Mt Botev, and conversation

This weekend was my favorite hike yet..a little adrenaline rushing, a little challenging..but so worth it.

First off, I have to thank so many BG hikers for making it possible. I borrowed a trekking pole from Stela (later to be traded for 2 trekking poles from Bai-Stan), sunglasses from Zarya, gaiters from Reneta, crampons from Stancho (for the ice).

When I decided to go on this hike, I never expected it to have such varying scenery. This 10 hour hike started from a small village, Vidima, and passed through the forest like most others..with snow and ice mixed in. Valentin patiently explained how to use the trekking poles in coordination with my steps when climbing steep icy patches. Later, after passing through the forest, we got to the first of the deeper snow. Sometimes we were walking on top of bushes, and sometimes a foot would slip further into the snow up to the knees..or sometimes, the trekking pole would get tangled in the bushes. And the mountain just continued looming ahead. From the parking lot the summit really didn’t seem that high. But every time I looked up, it was still no closer. When we finally made it to the ridge, it’s super sunny out (I don’t know if you can tell in the pics, but Stancho always strips down on hikes..and even on this one he went shirtless most of the time (until that wind hit us at the summit)..and I was so excited, because we were really close to the summit..just continue along the ridge ½ hour more, and surely we’ll be there

Darn..I didn’t see that valley that we have to go all the way down first, and then back up. My legs started to feel a little tight from going uphill for 5 hours straight now, in the snow. We stopped in at the hut at the bottom of the valley to eat a little, and leave our packs with our 4th person (Netka), so that we can summit the mountain quicker. The hike up was as expected..long and snowy..but the jog / skid back down the mountain was so much fun! I learned from Valentin – take bigger steps, but with your weight set back, and arms out front, so when you do fall, you don’t hurt yourself; but most of the time you’re pretty much skidding on your heels (until your shin hits a patch of ice..and that kinda hurt). By the time we get back to the hut, I’m starting to wonder how late it’s gonna be when we finally reach our final destination, Hija Pleven..this is where the remainder of our group went directly to, instead of summitting Botev with us. I mean, it was already 5 pm when we left the valley below Mt. Botev, and Stancho’s guesstimation was 3.5 more hours to the hut

By the time we reached the next peak (we’re now wearing crampons, because the melting snow has quickly turned hard and icy) we’re just in time to see a really beautiful sunset over all the different mountains in the distance..ok, but this also means that the next 3 hours are pretty much in the dark with our headlamps to guide us.

But it felt like we were maintaining a decent pace..when all of a sudden Valentin calls for me to stop so that the 4 of us can group up, and dress for the upcoming winds we will meet when descending the rocky ridge on the other side of the mountain. I’m thinking..how bad can it be. Hmmm..clearly, I had no clue. These were more like ice and snow covered boulders..and he was right, there was a pretty strong wind blowing as we started our descent. Some parts had a cable you could hang on to. Some parts, I would have one hand on the cable, and balance my steps with the pole in the other hand..and then sometimes, the rock were so steep and slick, you just had to hang on with both hands and do your best to maintain your footing..yet other times there would be no cable, or the boulder would be too big to acramble over, and that was the scariest, because even though it was dark out, I could still see the dropoff if I slipped or made a wrong step. (The guys later told me it’s even scarier during the day, when you can actually see where you’re descending). It really amazed me that no matter how tired I felt during parts of this hike, energy kept coming..I’d say during this rocky part, it might have been more adrenaline than energy. I tell you, I learned quickly many new Bulgarian words on this hike..many out of necessity during the descent.

So, we finally arrived one by one to the Pleven hut around 8:30pm. Everyone heads upstairs..except for me. I’d been waiting to have a beer since we reached the summit of Mt. Botev.

Our conversations that evening consisted of Tom & Jerry and the Pink Panther..they seemed to be pretty popular with this older generation. We also talked about Richard Glideman (or is it Glickman?). They also introduced me to their favorite Soviet-era cartoons (which after our discussions, I had to look up later to watch)..the three below I pulled from Youtube are pretty entertaining..

This one’s about a character Chebyrashka (чебурашка) – the monkey-like animal



This one is called Krokodilna Gena (крокодилна гена)
This is the translation someone posted of the song, since it’s not translated - Let pedestrians run clumsily through puddles And the water on the asphalt river It is not clear to passers-by in this day and bad weather Why am I so happy I play the harmonica at passers-by in sight Unfortunately birthday Only once a year Flies suddenly magician in the blue helicopter And free movie show Happy Birthday congratulate And probably leave me as a gift 500 Eskimo I play the harmonica at passers-by in sight Unfortunately birthday Only once a year



..and this one, absolutely everyone at the table seemed to like – N Y Pogodi (НУ Погоди)..there is no translation, but it’s not really needed. It kinda reminds me of the Wilde Coyote and the Road-runner..kinda



Stancho and I had a spirited debate about how much water the human body needs during a hike (I carry a 1.5 liter camelpack, and they carry a little 16 oz water bottle)..this was on after an earlier discussion on foods to eat during a hike – another topic where we think very differently; and finally Bai-stan assuring me that his calling me ‘monkey snot’ was meant as friendly banter. I love that this group strives to improve my Bulgarian with new words with every hike :)