That day I woke up and I was surprised to see almost clear sky above the mountains, instead of the promised for a whole week from the forecast clouds, rain and thunderstorms. I had other plans for the day, but the day looked perfect for a place that I want to hike to for more than 6 months - The Scary Lake. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably remember that I've mentioned it. Shortly - this lake is relatively difficult to approach ( for Rila mountain) and really incredibly beautiful. I've been there before and I am trying to go again since I discovered by chance in the autumn a new pathway that leads to it. And by trying I mean more than 5 "unsuccessful" attempts- because of the snow, the weather or the lack of pathway. I don't mind though, with or without reaching it, every hike is exciting.
For this time I was almost sure that it would be possible to reach it and although I didn't, my hike was a memorable one. After around 2 hour hiking while I was next to another lake (again if you've read my posts - the well-known Yonchevo lake) I heard the first thunder. It sounded terrifying and yet somehow exciting so after a slight hesitation I continued upwards.
And after less than an hour walking on a steep path I arrived in the winter.
The Scary Lake is called like that because of the way the thunders sound if you are around it as the echo there is really strong. I thought that it would be wonderful to see it exactly in a thunderstorm. There is a shelter on its shore where I could hide if the rain was too heavy.
The mountain has a specific and different majesty in such weather, that I had never witnessed before that - I had never been so high in the mountain (and so far from any shelter) in such weather. Although I've experienced snow and fog several times, rain and thunders were a new thing. When I look through the window and see the mountain peaks hidden in dark clouds, I've always wondered what it would be like to be up there . Now I know - it is awesome! The more I hike, the more astonished I am by the diversity of landscapes that nature offers depending on the season and the weather. It rained briefly several times, even hail.
When I got to the stone river, I decided that is would be irresponsible to continue, although I was already pretty close - to the lake - no more than 40 minutes left. My clothes and my shoes were wet, the thunders were more and more, the sky was really dark and the main reason - the stones were really slippery and there was still two much snow at some places.
Actually at first I didn't believe that that was the right trail although there were little cairns on some of the stones. I thought that there should be another one that I had missed and wandered around for a while and found one more great viewpoint, but not other path.
And my adventurous soul had enough. So I returned. Yonchevo Lake was reflecting the sky as I was going down and soon after that it started raining again this time without stopping. I wasn't stopping either. I was running downwards really happy that I could witness all that beauty. It was the perfect bad weather. Thank you, mountain, for letting me see more of your majesty :)
And thank you for stopping by!