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| Hiking | 15.04 Miles |
5,044 AEG |
| | Hiking | 15.04 Miles | 10 Hrs 22 Mns | | 1.63 mph |
| 5,044 ft AEG | 1 Hour 7 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Musala, at 9598', is not only the highest mountain in Bulgaria, but also the highest mountain in all of the Balkan peninsula. It's located just south of Borovets, which is the largest ski resort in Bulgaria. In the winter, the slopes near the peak are utilized for skiing, and there are several active and defunct ski lifts across the mountains in the area.
In the summer, however, Borovets is pretty much a ghost town. this was to our benefit as we rented 2 rooms for ourselves and Radmila's sister's family, both on the same floor of the hotel we were at, with no one else on our floor. All the local restaurants had no waiting and everything was pretty much walking distance from where we stayed. the elevation in Borovets is about 4400', and the tall pine trees everywhere create enough shade to keep everything cool. the high temperatures while we were there were mid 80s in the day, and at night in the lower 60s. None of the rooms had air conditioning but they didn't need it. Once the sun went down opening the windows created enough of a breeze to make things very comfortable.
There is one main ski lift, called Yastrebets, which is also a fully enclosed gondola, that leaves from Borovets that will take you halfway up to the peak, cutting the hike in half. I consider this cheating. My opinion didn't matter, however, because the gondola is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and I was doing this hike on a Tuesday. This made the mileage and AEG very comparable to Mt. Ord, which I've done twice in the past 2 months, so I was very prepared for this hike.
The Musala Trailhead is less than mile uphill from Borovets on the only road uphill out of town. Radmila dropped me off there just after 5:30am and I got a start with just enough daylight to not need a headlamp.
the initial 4 miles to where the gondola drops you off is a dirt road. This makes the full hike easier than I expected, and again very similar to Mt. Ord. It's mostly in the tall pines, so visibility is pretty much non existent. The weather was still very cool, making it a very nice break from the AZ heat.
The road crosses a stream twice, the second crossing just as it approaches a ski lift. Above this ski lift, it appears that the end of the Yastrebets ski lift ends, several hundred feet above on a ridge. This made it appear to me that taking the Yastrebets ski lift would still create a need to hike downhill nearly 1000' to get to the trail to the peak, and then climb back up that if you wanted to take the ski lift back down. Not much of a shortcut in my opinion.
I continued past the lower ski lift, which was also closed. Just beyond that was another ski lift that looked permanently closed. Finally the single track trail appeared. I started up this trail amongst some short scrubby pines and soon encountered a mud bog. I had seen a trail off to the right. It turns out this trail bypasses the mud bog. This was the trail I took on the way back down, which saved some time on the return.
At the 5 mile mark, the trail meets the Musala lodge. this lodge has 2 other abandoned lodges directly adjacent to it. The one abandoned lodge looks pretty big and appears to have catered to the skiing crowd. There is also evidence of yet another abandoned ski lift, which may have been partially torn down. This is also where there are the first of several glacial lakes that are formed from the melting glaciers near the peak. These lakes also feed the stream below that the lower trail follows, and they also create the mud bog just below.
At this point the trail splits to the left and right. both trails meet up again just past the 2 lower lakes. I took the shorter trail, thinking I would save time and that it would be easier since it started out level. I was wrong about that. Soon it climbs up a bouldered area where it's very slow going. This was also where I was needing some snacks. I tried to eat as I went, but this was pretty difficult. Finally after getting some calories and extra water in my system, I was feeling better.
I was also back on the main trail, which make the hiking a little easier. It was still rocky and there was mild bouldering, but much better than the alternate route I had just escaped. At about the 6.5 mile mark, the trail meets the Ledenoto Ezero (Ice Lake) lodge, which is right next to that lake. Both of these lodges offer drinks, food and beds if needed. I'm not really sure why you want to stay overnight at a lodge when the peak is less than mile away. These lodges aren't full on hotels with a lot of accommodations. To each their own, I suppose. I pushed on past both of these directly on my way to the peak.
the trail goes all the way to the peak. some descriptions I found online talked about a route that has cables, similar to a via ferrata route. I saw these cables, but I don't think their intended purpose was for climbers, unless it's for the winter time. The trail was steeper the closer it got and it alternated from smooth and rocky sections.
I got to the peak at the 7.4 mile mark and with 5K' AEG, which was short of the 8 miles and 5200' estimates I saw online. There are several buildings up there with appears to be various communications equipment. My weather app gives this peak as a location to get current weather conditions, so I'm sure these buildings also have that equipment. I got obligatory pics at the peak monument, and ate lunch.
As I got there, two other hikers were just leaving. I hadn't seen any other hikers on my way up. After finishing lunch, two other hikers arrived, a father and son. He asked for me to take his picture with his sone at the peak and I in turn asked for a picture of me there with my Terrible Towel. I talked with them a little and found that they were from Poland. I'm half Polish, so this was a point of commonality to some degree. I ended our conversation as I left with the only Polish phrase I know, which in English means "how are you?".
the views up at the top (and just below) were the best on the hike. The alpine environment up there was very picturesque and the clear weather made for great views of the surrounding mountains. Looking west, I'm sure I was looking at mountains in North Macedonia, and possibly even Greece. Lots of still unmelted glaciers were visible on all of them. just below the peak all the glacial lakes I had just hiked past were all visible, and both lodges. The glacial lakes were very blue and turquoise. It was very nice to take all this in just days after summiting Triglav and comparing the scenery of both places.
On the way back down I stayed on the main trail, which was easier to hike, with one semi bouldering area. It goes close by another lake, which made it possible to see how clear and pristine the water is up there. At the lower lodge I stopped and got a couple iced teas and had some more snacks. I talked to the lady who worked there and she was surprised that I was hiking to the peak and back all in one day. Apparently not many people do this.
I saw one group of hikers just before this break who were asking if the trail remained rocky all the way to peak (yes). The second group I saw just as I was exiting the mud bog bypass trail, and I recommended that route to them to save time. the 3rd group I saw a couple who wanted to know how long it was to the peak from that spot  . I told them my total time to get to the peak and they would have to calculate accordingly based on their hiking speed.
The hike back on the road was pretty easy and my best time was made along this section, despite the mild fatigue starting to set in. Finished up and got Radmila to pick me up at the trailhead. This hike wasn't as spectacular as Triglav, and it subsequently didn't have as many hikers. the views at the top are still phenomenal and it's well worth doing for the scenery, as a peak bag, and to stay in the cooler weather of Borovets when the rest of Eastern Europe is still sweltering with the summer heat and humidity. |
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