Seven Rila Lakes Hike
Teodor was going to lead us on a all-day hike through the beech forests on Mt. Rila to a high plateau with several glacial lakes. Packed our lunches and I don't know what possessed me, but I also took a card from Gornata Zemya (Upland) Hotel in Panichishte (by this time, who could keep track of where we were staying in Bulgaria). Backpacks on, hiking poles in hand, it was out on the road in front of Upland Hotel, gently heading up. Past the Rila National Park Visitors Center and leaving the road, we all headed into the beech forest. Up...up...up...finally arriving at a small lodge on this small river surrounded by mosquitoes. Here we go again...bites all over legs and arms, one last time. Directly in front of us was a small ski hill and I could see people zig-zagging across it, still going up. I asked Teodor if that is where we were headed and he brusquely answered, "No." Throughout the two weeks, Teodor and I simply did not mesh. I love to ask questions...he hated to answer them. ex-Marine and I have been hiking for years and if that wasn't a trail in front of my eyes....
No...Teodor takes us off-trail (probably just to show that he knows everything and I don't) and we start up through bushes and trees, jumping over some boggy areas, etc., weaving back and forth until....Tim announces that somehow...we had gotten off the trail and had to backtrack! We backtracked and then the only way up to the plateau without a super major backtrack was to pull ourselves up a very steep incline, hanging on to small tree branches and each other.
At last on the plateau with mountains all around and hikers in all direction including a big map of the area (with all explanations in Bulgarian) in front of a dormitory-style hut for mountaineers, the group set out again in the direction of the Seven Lakes.
ex-Marine and I are also fast hikers - we tend to follow the "Bataan Death March" style of hiking...which is...start out...keep on going....and don't stop until you've reached your objective. Group hiking is completely opposite...you start...and stop....start....and stop...and what should have taken three hours, takes five. We know and understand this but up on the ridge was a small hut that Teodor said would be our lunch break before turning around to go down so we asked if we could go ahead and wait there. A grudging okay...and we set out. Another hot, sunny day and we parked ourselves in front of the hut with wonderful views in all directions, ate lunch and waited for everyone else. Quite a while later, they appeared and Tim asked if we were okay, said they were going to eat lunch a little ahead before coming back and carried on up the mountain.
We waited...and waited...for hours but no group appeared. It started getting late...I started getting cold...and finally ex-Marine and I decided to start walking down the mountain to the plateau with its large map and mountain dormitory. Standing in front of this map showing the mountain trails with everything in Cyrillic (similar to Russian), husband and I were having a very loud, vocal argument (not a discussion...an argument) about what to do and how to go about it. There was a chair lift to our left from the bottom of the valley to the plateau, and I knew we hadn't come from that direction and we both were coming dangerously close to a major panic attack. Finally, an older gentlemen approached us and asked in English if there was a problem. WAS THERE A PROBLEM? You bet! We explained the situation...he asked where we were staying...and brilliant me pulled out the hotel card, stuffed in my pack that morning! He looked at it...knew where it was...and offered to escort us down. This extremely lovely Bulgarian man was a part-time guide in the Park and knew exactly where to go and got us down in half the time Teodor took getting us up AND, halfway down, we came down the exact trail that I had earlier asked Teodor..."is that the way up?". How very lucky could two people get. We sat at the Upland, drinking beer and tried to get him to accept some money as thanks for guiding us down and saving our life but he wouldn't accept a dime from us. This was another big learning experience - even though you may be with a group, keep a card with the hotel name on you!
When Tim (and group) appeared...we had a private conversation...Tim said Teodor thought ex-Marine and I would find our own way down and they came down by a completely different path. Wasn't that swell? He couldn't even have taken the time to come over to us and get confirmation that we would come down by ourselves? There's nothing like abandoning two clients on a Bulgarian mountain and you don't think we were going to tip Teodor at the end of the trip...do you? That's right...we weren't...
p.s. Alida said that several of the Seven Rila Lakes were less than impressive and one resembled a little retention pond.
