The second half of August this year is kind of cold and even rainy, with occasional thunderstorms in the mountains. I wanted very much to visit the Seven Rila Lakes this summer and when I checked the weather forecast for last week and noticed, that the only perfect day for a hike there was Thursday - the dice was cast - we had to free Thursday and drive to Rila.
It was not an easy task, as on Wednesday, apart from a lot of work, we had our goodbye dinner with Gaby and her boyfriend and I wanted to dedicate our last day together to them, but we managed. Thursday, at 10:30 we were at the lower lift station of the Seven Rila Lakes. We, and everybody else and their granny, so we had to wait on a long queue for the lift, but around 11:40 we were finally at the Rila lakes hut - the start of the track.
Two years ago we came up with a route, that passes by the lakes and even a few other lakes, but mostly escapes the major tourist tracks. We decided to follow it this year too and I am so happy we did, as hiking with the crowd is definitely not my idea of a perfect hike day.
As promised, the day was warm and sunny, with some cooling wind. We kept a good pace and an hour and a half into the hike we were at the Panitza lake, where we had a small pause and a snack before the big climb to the Green ridge (Zeleni rub).
The two Panitza lakes from above
Finally on the Green ridge, with some of Urdini lakes at the background
On Zeleni peak, two of the Seven Rila lakes and the big Paniza lake down behind me
Razdela, the crossroad of some major trails in Rila
The Malyovitza ridge, with some of our favourite peaks, including Ushite, where we recently climbed
Pazar dere and the Kalin peaks, with Ivan Vazov hut
From Razdela we took a trail along the Otovitza ridge, towards peak Otovitza. The Eyedrop (Salzata) lake
The obligatory photo with all of the seven lakes at a glance. This is the only place from the ground, where one can see all of the lakes at once
Hike info:
Destination: Mt. Otovitza (2696 m)
Mountain: Rila
Total length: 18 km
Elevation gain: 600 m
Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 6 hours
Average difficulty: 6.5 / 10
Me-made items, worn on this hike:
Husband: boxers, Burda cargo pants, Grey Burda hoodie
I: lingerie, Sabrina Slims, Burda henley blouse, hoodie
We had our late lunch on Otovitza peak and from there we started down the steep trail towards the Eye (Okoto) lake
A short photo pause at the Eye - the deepest (35 m) and my most favourite of the Seven lakes
The Kidney lake
From Bubreka (The Kidney lake) we took the lower trail by the rest of the lakes - the Twins, the Trefoil, the Fish lake and the Lower lake.
With some really delicious raspberry eating we managed the hike in just 6 hours, quite a nice athletic tempo, just in time for the lift back to the car and the long drive back to Sofia. Next year we plan a two day hike around the lakes, combined with the Skakavitza waterfalls, but we'll see if that happens :)
