Adventures from Bulgaria: Summer in the Mountains – Day 1

Eastward  from Borovets

By Valeria Idakieva

At the beginning of January 2017, I started thinking about doing the Bulgarian part of the European long distance path called E8^*. In Bulgaria the route starts in the Rila Mountains and crosses the Rhodope Mountains, reaching the Turkish border. As usual, my preparation consisted of obtaining information and waiting for August when I could run away to the mountains. Finally August came and I was soon getting my backpack ready for the summer adventure. I could not make it light enough, but it was not the first time I’ve had this problem, and I knew I was going to get used to its weight anyway. I got on the bus and headed for Borovets – a ski resort in the Rila Mountains where my route started. The next day rose a bright blue morning with fresh, cool air, and I eagerly followed the path, which weaves along a beautiful river.

    The air was full of pine fragrance, which lifted my spirits, but after a couple of hours I began to feel the weight of my 14-kilo backpack [about 31 lbs], so I stopped to listen to the river and began to rest more often. Other hikers, with small backpacks and fast steps, passed by me, quickly disappeared, and left me casting envious glances at them. Soon the forest was going to give way to the rocky hills.

That afternoon I had to climb Musala – the highest peak of the Rila Mountains – and continue on after that. In the early afternoon I reached the lodge near the peak and found it bustling with people. I had completely forgotten that August 6th was the “Day of Rila Mountains,” and a lot of people had used the ski lift to come here, climb up and down the peak, and celebrate. The area around the lodge was filled with noise, songs and laughter, but there was no time for me to join the celebration, so I had a quick lunch and continued climbing the steep slopes. There were no more trees to offer their cool shadow, so I was sweating under the weight of my backpack as I crawled up the peak and fought my way through the crowds hurrying down to catch the ski lift to the resort. Still, the views were stunning and I often had short rests with the excuse of enjoying the scenery.

    At about 4:00 pm, puffing and panting, I finally reached the top.

    After a short rest there I had to go on because other peaks were waiting for me to climb up and down until the end of the day. Going down is usually more difficult than climbing up, so I zig-zagged down the slope with shaking knees and aching feet and continually reminded myself that I should walk, step by step, if I did not want to spend the night on a hill. Later, in the early evening, after I had climbed up and down some more slopes, my strength returned and I was enjoying the fresh air and the beautiful views again.

    By the time I neared the lodge where I was going to stay the night, the sun had already disappeared behind the mighty slopes and an enormous, full moon was shining over me. Soon the lodge emerged in the darkness and with a substantial dinner I successfully finished the difficult first day.
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* E-8’s Wikipedia entry says: “After Ireland it crosses the Irish Sea into the United Kingdom, where it follows part of the Trans Pennine Trail. After crossing the North Sea, it passes through the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine and Romania. It finally crosses Bulgaria before reaching Turkey.”

Copyright © 2018 by Valeria Idakieva