Trip to Botev peak

Week 6 (October 5–11)

We had planned a trip to Central Balkan National Park to hike Botev Peak, the highest peak in the Stara Planina range. However, Sara got sick, and Malin didn’t want to go without her, so I decided to go solo.

Since Sara was leaving the Vegetarium soon, I suggested we head down to Tserovo for dinner before my trip. We went down, had a meal, and caught up one last time. Afterward, I went to Sofia to spend the night and caught a 6:00 AM train to Karlovo the next morning.

I started my trek along the trail through Stara Reka and climbed up to Golyam Kupen Peak via Dabenska Koliba. I hiked along the ridge—it was incredibly beautiful. Later, I descended to the Botev shelter, watched the sunset, and then continued up to Botev Peak at night. I stayed at the Marinka shelter. Before going to sleep, I went to get water from the spring, slipped on some ice, and took a rough fall.

By morning, I had terrible blisters, making it very painful to walk. I made my way back down through the Botev shelter and Vasil Levski hut, eventually reaching Karlovo, where I caught a late train at 8:00 PM back to Sofia.

When I returned to the Vegetarium, I found out that Anika had hit her head badly, which left just Malin and me to handle all the daily chores. It was a bit overwhelming, but we managed. Unfortunately, Sara had already left by the time I got back, so I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.

On October 10th, I went back to Sofia for a concert, but I found out later that it had been canceled. Instead, I met up with a friend and went to Vitosha Mountain, where we did an off-trail hike. The weather was great, and we stumbled upon a secluded shelter hidden away from the main paths.