I climbed Musala for the first time since 2001

~ Veselin ~ 6 Comments

Musala is the highest peak in Bulgaria, standing at 2925 meters, and also currently a major tourist hot spot. We attempted to climb it last year with the little one, who was 6 at the time. Gave up at around 2600-2650 meters. He got motion sickness this year and didn’t want to hike, the big kid didn’t want to try without the little one, and after much waiting to figure out what to do, my wife encouraged me to try on my own. Hard to repeat circumstances.

So, I started at 11:10 from Yastrebets. My recommendation would be to start much, much earlier to avoid the sunburns. See the blue sky? The UV was insane. The little triangle, close to the center, is Musala, 13000 steps away and about 500 meters above the starting point. Not much for seasoned hikers, close to my limit for me.

I got a strong headache in the area of the Musala hut and was ready to give up but didn’t and at some point it went away.

It was pretty crowded at the top.

Met a cat on the way back, at around 2500 meters altitude. I grew up meeting mountain dogs, who would just walk with you for a few kilometers and then depart. First time I see a cat living by the path. I think her name is Murry, as I saw a sign mentioning Murry on the top.

Going back was hard. I can’t imagine doing this hike with kids without sleeping in one of the huts.

There’s a 3-4km path between Yastrebets and Musala Hut that’s nearly flat but is in reality a series of small hills and you go up and down, up and down. Takes away all of your energy. The peak isn’t really that far after that but it felt exhausting.

Just like I mentioned in the post last year, any attempts to reach the top must start way earlier, when it’s colder and the sun is down. And only in good weather. The terrain can quickly become hostile if it starts raining or snowing.

The hike was around 26000 steps and took 5h. I hurried a bit too much because I started late and didn’t want to miss the gondola, which closes either at 18 or 18:20, depending on which sign you trust. Given the very high number of people walking everywhere, I suspect it won’t close until the last person is off the mountain. I could’ve spent another 2h just chilling, making long breaks, but I also didn’t have sun screen. By the time I walked down, it already hurt too much to encourage any stops.

So, a note to me. Next time, if there’s a next time at all, apply sun screen and start early.

July in Books

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

I had a good month, completed some great books that are easy to recommend.

Best books

  1. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie. I forgot to share a review here, shame on me. But the book is a clear 5*, and a slightly lighter (not in weight though) than the regular Abercrombie story. Some tropes here and there, features lots of random fantasy species. 760 pages and very memorable, well-built characters. You have a priest and a vampire joining forces, not the most common occurrence in literature.
  2. Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff – 1008 pages and a solid 5*/5. The sun stopped shining and the main deterrent to vampires spreading was gone. Also no review, pretty embarrassing, but at least I mentioned it. A must read.
  3. The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman – I think that one was around 4.5*/5 but pretty good 4.5, one that would love to read once a second part shows up in the bookstores. The blacktongue thief is thief from a race that has black tongues. Epic fantasy with some drama.
  4. Head Cases by John McMahon – a satisfying thriller about nerds solving crimes. It got 4.5* on Goodreads by me but looking back, I think it’s closer to 4. Despite being a good story, the other three above were much better.
  5. Everything Is Predictable: How Bayes’ Remarkable Theorem Explains the World – pop-sci book about probabilities. I gave it 4*/5 but from the distance of time, I think it’s not up to the 4* bar.

Worst books

  1. Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell – Lisa Jewell is a gem, comparable to Freida McFadden. However, just like Freida McFadden, some of her books are pretty awful. Not that the book is poorly written, it’s just not a pleasant thing to read. I gave it 4/5, appreciating the good storytelling, translation and such. I hated this book so much that I’d rather not buy anything else by Lisa Jewell any time soon. Boo.

Trustworthy Online Controlled Experiments: … you got my attention

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

Just yesterday, I shared about a popular science book about Bayes. Today I started a new one, called Trustworthy Online Controlled Experiments: A Practical Guide to A/B Testing. I picked it because I want to learn more about the industry standard way of doing controlled experiments, an area where I have some experience. This particular book started well.

Even the first chapters show that the authors do have experience I can relate to and can, hopefully, learn from.

This quote, for example, is included in their preface:

Any figure that looks interesting or different is usually wrong

— Twyman’s Law

It matches my experience with overly positive results or ambitious claims in analysis. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve fallen into the trap of believing something wins big time while there was really just a mistake, or a bias of some kind, twisting the results. But I had no clue someone postulated a law on it and got a Wikipedia page about it. I can now cite it and gain mana points 😀

So, I have a good feeling about this book and I hope to be able to complete it much faster than the last one. It just starts well.

Unfortunately, my copy arrived with significant damage. It was improperly packaged and delivered poorly. However, it is a book I read with a pen, underlining what I think is important, and leaving notes inside, so it will not get any better anyway.