A walk through Central Balkan, Bulgaria

 

I have been climbing and hiking in Bulgaria for over ten years, but always in the Rila and Pirin Ranges and sparsely into Rodopi’s too. It’s a country that I love, though the mountains aren’t high, they are wild and alluring enough for my restless feet. This year I decided to explore some new areas and chanced upon the Central Balkan Range, barely 2 hours by road to the east of Sofia. I realized that it is possible to walk all along the ridge of this range, skipping from one peak to another pretty much in a west to east or reverse axis, and the entire crossing might take around a ten days. As I had only 4/5 days at my disposal (sometimes I am not free due to prior commitments) I decided to explore and traverse the highest part of this ridge – the massif in and around the highest peak of Botev. And what made this trip truly special was that my sister Stefanie was my hiking partner. She is super strong, a true nature and mountain lover, who can match me step for step no matter how challenging the terrain might be.

 

Day 1 – We took the morning bus from Sofia Serdika bus station to Karlovo. The road journey took around 2 hrs 40 min. Getting off at Karlovo, we found easily the beginning of the hiking trail that would take us straight up to the ridge. The trail mostly goes through thick forest of pine, birch and oak, winding along a rushing stream of crystal clear water. In around 2 hours from the road head we reached the mountain hut of Khubavets. At this place the stream divides into two, one going right, one going left. We stopped at the hut for some refreshments. After a brief stop we started off on the trail to the left. Soon enough we crossed the stream and started climbing steeply through the dense forest. I had filled up 5 lt of water as I anticipated that there won’t be any water point further up… I couldn’t have been further from the truth. After another two hours we came out of the forest and at the place that is marked as Zaslon (1530m) in maps.me found a rather well built shepherd’s hut with a rotund guy who hailed to us in Greek. With my rusty Greek I understood his name was Panayotis and that he knew the shepherds and that there was no need to pitch our tents as we could sleep inside. Only thing we had to wait for the shepherds to arrive. When the duo arrived with their flock of sheep, goat and a pair of fierce dogs, it was well after sunset. They were really hospitable and offered us their room while they and Panayotis slept in the kitchen. Stefanie engaged them with her questions and linguistic skills. They had a massive source of crystal clear water and I felt rather sheepish at having carried 5 ltr of water in my backpack all the way up here. There was even a shower head that the shepherds used once in a while to have a sprinkling shower.

 

Stream along the trail on Day 1

Shepherd hut where we slept on first night

Day 2 – We partook breakfast and coffee and started off around 9am. Panayotis had already started half an hour before us. Soon we overtook him and continued up ahead following the scree filled slope trail. It took us an hour or so to reach the bottom of Malak Kupen peak from where I wanted to catch the upper ridge (winter trail marked with well-spaced iron poles. From here we veered to our right and on cresting the ridge to the right saw the beautiful lake of Lokvata. This lake could be a very nice camping ground. The blue water sparkled under the bright sun. We further hiked up to the junction where Dobrila hut trail meets, coming from the west. At this point we stopped for breakfast. We boiled eggs, made sandwich and washed it down with some freshly brewed coffee. We also started seeing more hikers coming from Dobrila hut, including families with children. We realized that this is a popular trail but rarely did people come from the Karlovo, like we had done. The hike from this junction point to the summit of Kupena (2169m) was a short yet interesting one, with several fixed rope sections. The view from the top was brilliant. We descended sharply following the ridge on the other side and soon crossed several chained sections where we had to down climb. The ridge just kept getting prettier and prettier with every twist and turn and eventually we saw the massive telecommunication tower atop peak Botev. Though we could have pushed forward, we decided to camp near Botev mountain hut next to a shepherd’s grazing ground. The day had been exhilarating. We found a sort of flat patch on the slopes for the tent and cooked dinner. It rained at night and the clouds came rushing from all around. During the day we saw several mountain bikers, struggling up and down the slopes.

 

Hiking from the shepherd hut on Day 2

Lokvata Lake. Kupena peak on background. Trail goes through Kupena

Climbing to Kupena

Stefanie tackling a scramble after Kupena

Trail continues on the ridge towards Botev Peak

Botev Hut. We camped outside

Day 3 – The day dawned shrouded in thick mist and clouds and a chilly gale. We quickly packed our bags and headed straight up and east to the summit of Botev. In an hour we crested and reached the top. I had never before seen so many gigantic buildings and installations atop a peak ever anywhere in the world. It was like a mini tech city. The summit at 2376m is a very small one by Himalayan standards but I suppose of immense strategic value to someone for all these buildings sprouting around like ugly mushrooms. After a brief rest and photo stop we headed due south following the broad trail and the marker poles, and reached at the foot of the famous waterfall of Raisko Praskalo. At 124.5m it is supposed to be the highest waterfall in all of Balkan Peninsula. It is fed by snow melt so the cascade wasn’t really big or thick but the drop was impressive. Being a hot day we had an impromptu swim and dip into the small pool right underneath the cascade. It was really refreshing, followed by an aperitif pre-lunch on the rocks. It was divine. A short walk from the waterfall brought us to Rai Hut camping, which was rather full. We pitched our tent and went for a hike to the group of three hills nearby, the furthest and the highest of which is named Golyam Raiski Kupen. Evening we befriended several Bulgarian families and had a great time. It rained again at night.

 

Just above the waterfall. Rai hut visible far below

Raisko Praskalo waterfall

Rai Hut with our tent 

Day 4 – After a sumptuous breakfast we headed down through thick forests and alongside winding streams. At a point we were surprised to find a parked, unmanned van, with wifi and self-serving coin fed refreshment dispenser with few chairs and a table laid out. Talk about being enterprising and this took the cake. The path is wide and well-marked and we soon caught up with some of our friends from last night as they had started well before us. In a little over 2 hrs we reached the car park and got a lift to the village of Kalofer where we would be spending the night. Our guesthouse was silent, sparsely decorated yet very comfortable. With a clear view of Botev from the balcony it was perfect for us. In the evening we strolled around the cute village and fell in love with its quaint corners, silent walkways, blooming flowers, tiny cafes and the tavern where we celebrated our hike and siblinghood with a lot of food including the best peyrlenka (a traditional Bulgarian flat bread generally made with garlic and cheese) and even raised a toast with tiny glasses of rakia (which considering all facts was a bit extreme for both Stefanie and I but what the hell, we were in a celebratory mood).

 

Day 5 – caught the morning bus back to Sofia and onwards to yet another adventure of mind, body and soul.

 

Note: - this was my first trip to the Central Balkan range of Bulgaria and I decided to write this post since not much is available online about this range, though the other two well-known ranges in Bulgaria that of Rila and Pirin are very well covered online. I would return to these mountains soon for a longer duration and maybe in the winters where we can hike all along the upper ridges and water won’t be an issue at all. What I also liked about this region was a complete absence of outside tourists. Everyone we met were Bulgarians either living in Bulgaria or returning home for vacations. Did not find a single guided groups like we do in the other two mountains.