Rhodopes - mountains, rivers and caves

After leaving Bucharest and staying for a night in Veliko Tarnovo and Plovdiv (adventures for another post) I was more than eager to finally do some hiking again and my first goal was a few days hut to hut trip in the Rhodope Mountains. I walked from Plovdiv old town to the smaller, calmer and cleaner autogara Rhodopi (bus station with local buses), and hopped on the minibus that was supposed to stop near a place called Teshel, where my hike was about to begin the next day. The road was beautiful in the mountainous area. There were high vertical cliffs and walls, quick rivers and all shades of green and blue. I was thinking that this place could easily become a climber's paradise. Soon it started to chill with every kilometre we passed and finally after more than enough hours in the minibus I thanked the driver and started walking to hut Teshel, where I hoped to stay for the night.

Mountain road

I arrived not long before dark, and somehow was able to arrange my stay and supper, not before being questioned thoroughly about how I arrived to Bulgaria. Maybe because the hut is close to the Greek border, maybe because the hut lady was surprised to see out of season solo hiker. I was also surprised to see again the American tourist which I met on train to Veliko Tarnovo, who was just leaving with two of his Bulgarian friends. They told me that it's about to be some kind of a party in the hut (and it indeed was a birthday celebration for a little girl - apparently it's a thing in Bulgaria to celebrate social events in reachable by car huts). I myself had my beer and an excellent supper and went to sleep after congratulating the family and thanking the hosts.
The next morning I thought that it would be nice to pay a visit the the Yagodinska cave located about seven km from the hut. The road was very scenic and went through Trigrad Gorge - an very narrow road surrounded by vertical walls.

Road to Yagodniska cave

I arrived well before the first tour time so decided to cook myself breakfast - which was the wisest of decisions as you will see later. I almost turned to skip the cave tour  but luckily met the tour guy and decided wait a little longer. The cave itself was pretty interesting even though the tour was in Bulgarian. Unfortunately the pictures from the cave itself were of the worst quality.

Inside Yagodinska Cave

After the cave I found a hiking trail to my next stop - Devil's throat cave near hut Trigrad. It was a pretty hike with a considerable ascent in a very beautiful forest area. I managed to come just in time for the two o'clock tour of the cave. I liked the Devil's throat more even more than Yagodinska since it looked much wilder with the waterfall, the underground river and the area nearby was breathtaking.

Natural exist of the cave

Underground river

Near Devil's throat cave

I planned to stay in a hut named Chairski Ezera, and after some time found a hike path leading there. The hike was clearly marked, and there were waterfalls and a lot of scenic cliffs on the way. It started snowing but wasn't cold and I really liked the weather.
After finishing the last few hundred meters climb towards the hut, I found that the it was actually still closed. Well that's what you get when you decide to hike out of season. I wasted some time making sure that I didn't miss the hut (and the GPS location seemed a bit wrong), and was almost knocked down by a huge dog from a farmhouse nearby while trying to find somebody and ask him whether the hut actually closed or the keeper just went somewhere and can return any minute (according to local websites the hut was supposed to be open, but apparently the websites were outdated).

Chairski Ezera area

Chairski Ezera area

After some time I decided that my best option to sleep in a warm bed that night was to get to the village of Mugla and try to find there a place to stay. Actually that's a nice thing about Rhodopes. The nature is wild and beautiful but the area is populated and you can find places to stay within a few hours walking or running distance from most of the hiking trails. Or you can just bring a tent and camp. Since was packed pretty light and obviously had no tent - my best shot was Mugla.
The trail to mugla was scenic but since I was almost running couldn't appreciate it too much, except for the part that was covered with about 40cm snow that really slowed my progress (and was much more energy consuming of course).

On my way to Mugla

I arrived to the village in twilight, and after crossing the village two times looking for a guesthouse (and getting pretty contradicting directions from the residents), a very nice old lady showed me to the door of a welcoming family guesthouse where I was able to find a meal, bed and even hot shower. My hosts - an old lady name Veselina Pavlova and her husband didn't speak Russian too well but they warned me that most of the huts are still closed and that there is still pretty much snow higher in the mountains (near Perelik mountain where I planned to hike further) and urged me to continue tomorrow to village of Gela. I decided to decide later - after having a good sleep, and had some Rakia with Veselina's husband instead. Even though I was pretty hungry (last time I ate was in the morning before entering the first cave) - it was impossible to finish all of the food that my hosts tried to stuff me with.
In the morning I stuffed myself with a very heavy breakfast and some tea (always eat when you have food - remember?), and decided to try my luck with ascend to Mt. Perelik (the highest peak in Rhodopes) anyway.

Mugla, next moring

The snow was still frozen from the night and it was easy to walk (even but still in a pretty steep uphill slope). I tried to call hut Perelik on my way to check if it's open, but had no reception. I prepared myself to the thought that it is closed and just walked faster. The views were getting better and better the higher I got, and the last hour before getting to Perelik I was almost running.

View on hut Ledinitsata from above

Near hut Perelik

As I anticipated, the hut was half buried in snow and appeared closed. Since it was still very early I decided to keep going, thinking to stop for the night in Smolyan and continue from there on the next day.

Perelik hut

Soon after the hut - a dirt road started, that turned to a regular road after a few km. I was lucky enough to catch a ride to Smolyan - the largest city in the area. Near Smolyan I hiked in the waterfalls canyon (highly recommended) and resumed my trip heading north, but that's already another story.