The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Trekking the Ridges and Summits of Bulgaria

For my second KE Adventures trip of the season, last month I flew to Sofia, Bulgaria where the one week trip began. This fantastic week of hiking encompassed the two highest mountain ranges in Bulgaria, the Rila and Pirin Mountains, split three days in each range, where we summitted the highest peaks in the country and enjoyed some fantastic ridge walking. While only totaling 42 miles for the 6 days of hiking, with more than 18,000 vertical feet gain this was a more challenging week than I had expected. Our strong group of eleven, ranging in age from 19 to 69, accomplished everything with aplomb.

I took most of the photos that follow with my Panasonic Lumix, except the first day’s hike and the flowers, where I used my Samsung A52 camera, and the few photos with me, which were obviously taken by others. Two great early morning photos from near Dark Lake (Tevno Ezero), the location of the only hut we stayed at, were taken (and likely photo-edited!) by another client. Enjoy!

The Rila and Pirin mountains are the highest – and by far the most rugged – in the country. Along with the Rhodope Mountains, they occupy much of the southwest of the country. (By Ikonact – File:Bulgaria-geographic map-bg.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24850742)
Our first hike was to the summit of the highest mountain in Bulgaria, Musala, in the Rila mountains. This photo was taken near the trailhead, at the top of the cable car. Despite the poor weather, as it was a Sunday the trail was crowded.
View from above Musala Hut, a bit more than half-way to the top.
Musala (2925m) summit cairn and flag. No views were had in the rain and fog.
Spreading bellflower (Campanula patula), one of many bellflower species I’ve seen this summer, taken during the hike up Musala.
Our second day of hiking in the Rila mountains was the first of two days traversing near the Seven Lakes. Here is one of the lakes, shown with the near-ubiquitous fireweed (rosebay willow-herb).
Vista of two of the Seven Lakes. Fortunately, the weather improved during the week.
View west towards Musala from the Green Ridge descent from the Seven Lakes on day 2.
Viola, possibly a hybrid. Gorgeous with the water droplets.
Crossing a brook in the forest on descent from Green Ridge. Lest you think we were always above tree-line!
Our third day featured the most challenging hike in the Rila mountains, the ascent of Maliovitsa Peak. Here our KE group is seen ascending from the head of the valley.
The Vagabond Hiker on Maliavitsa summit during our leisurely lunch stop. The valley we ascended/descended is seen here.
Mount Maliovitsa (2729m) summit view with lakes, taken with my Samsung
The famous Rila Monastery, where we stopped for a cultural infusion during the 3 hour transfer to the Pirin Mountains – after we had climbed Maliovitsa. A long day indeed!
Our first of three days hiking in the Pirins was from Vihren hut at Lake Bezbog to Dark Lake (Tevno Ezero). Here some of our group are seen ascending from an unnamed lake. Our guide, Rossen, shirtless, is leading across this lateral moraine.
Scarlet avens (Geum coccineum)
Mark, one of our more serious hikers, resting on a ridge. We traversed several during our three days in the Pirins.
Early morning at Dark Lake (Tevno Ezero). The first of two landscape photos NOT taken by me. The hut we stayed at was not hygienic, and is to be avoided. We could have combined the two days into one big day with a chairlift to near the start of the Seven Lakes, though the amazing dawn light at Tevno Ezero would have been missed (by those up early enough).
Stream near Tevno Ezero in the early morning. Sadly, NOT mine either!
Popovo Lake view during our long descent on our second day in the Pirins.
A hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) on a thistle. It even sounded like a hummingbird! After long struggles to get a decent photo of this moth, I realized why I prefer wildflowers.
Mullein (Verbascum longifolium). We saw scads of this statuesque flower on our descent from Tevno Ezero.
Two of our group descending along a stream on our penultimate day
Our last and most spectacular day of hiking in Bulgaria, a traverse of Marble Ridge and Vihren Peak. Here is a herd of chamois we encountered on our ascent towards Vihren Col.
View from the col towards Kutelo Peak 1. Marble Ridge is on the left here. We did a mid-level traverse on the left side of the near ridge to attain Marble Ridge.
Rhaetian poppy (Papaver alpinum), one of my faves. I saw only a couple.
The Vagabond Hiker leaning back and relaxing, with some of our group on Marble Ridge. We were in harness with ferrata-style lanyards, a first for several of us.
On the summit of Kutelo Peak 2 with Marble Ridge behind. Several “ants” on the ridge are people.
Vihren summit ridge view, our next objective. Though not technical, it was a fine scramble from Vihren Col, seen here.
Vihren summit group photo, our guide Rossen in front and me at the top. At 2914m, it is the highest point in the Pirin Mountains and the 2nd highest in Bulgaria.
After the week of hiking, the rest of the group caught an early shuttle the next morning for the 2+ hour drive to Sofia. I relaxed at Molerite Hotel in Bansko with lunch as I had an evening flight to Krakow.

Currently, I am back in Aosta, Italy for a few days before a quick trip to Tallinn Estonia and Helsinki. One blog post done and one to go! Stay tuned for some photos from the Tatras of Poland and Slovakia.

The Vagabond Hiker

Back to the Balkans: Bosnia & Croatia

The second half of September found me returning to the Balkans after three weeks in the Dolomites of Italy.  This time, while the priority was not so much hiking per se, Maggie and I did get to experience some very diverse landscapes in the mountains of Bosnia and along the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. We interspersed the hikes with cultural touring in Mostar and Sarajevo in Bosnia and in Dubrovnik, Croatia, enjoying seafood and local wines throughout our journeys.

In Bosnia, we stayed for three nights at an authentic old farmhouse, which was our base for hiking in Sutjeska National Park. This park, established in 1962, is Bosnia’s oldest.  It includes the country’s highest peak, Maglić (2,386 meters) on the border with Montenegro.  The Strict Nature Reserve “Perućica”, one of the last two remaining primeval forests in Europe*, is also part of the park. The photos below are from the two very different hikes we took, a short wander in the Perućica reserve and a grueling round trip climb to the summit of Maglić.

*- The much larger Białowieża Forest in Poland and Belarus is the other.

A stream, Perućica Nature Reserve, Sutjeska National Park. Entry to the reserve is with a guide only. The host at our farmhouse accommodation just happened to be the park ranger in the reserve and invited us to hike there as his guests.

A colorful mushroom, perhaps dyer’s polypore, one of many we saw in Perućica.

A VERY large example of Sparassis crispa, or cauliflower mushroom, in Perućica Reserve.

Even more mushrooms, Perućica Reserve.

Trail heading to Lake Trnovacko from Prijevor, Sutjeska NP. The route we took to the summit of Mount Maglić was about 14 miles and had more than 3,500 ft of elevation gain.

Montenegrin border post at Lake Trnovačko. Fortunately, my driver’s license was sufficient for the guard/park ranger. Most of the hike was actually in Montenegro.

Mount Maglić (l) from Lake Trnovačko (Trnovačko Jezero).

After a stiff climb from the lake, a flattish plateau area brought us to Maglić’s summit block, which required a short scramble.

With Maggie on Mount Maglić’s summit (2386 meters)

The heart-shaped Lake Trnovačko from Maglić’s summit. Our climbing route was from the left side of the lake here.

Another view of Lake Trnovačko with clouds, on our descent

After Bosnia, we returned to the Dubrovnik area of Croatia’s Dalmatian coast. While the lovely walled city is teeming with tourists, we found two hikes to the north that were not so overrun: the walled town of Ston and the island of Lopud.  Both made for interesting day trips from our apartment a few kilometers north of Dubrovnik.

Village of Ston with salt pans, seen from one of the walls. The walls of Ston are longer than Dubrovnik, and claimed to be the longest walled fortification in Europe.

The walls extend to the nearby town of Mali Ston (Mali means “little”)

Our hike was a loop that involved some bush-whacking on the return to Ston. Here is a portion of the Ston walls that we saw on our return. Only part of the fortifications are currently open to the public.

A short ferry from Dubrovnik to The island of Lopud is only a short ferry ride from Dubrovnik.  Vehicle-free (except golf carts), there are many hiking trails that enabled us to more or less circumambulate the island.  Here are some Bougainvillea above the town of Lopud.

Vista from Sutvrač Fort towards Sipan. Although not quite two square miles in area, Lopud is the second largest island of the Elaphiti islands (after Sipan).  It is located less than 10 kilometers NW of Dubrovnik.

Sutvrač Fort goats

Sutvrač Fort wall with flowers

Vista point on the Northwest corner of Lopud. The peacefulness of the island was a dramatic change from the crowds of tourists a few miles away in Dubrovnik.

Tomorrow I leave for New Delhi to begin a three week trekking trip to the Garwhal Himalaya. Our group will be trekking in the region of Kumaon, Uttarakhand, just West of Nepal and bordering Tibet to the North.  On my return to the UK later this month I will post my next blog from my first trip to India.

Until then, enjoy the outdoors,

The Vagabond Hiker

 

 

The High Peaks of the Balkans

This past week I took an amazing trekking journey through four Balkan countries: Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia, standing on the highest point of each.  Starting the week in Albania our KE group summited its tallest peak, Mount Korab (2764 m, 9068 ft), located on the border between Albania and Macedonia. Next we headed to Kosovo,  recently independent from Serbia, spending a night in the historic Ottoman trading center of Gjakova.  Starting a three-day trek the next morning, we climbed Mount Gjeravica (2656m), Kosovo’s highest peak and the second highest in the Dinaric Alps range, one of the most rugged and extensively mountainous areas of Europe.  After Kosovo we cross-border trekked between Albania and Montenegro through a remote and wild landscape before finishing our adventure by summiting the highest point in Montenegro, Zla Kolata (2534m), on the Albanian border. More alpine in aspect than the other peaks, it was also a bit of a scramble with a (mild) knife edge traverse to the summit.  Early the final morning we took a ferry along the length of Lake Koman in northern Albania, enjoying this amazing gorge before returning to our starting point in the capital of Tirana.  Truly a wonderful trip with some culture and a lot of history thrown in.

Vista of the lower portion of our ascent route on Mt Korab

Grass of Parnassus. I also saw this flower in the Val d’Aosta in Italy, but wasn’t able to get a good photo

Our guide, Dritan, on the Mt Korab ascent. Only 24 years old, it is his first year as a head guide.

Looking Southeast into Macedonia from the col before Mt Korab’s summit ridge

Atmospheric view Northeast into Macedonia from the summit of Mt Korab (2764m), the high point of both Albania and Macedonia

Our group summit photo on Mt Korab. Amazingly, we all made it to the top despite the heat and various individual issues

Detail of a Cobweb Houseleek. I know there was a photo of these in my last post, but I think they’re cool looking.

An interesting unidentified pink flower

Likely Willow Gentians

Mt Gjeravica, Kosovo’s high point (2656m) from near our trailhead, the start of a three day trek

The Vagabond Hiker on Mt Gjeravica’s summit with the Albanian flag.  Interetingly, the American flag was also there.

Aptly named Heart Lake, seen during the steep descent from Mt Gjeravica

An unidentified pink orchid

A few of the huts in the seasonal hamlet of Doberdol (1791m)

Our horsemen removing some of our luggage at the primitive Doberdol shepherd hut where we stayed one night

Some chill Doberdol sheep. One we named Bob Marley.

Likely a Greek Stream Frog, seen on our hike to the village of Ceremi

Mountain view on our trek to Ceremi, where we stayed in a basic guest house without electricity

Dianthus, possibly sylvestris (Wood Pinks)

Some of our group ascending Zla Kolata, the high point in Montenegro

Will and Geoff on Zla Kolata’s summit ridge

Zla Kolata summit vista. The day was cloudy but fortunately the rains held off until that evening after dinner in our camp.

A view down to the Valbona Valley, the final descent of our trek

A view of Lake Koman from our ferry

I am back in Italy now, preparing to head off tomorrow morning for five days climbing Via Ferratas and four nights enjoying rustic Italian cuisine in mountain rifugios. Until next post,

Happy Trails,

The Vagabond Hiker

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