Braid – Goat Water – Due Date

The route starts from the center of the village of Opletnya. The markings are red. It quickly reaches the eastern edge of the village at a gazebo and a panoramic platform above the road and the Iskar River. From there, the trail takes a steep climb up the slope along a well-marked path through a grove of hornbeam. The path is covered with the characteristic red sandstones from which the houses and the walls in the village are built. After about twenty minutes, the trail turns east, the character of the forest changes and overgrown meadows appear. We gradually gain height and in about 45 minutes from the start we reach a place to rest. After only 5 minutes there is another table with benches. The route crosses meadows and ravines, passes by an old fountain and with a few bends reaches the Padezh area. It takes about 1:15 hours to get here from the village of Opletnya.

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  Padezh was once a bustling place with sheepfolds, gardens and meadows. Now you can still see the remains of houses, and the grass is being mowed. The area falls within the Ochin Dol area, but many residents of Opletnya also owned land, as evidenced by the many roads that converge here. A gazebo has been built at the crossroads, and next to it is the St. Spas monastery. The red marking goes along the road north to Kozata Voda, and northeast of the gazebo through the meadows the yellow marking climbs to Parshevitsa. The path initially winds along the slope until it enters the beech forest. This is only for a short time, and then the path goes out onto the mountain pastures and climbs almost in a straight line to a small ridge plain – Dolen Klyuch. It is about an hour’s walk from Padezh to here. Only when you reach the shelter will you see it, because it is attached to the rocky ridge and only its roof is visible from the meadow. From this place, Ochin Dol is visible as if in the palm of your hand.
  After the shelter, the yellow-marked trail for Parshevitsa climbs along the edge of the ridge, to the left and down through the forest, the red marking for Kozata Voda descends. The trail winds between large beeches and crosses forest roads many times. The markings are frequent enough, but in places it is high in the trees and you have to be careful not to miss a fork. Exactly about an hour through the forest you need to reach Kozata Voda. There is a table with benches by the fountain and you can take a break before descending to Opletnya. Just meters from the fountain rises an impressive rock needle almost 25 meters high. Passing by it, the trail descends steeply through the forest to the valley of the Bela Voda River. Soon the trail turns into a road. It reaches a sheepfold opposite which a gazebo has been built. From here there is a turnoff to Gatsov Kladenets - a fountain located 50m in the valley. Just 5 minutes of walking and we are already in the Belata Voda valley. The stream is small, but the stones deposited by the water form an impressive stone river of limestone pieces of different sizes. It has stretched for almost 2 kilometers and is 20 to 50 meters wide. The valley ends to the north under the steep cliffs of Kobilini steni. The road descends along the left bank of Belata Voda and only shortly before the village does it cross it to continue on the other side. It is at this point that the path to the Rusinov del hamlet separates. On the left is the Opletnya campsite. Buildings and old walls enclosing small gardens and yards appear along the road. We continue along the river to the starting point.