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 chal