Descending

If you leave the summit by 2.30pm, you can either go back where you came from, or continue east, along the ridge of the mountain. Staring down at the valley about 400m below, your eyes will come across a small lake – the source of Maritsa River, the largest river in Bulgaria, after the Danube. Negotiate the ridge, and you will climb, in succession, Malka Musala, Deno and eventually Irechek, and by 5.30pm you should be facing Musala across the vast gorge across. From there the descent to Zavrachitsa lodge will last roughly three hours, and if you are not completely exhausted, you could attempt doing it – meaning you would have been tabbing for nearly 14 hours, with a 20 plus kg load on your back.

Even in summer when the day is long, reaching the lodge will most likely require a torch for the final 40-minute stretch. Alternatively, descend from Deno following the path to Zavrachitsa until you reach the tree line. Once you are in the forest, you may set up camp and snuggle up in your sleeping bag, brewing some hot tea, and sorting yourself out with food. Remember, Rila is a national park, so if you must make a fire to keep you going through the night, make sure you are no danger to the surrounding forest. Keep the fire small, controllable and away from scrub and trees.

Relaxation time
When you reach Zavratchitsa in the early morning, you may want to relax after the massive ordeal of the previous day. You could spend the whole day at the lodge in a beautiful valley, surrounded by tall peaks and cliffs with the valley itself being sliced in half by a river. You will almost certainly experience warm hospitality and superb atmosphere – mountaineers are renowned for generating great banter around the midnight camp-fire, especially if the evening is washed down with a sufficient amount of beverages.

The food is clean and fresh and beer, wine and rakiya are also readily available. Climbing and tabbing through the mountain is great fun, but so is idling about the entire day getting a suntan by the river next to the lodge, having some sausages thrown in the fire and a six-pack of cold beer next to you. You are at 1800m vertical elevation and the scenery is breathtaking. If you get drunk, the serene air will ensure you suffer no hangover in the morning. The lodge offers decent clean rooms, with an external shower and toilet, and will set you back a meagre 12 leva a night.

The descent from the lodge back to Borovets is roughly 15km, through gorgeous valleys, which gradually and gently will give way, finding yourself immersed by a thick pine forest. If you get lost from there as we did, missing the path junction leading to Borovets, don’t despair. The golden rule is, when lost in a mountain – go down. And if you reach a river or a stream, follow it because it will eventually lead you to civilisation. The route to Borovets, which we reckoned could be negotiated inside four hours flat, developed into an eight-hour march, where we eventually reached a line of electric power lines and followed them down the mountain until we came across a rural road.

The first vehicle was promptly stopped and we inquired about our whereabouts. It dawned on us that we were less than two km from Samokov, a town about 10 or so km further down from Borovets.

Basic survival kit
winter clothing
extra rationing of food
water supply
extra pair of wool socks (extra 2 pairs)
spare boots
ropes/paracord
carabiner hooks
candle wax drained matches/lighters
compass/GPS
map
survival knife
painkillers
aspirin
dressings, multiple
iodine, scalpel
fishing hooks and cord
head torch
batteries
pick-axe
pen-knife/swiss army
high octane mountain food (chocolate and peanuts)
gas canister
kettle
thermos
signal flares (take two)