Once more on the Vihren

Some two years ago I climbed Vihren in November. Back then, there was already some snow on the slopes and we could not follow the normal path to the top. This time, as we were earlier in the season, the conditions were quite different, although we got some rain.

This time we started further down along the road. This does not make the tour very longer but it allows one to have a look at one of the oldest stone pine of the region. It is said to be 1500 years old. This way, we also could climb up passing by the small cauldron (Малкия Казан). The first time I was there, I climbed directly from the Vihren Hut to cross to the right to reach Чамчев ridge. But this time, crossing the small cauldron, I could see the path we took that time. After the small cauldron, the slope is becoming steeper just before reaching the big cauldron (Големия Казан). The dream of many bulgarians is to have the big cauldron filled up with wine and the small one filled up with rakia...

After the big cauldron, the slope becomes steep again for a short section. One soon sees the pass of Premkata. In order to climb the Vihren, it is not necessary to reach the pass. There is a small path that climbs directly to the ridge of Vihren.

The first part of the climb is done through scree. Then the track first crosses towards southwest. It is at this stage that the climb becomes more rocky. At first, the climb goes zig-zag up and further, follows a long ledge that runs in parallel of the ridge. In the last section, the ledge turns again towards southwest and one soon reaches the top. The whole length of the ledges has been equipped with chains. Although it is a praiseable initiative, the chains are not really useful. Especially, the one or two spots where a help would be worthful, the chain is fixed in such a way that it is useless. The reason for that is that, in order to fix the chain, holes had to be drilled in healthy rock... which is apart from the track.

Reaching the top, we got a little rain that stopped just long enough to let us take some pictures.

Going down, we got some fine hail and further, some rain... this is the reason why there are not so much pictures.

Vihren is the second highest top of Bulgaria (the highest being Musala). However, in contrast with Musala, Vihren is a very nice peak with only little buildings (Musala holds a meteorological observatory at its top).