European Mountains
Bulgaria

Musala (2925m), Malka Musala (2902m), Irechek (2852m), Deno (2790m), July 9 2011


To the main Musala page (maps, route descriptions, other trip reports, etc.)

 

 

Bourgas and the Black Sea

Bourgas and the Black Sea
(Click for larger image)

 

Background

This summer holiday was to be spent in northern Norway, but a ... very disappointing ... weather forecast made Anne and me change our plans for the first week, 2 days before we were to travel north. Anne suggested Bulgaria - knowing that there was a direct flight from Ålesund to Bourgas. My reaction was "Let's do it", and in record time, Anne arranged the flight, the hotel for the first night and a rental car. Two days later, we were on a plane to Bourgas and this would be my first visit to eastern Europe.

I knew *nothing* about Bulgaria. I had bought a guide book, managed to get hold of a map of the Bulgarian mountains for my handheld GPS and hoped that my TomTom (GPS for the car) would safely guide us on the Bulgarian roads.

The currency was also a big question. What were we to use inside the country? Our search on the internet gave us no firm answer to the question, so we decided to settle for Euro. But the ATM at the Ålesund airport Vigra was out of order, and now were on our way to Bulgaria without money. No big issue, but still...

 

July 7 2011 - To Bulgaria

We landed in Sarafovo outside Bourgas 00:30am (local time) and after picking up our luggage, we got hold of Bulgarian currency (lev) from the airport ATM. Outside, it was extremely hot. Could I survive for one week with such a temperature? We knew that the Sea Horse Hotel was only a 5-minute walk from the hotel, but we didn't know the direction and seeking help at the airport was futile. We ended up taking a taxi and managed to negotiate the fare down to 15 levs.

Two minutes later, we checked into the Sea Horse Hotel. The manager quickly earned the nickname "Ok, no problem my friend" - possibly repeated a bit too often. We got an OK room with air condition and a balcony (55 levs per night), and it was time to sit down for a minute and let everything sink in (including the cold beer that I bought at the hotel reception...). One thing was clear - Sarafovo was a practical village, with both the airport and the beach in walking distance...

 

Sarafovo street map

Sarafovo street map
(Click for larger image)

 

July 8 2011 - Travel day and base-camp Borovets

After breakfast, we went down to the Sarafovo beach by the Black Sea and had a morning swim. The temperature in the water was just amazing. Afterwards, we checked out of the hotel and walked back to the airport to pick up our rental car. They said they had a Chevrolet for us, and I quickly imagined a large, comfortable car. To my disappointment, a Bulgarian Chevrolet is NOT the same as the American version...

We turned on the TomTom, which instantly complained that it hadn't received any map updates in 28 months. But hopefully, no dramatic changes had happened to the Bulgarian road system in the meantime. The number one goal for us was to hike Musala - not only the highest peak in Bulgaria but also the highest mountain top on the entire Balkan peninsula. We had chosen the town of Borovets (at the foot of the Rila mountains) to be our base-camp for a couple of days, and we asked TomTom to help us get there.

Once out of Bourgas - and away from the Black Sea, the Bulgarian countryside opened up in front of us. To the northwest were the Balkan mountains and to the southwest we could see the Rodopi mountain range. We were soon forced to adopt the Bulgarian way of driving in order to a) avoid accidents with meeting traffic and b) avoid building up queues behind us - keeping us in constant danger as other cars overtook us with minimal clearance and margins. When in Bulgaria, drive as the Bulgarians. A good advice...

 

On the road

On the road
(Click for larger image)



The first detail that really caught our attention was the vast fields of sunflowers. Tall sunflowers! It was incredibly hot outside, but we kept cool inside the car. Staying on the A1 road, we passed Sliven, Nova Zagora, Stara Zagora (now back on the motorway), Plovdiv (2nd largest city in Bulgaria) and Pazardzhik before turing onto highway 8 towards Kostenets, then highway 82 through Dolna Banya, Samokov and eventually Borovets. We struggled to find the correct exit towards Borovets, and ended up with a major detour in the direction of Sofia before we found a place to turn around.

Finding our way using the GPS was difficult enough. Without it, things would have gotten really, really cumbersome. According to the guide book, Borovets is the most popular ski-resort in Bulgaria, but there were no signposts along the main highway!

At first glance, Borovets seemed to comprise just a couple of hotels and a small store. A bit surprising, really - given the "most popular ski-resort in Bulgaria" status. We stopped by the Villa Park Mountain Residence hotel and took a look at a couple of rooms. The room quality and price was just fine and we booked the room for 3 nights.

 

Our new base-camp in Borovets

Our new base-camp in Borovets
(Click for larger image)

 


The small store across the road had the most necessary items, which included (in random order) beer, wine, a type of bread with cheese, cheese and ham and some fruits. Next, we took the car to locate the Musala trailhead for the next day and discovered a small town just around the corner! There were more hotels, souvenir shops, stores and a lot of restaurants. Hmm! And we thought we had found the smallest ski-resort on the planet..

While enjoying a very nice dinner at one of the restaurants, the quiet atmosphere got replaced with noise from cars driving up and down the main road. The cars were participating in Rally Bulgaria, which took place in Borovets this weekend. This was apparently show-off evening.

Gradually, we got accustomed to being tourists in Bulgaria. Anne was making good progress with Bulgarian words and translation between Cyrillic and Latin. My focus was on the maps and the mountains.

Borovets in July is obviously off-season, and it was a bit ... strange ... to be two of very few guests at the hotel. The staff was keeping a "close eye" on us, and I had to keep telling myself that they only wanted to be available in case we needed any service.

 

Walking the streets of Borovets

Walking the streets of Borovets
(Click for larger image)

 


 

 

July 9 2011 - Ascent of Musala

All times given below are local times...

The next morning, we sat course for the gondola lift which started running 09am. And once we were airborne, it became evident that I still got a long way to go before my vertigo is cured. Closing my eyes helped me get past the first quarter, and I possibly acclimated some after a while. We noticed a big mountain to the north. My first thought was that "we should definitely try to hike that mountain". Later in the day, we learned that the mountain is called Vitosha and we did actually go there the very next day...

 

 

Vitosha mountain seen from the gondola

Vitosha mountain seen from the gondola
(Click for larger image)

 

We reached Yastrebets (2369m - top of the gondola) at 9:45am and I was extremely happy about having my feet placed on solid ground. We had Musala in clear view - 5,2km to the south. It was turning out to be a hot day, but the temperature wasn't too bad up here. The first part of our hike was the 3,6km road to the Musala hut at approx. 2400m. The walk was easy and we arrived there 10:38am - after passing a number of other hikers.

 

 

The route, seen from Yastrebets

The route, seen from Yastrebets
(Click for larger image)

 

We filled up our water bottles at the hut, before moving on - trailing a long queue of people. We never planned to hurry anything on this hike, but staying behind 20-30 hikers was more than we (read: I) could handle. A few minutes later, Anne and me were in front...

We followed the trail up to the Everest shelter at approx. 2720m. Our map says that this hut is called Ledenoto ezero Shelter, but sources on the internet says this is wrong. All we knew was that we had no particular business there, and continued towards our main goal.

 

Everest shelter and Musala

Everest shelter and Musala
(Click for larger image)

 

 

The hike up Musala's northeast ridge went fine and we reached the summit 12:06pm. In other words, it took us approx. 2h:20m to get here. Musala is altogether an easy summit to reach, although the weather can of course get quite severe at this altitude. It felt good, but also a bit strange to be up here. The idea of going to Bulgaria was just 4 days old! In any case - a small celebration was in order!

 

On top of Bulgaria

On top of Bulgaria
(Click for larger image)

 

Round trip...

After a very disappointing lunch (the only bread we could find in Borovets this morning was the kind served with hot-dogs...) we moved on in the direction of Malka Musala (the smaller Musala peak). From above, the ridge looked mighty rugged and I wondered how exactly we were supposed to get across. And while there were hundreds of hikers on the normal route, we didn't see anyone going towards Malka Musala. Should that be a disturbing fact? From what we had understood, this route was supposed to be quite doable!

 

Towards Malka Musala

Towards Malka Musala
(Click for larger image)

 

 

On the way down the ridge, we passed two hikers - taking a rest. They looked like very seasoned mountaineers and asked us where we came from. And once our nationality was sorted out, they decided that their break was over and followed us. But they stuck to the ridge crest, and not the public path. God forbid...

The ridge route was much easier than we had feared (we had to use our hands here and there for support and balance) and reached the top of Malka Musala at 1pm, and two other hikers suddenly turned up. There were probably only 6 hikers on the entire ridge between Musala and Deno, and all 6 were on Malka Musala right this minute! We didn't stay for long and continued (along with the other hikers) towards Irechek.

 

Towards Irechek (and Deno)

Towards Irechek (and Deno)
(Click for larger image)

 

Irechek is just a small hump (although it looks impressive from the Musala hut) and we stayed just a few minutes. We moved on in the direction of Deno and caught up with the two hikers that suddenly surfaced on Malka Musala. We had a straightforward ascent of Deno, and reached the summit 2:07pm. The weather and the views remained impeccable. 

We found the path from the pass between Deno and Irechek, back to the Musala hut where it was jolly good to taste fresh, running water again. We had sort of ... been running low for a while. We returned to Yastrebets 4:03pm - approx. 6h:15m after heading out. There was no gondola queue, and we were on our way down the mountain minutes later. And the descent was far worse than the ascent. When they shot us out of the garage ... I thought I was going to faint...

 

Countdown...

Countdown...
(Click for larger image)

 

At 4:29pm, I recorded a mental note about having survived the gondola. We returned to the hotel and prepared for a nice night out in of Borovets...

Next day: Cherni Vrah

Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 550D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6 + a Canon Powershot G12

 

Javascript slideshow

(Full size images)

 

  Flash slideshow

(Images scaled down.
Right-click on images and select 'open in a new window' for full size version)
(No panoramas)

 

 

July 8 2011 - Sarafovo

1. Bourgas 2. By the Black Sea 3. Anne in the Black Sea 4. The Sarafovo beach 5. The Sarafovo beach 6. City map 7. Our hotel 8. Our hotel

July 8 2011 - westbound

9. On the road, heading west 10. Sunflower 11. Sunflowers 12. Sunflowers 13. Storks 14. Our rental car 15. Mountains appearing 16. Arriving in Borovets 17. Our hotel in Borovets 18. Exploring Borovets 19. Exploring Borovets 20. Bulgarian salad 21. Exploring Borovets 22. Exploring Borovets 23. Exploring Borovets 24. Exploring Borovets 25. Exploring Borovets

July 9 2011 - To Yastrebetz

26. GPS tracks 26B. GPS profile 27. Our starting point 28. Gondola queue 29. Going up... 30. Vitosha mountain 31. Samokov 32. Approaching Yastrebetz 33. Yastrebetz

July 9 2011 - To the Musala hut

34. View towards Musala 35. Our round trip route 36. On the right track 37. Musala peak 38. Anne - happy as always 39. Local flora 40. Local flora 41. On the road to Musala 42. Local flora 43. Local flora 44. Local flora 45. On the road to Musala 46. Approaching the Musala hut 47. Trail info 48. Musala hut 49. Musala hut

July 9 2011 - To the Ribni Ezera hut

50. Leaving the Musala hut 51. In line for Musala 52. In line for Musala 53. Passing snow 54. Musala in view 55. Passing a small lake 56. En route to Musala 57. Passing Ribni Ezera 58. Passing Ribni Ezera 59. Fly, bird, fly 60. Inside Ribni Ezera

July 9 2011 - To the Musala peak

61. To the summit 62. On the summit ridge 63. On the summit ridge 64. The ridge to Malka Musala 65. The trailhead 66. Anne is having a good time 67. Anne, on the summit ridge 68. Anne, on the summit ridge 69. On top of Bulgaria! 70. On top of Bulgaria! 71. On top of Bulgaria!

July 9 2011 - Summit panoramas

72. Wide-angle view from Musala 73. Musala summit 74. Wide-angle view from Musala

July 9 2011 - Towards Malka Musala

75. The route ahead 76. The summit area 77. The summit area 78. Towards Malka Musala 79. Peaks south of Musala 80. Crowded mountain 81. View towards Deno 82. Our route to Musala 83. Our route to the Musala hut 84. Towards Malka Musala 85. A rugged ridge 86. Better hold on... 87. A rugged ridge 88. A rugged ridge 89. Through the gate 90. Ascent - finally 91. Rough stuff 92. Anne - approaching Malka Musala 93. Anne - approaching Malka Musala 94. Anne on Malka Musala 95. Vitosha mountain above Sofia

July 9 2011 - Wide-angle view from Malka Musala

96. Wide-angle view from Malka Musala

July 9 2011 - To Irechek and Deno

97. Leaving Malko Musala 98. Irechek and Deno 99. Towards Irechek 100. Towards Irechek 101. Towards Irechek 102. On Irechek 103. Ribni Ezera hut seen from Irechek 104. Musala seen from Irechek 105. Musala summit, zoomed in 106. Ribni Ezera hut 107. Local flora 108. Towards Deno 109. Musala hut 110. Between Irechek and Deno 111. Towards Deno 112. On top of Deno

July 9 2011 - Wide-angle view from Deno

113. Wide-angle view from Deno

July 9 2011 - Descent

114. North view from Deno 115. Samokov 116. Irechek 117. Butterly on Deno 118. Returning to Musala hut 119. Anne and Irechek 120. Horses and symmetry 121. Horses and symmetry 122. To the Musala hut 123. On the road to Yastrebetz 124. On the road to Yastrebetz 125. Back in the gondola 126. Back in the gondola

No Javascript:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 26B 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126

 


westcoastpeaks.com Other European mountains Other Norwegian mountains