Peak day 047 - Musala

Aiming high. As high as possible. Musala is the highest peak in Southeast-Europe. At 2925m it towers a mere 8m higher than Olymp. Yeah, I climbed the Hyperolymp! Overall it is an easy and straightforward climb. No special equipment need, just a decent pair of shoes and some warm clothes - besides being the highest place Musala is also the coldest place on Balkan peninsula. It started with an quiet path through the woods - for the first 2 hours I met exactly 2 people. Shortly after the forest cleared I passed some out-of-season skilifts and soon arrived at the first hut and the first of many beautiful lakes left from the Ice Age. Here things became much more busy - most people are cheating and just take the ropeway to about 2400m, pöööh! The path became steeper and rockier and after walking all the time in bright sunshine suddenly some dark clouds hovered above the now visible peak. Fortunately it just looked gloomy and I reached the top dryly. Needless to say the views were impressive. Also during the descent. For a change I went for the cheaters path on the way down and later spent a significant part of the evening in the pool.