A big climb to the Bulgarian border with Greece (1650 metres total ascent) and a bigger descent to Izvora hut, another old base for border guards.
After a breakfast of French toast with jam it was a long climb to the peaks of Slavyanka mountain, through the now familiar forest zones of beech then conifers. Once above the tree line I was into the clouds and glad of my GPS as the path disappeared at times. Reaching a pillar marking the boundary between Bulgaria and Greece the clouds lifted so that I could see Greece spread out below me from the ridge I was standing on.
The border passes through the crests of the southern summits of the Slavyanka mountains, with the land dropping more steeply on the Greek side. After coming down from Mount Malak Tsarev Vrah I stopped to eat the open sandwiches prepared by the Hut keeper this morning, admiring the grass covered mountains of Slavyanka and picking out where the border went with my map. Then it was up the final summit of Mount Gotsev. As the wind had become very strong I omitted the optional summit of Shabran and headed downhill, back into Bulgaria as I was planning to cross into Greece at an official border crossing. There is a shorter, steep route and a longer, more gentle route down towards Izvora. I decided on the gentle route to save the strain on my knees but some way along a cowherd pointed out a shortcut through the trees, also down a steep slope. As he had taken the trouble to walk back with me a little way I felt obliged to take it, so my knees did not quite escape.
After the paths and dirt track I eventually reached the tarmaced (but heavily potholed) road to Izvora. Blocks of marble lined the road in places, remnants of a former industry.
Like the Slavyanka hut the Izvora hut was a former barracks, but it has not been refurbished or maintained to the same standard. However I have a room with an en-suite toilet so should not complain that the tiling is not finished. There are some interesting posters up from the time when border guards had to stop people escaping from Socialist Bulgaria, cartoons telling soldiers what to do if they spotted foot prints in the raked sand by the fence that marked the beginning of the border zone. People trying to escape from Bulgarian put their hands up on the posters rather than being shot.
I had trouble finding the Hut keeper but Margarita at Bulguides was very helpful in alerting him to my presence and passing on timings for dinner (at 8:30 pm after he dealt with his animals) etc.. As I ate the cheese the Hut keeper had made himself with kebabs, tomatoes and cucumbers, rakiya and beer, it transpired that his son had spent a few years in Wales near where I live. A small world!
Given the grandeur of the landscape I was surprised not to see any other walkers out today.
The gpx file of the E4 route through Bulgaria ended at Mount Gotsev. A gpx file of the route I then followed into Greece can be found on wikiloc.com and ViewRanger under short code johnpon0035.
After a breakfast of French toast with jam it was a long climb to the peaks of Slavyanka mountain, through the now familiar forest zones of beech then conifers. Once above the tree line I was into the clouds and glad of my GPS as the path disappeared at times. Reaching a pillar marking the boundary between Bulgaria and Greece the clouds lifted so that I could see Greece spread out below me from the ridge I was standing on.
The border passes through the crests of the southern summits of the Slavyanka mountains, with the land dropping more steeply on the Greek side. After coming down from Mount Malak Tsarev Vrah I stopped to eat the open sandwiches prepared by the Hut keeper this morning, admiring the grass covered mountains of Slavyanka and picking out where the border went with my map. Then it was up the final summit of Mount Gotsev. As the wind had become very strong I omitted the optional summit of Shabran and headed downhill, back into Bulgaria as I was planning to cross into Greece at an official border crossing. There is a shorter, steep route and a longer, more gentle route down towards Izvora. I decided on the gentle route to save the strain on my knees but some way along a cowherd pointed out a shortcut through the trees, also down a steep slope. As he had taken the trouble to walk back with me a little way I felt obliged to take it, so my knees did not quite escape.
After the paths and dirt track I eventually reached the tarmaced (but heavily potholed) road to Izvora. Blocks of marble lined the road in places, remnants of a former industry.
Like the Slavyanka hut the Izvora hut was a former barracks, but it has not been refurbished or maintained to the same standard. However I have a room with an en-suite toilet so should not complain that the tiling is not finished. There are some interesting posters up from the time when border guards had to stop people escaping from Socialist Bulgaria, cartoons telling soldiers what to do if they spotted foot prints in the raked sand by the fence that marked the beginning of the border zone. People trying to escape from Bulgarian put their hands up on the posters rather than being shot.
I had trouble finding the Hut keeper but Margarita at Bulguides was very helpful in alerting him to my presence and passing on timings for dinner (at 8:30 pm after he dealt with his animals) etc.. As I ate the cheese the Hut keeper had made himself with kebabs, tomatoes and cucumbers, rakiya and beer, it transpired that his son had spent a few years in Wales near where I live. A small world!
Given the grandeur of the landscape I was surprised not to see any other walkers out today.
The gpx file of the E4 route through Bulgaria ended at Mount Gotsev. A gpx file of the route I then followed into Greece can be found on wikiloc.com and ViewRanger under short code johnpon0035.
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| Looking back from my climb up the Slavyanka mountains |
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| The border between Bulgaria and Greece |
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