Sofia, Bulgaria
Our Hiking Group
More than a month ago - 15.09.2018, three different couples formed a small group for an epic at least for me hiking day.
The first group K x 2 were Kalin and Kaloyan - a father fisherman and his 9 year old son. The father wanted to share his hobbies - fishing, hiking and camping in the high mountain for the first time with his son. I didn't know them before that but when I met them the father was worrying about how his son would feel in the mountain and if he would handle the difficult hike. I joked that probably the son will handle even better than the father and surprisingly I was 100% right. This 9-year boy was unstoppable! He didn't complain even once, was walking ahead of everyone of us and throughout the whole time he was eating mostly only blueberries - like me. I was observing him carefully because children are so much closer than us to our true nature . (the father was always the last one :D).
The second couple - G x 2, were two machines - Georgi and Gerry, they weren't going to spent the night in the mountain, so they came back after we reached The Scary Lake in Rila Mountain. I didn't know Gerry, but I hiked once with Georgi before that and he was really curious about my barefoot hiking, so he tried it, felt the benefits of it and he liked it so much that that day he walked without shoes the whole day and was really content :).
And the third couple - me and my friend - another Georgi. This part of Rila is my all time favorite and I will never get bored to go there. It is breathtakingly amazingly amazing beautiful magnificent and my English is just not that rich to find words to describe it :). We've been there before so we combined it with a new for both of us peak - Popova kapa - 2704m, and slept near The Scary Lake - 2465m.
We left our cars on a parking around 1700m and started our hike. After 2-3 hours of walking on steep rocky pathways we were here. I don't know the name of that lake.
Gerry and the lake
A hundred photos later, we continued upwards.
Our next stop and final destination for 4 of us was The Scary Lake.
These three peaks above the Scary Lake make it looks like a fairytale scene for me.
After a hundred more photos, it was time for G x 2 to come back, and for us to prepare our tents.
Our home for the night was near the Scary Lake and bellow these spectacular three peaks. The highest one of them is 2731m.
After that it was time for us to leave for the peak - Popova kapa, and for K x 2 it was time for fishing.
As we began walking upwards toward the peak, the view became more and more beautiful.
There is a shelter near the lake - The Scary Lake Shelter. My fellow Steemian @alnedkov posted about it and its maintenance a while ago. You can see it on the next photo.
250m altitude difference
Popova Kapa Peak
Me on Popova Kapa Peak
The Three Piles
We passed just below these three peaks on our way down. They are really impressive and are one of the most distinctive silhouettes of peaks in Rila that could be seen from many other places and mountains.
Do you see me?
As far as I know just shortly before the sunset the reflections of the mountains in the lake are amazing, but we missed these moments, because of that quick extra hike to the peak.
The moon is always an important part of the landscape when we spent the night in the mountains.
K x 2 were fishing. They don't eat or kill the fish, but release it immediately after catching.
The Scary Lake in The Golden Hour
Can you notice the sitting man created by the shadow :)?
The Sunset
Second Day - Coming Back
Morning around The Scary Lake
The view from our tent "windows" in the morning.
Yonchevo Lake
Our route was circular, so the way down was different and we pass by one more lake. If you follow my blog, probably you've seen it already.
Thank you for stopping by!
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