to just sit and chill. // I'm saying chill a lot in this one...
There is a cable car to take you up to the top if you are a weakling.
Mid Vodno is also home to lots, and lots of parties.
They're always at night so ye. π
Rested and ready we set out for our final little walk.
Follow the owlββ
π© THE VIEW π©
This path actually is one of the many trails heading up to the top. But we'll be taking a little detour. We are staying at Mid Vodno elevation though.
There are a lot of grates like these throughout the mountain. They were once secret shelters where people used to hide in times of crisis.
The path we're walking on is quite long. We will be making another detour on our detour π² and take a sharp left! π
The fauna here is completely different, this section of the forest is unique to this side of Vodno. shame Spring is not in effect already. I def need to do several more renditions of this walk. π
And we arrive! The views here are beautiful, but they pale in comparison to those even higher. Still, this is a perfect place to just sit and bathe in life's majesty.
We can't go through this entire article without a selfie from yours truly now, can we? π
After a couple of hours of doing absolutely nothing, it was high time we head back to our car. Yes, this means tracking down the same trail we ascended earlier. π I got some photos of the way back, and I'll dump them all on you now. π½π½π½
You made it! ππ Not sure how entertaining it was to look at trees for an entire article but oh well. π
Not sure where we'll go next week, but I reckon I'll find something interesting.
Obligatory shout-out to the πPIZZAπ gang, π€ gang. π€
All pictures taken by me using an iPhone 11.
π Follow me on my HIVE blog π
Thanks for reading and I hope you guys have a great rest of your week. π