Day 1-Day 2 The hike started from Bansko, where we left the car and went to Yavorov hut. I don't know how we decided to walk there, as the "short" road passed through a field in 30+ degrees heat and ended with a super steep path for intensive climbing through the forest, and of course it started to rained. This easy walk of 17 km ended with sore legs, bruises and cramps from too heavy backpacks, but that's what happen when you leave without preparation. Yavorov hut certainly did not disappoint. Clean, hospitable and the food was great.

Our idea was to continue to the Koncheto shelter the next day, but the weather had other plans. The forecast was for a thunderstorm and we had to stay for another day. Motivated by our desire to continue the hike the next morning, we took a short walk to Lake Suhodol before the rain caught us on the way back to the hut. But the adventure was just beginning…

Day 3 The plan for the third day was simple. To get up before sunrise and without much effort to reach our end point - the shelter Koncheto. We all wanted to wake up at 2700m and this led us to the idea of ​​dividing the transition to Vihren hut into two parts. There was an option in which there will be no places for us, as there are only 9 in the shelter, so we had the option in which we would have to continue to Vihren hut.

The path from Yavorov Hut to the cross, which is on the ridge, is relatively easy, even for people without training. 30-40 minutes from the shelter, a thick fog wrapped around us, which made us hurry. We happily tossed our backpacks in front of the small building, which looked like a tin can.

Inside were nine beds with blankets, provisions for stranded mountaineers, and all around a breathtaking view. Our roommates for the night were a young Swiss couple who left their jobs to travel the world for a year, and a little later an elderly Bulgarian couple joined and we took up all the beds in the shelter with them. The evening was certainly quite stuffy and crowded, but that prompted us to spend a lot of time outdoors, and the stars were more than we've seen in our entire lives ... I thought about how no one in the mountains introduced themselves by name, but we acted as if we had known each other for years…

In the morning I got up a little worried for what awaits ahead ... not that there was another option than to go forward. We did not know what awaited us as we all set foot for the first time in this part of the mountain. What lay ahead was the ridge Koncheto. We were worried about whether we would be able to cope with the hike and the height, but in the end, as we have seen many times, things look much scarier from afar. We considered the option of cutting beneath the peak , as we had done the day before, but when it was just above us the only option we thought was safest was to climb to the rope.

Once on the ridge, the worries disappeared and were replaced by real amazement. Pirin certainly captivates you for life. The rest of the trail was relatively easy, as the rope continued after Koncheto. When we descended to Mount Vihren, it stood like a huge wall in front of us. In other circumstances we could go through the top to get to the hut, but we decided to leave it for another time. After a short break we continued to follow the red markings to Vihren hut, but the road turned out to be much longer than expected. The descent seemed endless, and towards the end our legs did not hold us. The hut was visible in the distance, but it was as if we were still not approaching it. In a good mood and good pace, before we knew it we were already standing on solid ground with cold beer in hand.

Photos: Galin Vasilev

Story: Eliza Kesedzhiyan