One of the most exciting hiking tours in Rila mountains

Чети на български

At the end of October, I went hiking in Rila mountains. The weather was sunny and warm. We were all packed up, and ready to hit the slopes. The plan was to see some of the Seven Rila lakes, but the main idea was to walk the Urdina valley and see the Urdini lakes. Early in the morning, the lift took us to Rila lakes hut and the journey began.

Our first stop was the Fish lake at the altitude of 2,184m. We had some snacks and we took a bunch of photos before we moved on. Our mountain guides Lyuben and Neli made our hike such a pleasure! I was constantly asking questions and they were patiently telling us details about all the places we were passing by.

Rila has its Slavic origin and Rila mountain means the water mountain. And having in mind all the lakes and rivers, Rila is indeed a mountain rich in water.

After the first stop, we started climbing, and the Fish lake was already behind our back. Soon after, we could see the Trefoil (Trilistnika - on the photo above) - one of the Seven Rila lakes. A bit higher we could see the snowy mount Otovica (on the photo below).

We continued climbing till we started seeing snow here and there. We did our lunch break at the ridge of Zeleni rid where the view was more than breathtaking. It was time to start going downhill where the Urdini lakes were waiting for us.

kashkaval tourist and mount Malyovitsa in the distance

Urdina (Ursus lat.) means the valley of bears. And now you would ask are there bears indeed? Yes, there are. Neli even told us that she saw a bear in this area a couple of months ago. Well, we didn't have the luck that day.

After a while, we reached the next shelter where we would stop for some rest. The place was incredibly calm and peaceful. We didn't meet any people on our way, which was so cool that I consider trying snowshoeing and ski touring, once I am experienced enough.

The final part of our hike was between the Seven Rila lakes and the valley of Malyovitsa. With night approaching, it got both crazy and exciting but I was feeling safe and secure with our guides at all times.

I will definitely remember this day. It was the first time I did a self-guided trip in general, and the hike took us more than 9 hours, but in the end, I felt pleasantly tired and all the things I saw that day would stay forever in my mind. I highly recommend trekking in Bulgaria because Bulgarian mountains are heaven! Better do it with a mountain guide for the best experience. Have you ever tried it?