There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:
I love not Man the less, but Nature more.
Lord Byron
The Seven Rila lakes are for sure one of the most beautiful places in Rila mountain. And as there is a chair lift leading pretty close to them, that makes them easy accessible and probably the most visited mountain place here. I've seen them only once many years ago and even though I was impressed by their beauty, something was missing. The place just didn't "touch" me. It took me some time to figure out what was the problem (and A LOT of hiking) - I visited them in their top tourist season which makes the place to be felt more like a crowded market. Now I know that to enjoy a hike, I need the mountain to be (almost) only for me. The difference in the experience in crowded mountain and in empty mountain is huge!
That's why, after that first slightly disappointing time 7 years ago, I go there only in the winter, when there are no lakes, because they are hidden under the snow.
This year I found out that I have a huge gap in my hiking experience in Rila - I've never hiked there in the spring. Everyone would tell you that the spring is not the most appropriate time because of the melting snow and that you should wait at least until the middle or the end of June. And that's true for most of the beautiful places, located in a higher altitude, but for these lakes for example, if you're ready the sacrifice half of them(these that are higher in the mountain) , you can witness some incredibly beautiful scenes, different from the other seasons and another bonus - no one else around.
I knew that I should definitely visit them now after I discovered the magic of the spring mountain, and I tried a while ago, but there were still two much snow just before the first lake , my feet were sinking two much, got wet, and I got exhausted and turned back disappointed after 3 hours of hiking without seeking any lake. It took me some time to gather motivation to try again and knowing approximately where the snow boundary was, I was hoping that I could see 2 of them.
The first two hours were through a beautiful forest.
Then the forest ended and the mighty mountains showed up. Most of the time the pathway was covered with water or mud which was great for me, because I hike barefoot (except in the snow).
And then I noticed another pathway in the snow that someone else had made before me! And soon I was near the second lake.
Luckily for me, I could continue even further. I didn't know the area very well but it turned out that the next two lakes are pretty close. And they were just amazing!!
It was so beautiful up there that I almost couldn't believe my eyes. I was lucky with the weather too - constantly changing amazing clouds. I managed to capture this photo above and minutes later the sun disappeared and with it also the reflection of the mountain in the lake.
A lot of dark clouds appeared while I was doing splits and handstands trying to be fancy enough for some photos with the gorgeous landscape behind me.
This is the largest one although most of it was still covered with ice. It was getting late and I could already hear thunders. I wouldn't have minded a little rain, but it didn't happen. It was good that the pathway ended here, because probably I couldn't have resisted the temptation to continue.
It was getting darker and darker up there and in the end it was more or less like this.
I almost fell many times. It was quite slippery. I'm a lady... Just a bit covered with mud though :D
As I was going back I met a lot of wild pigs with a lot of babies in the forest for the first time in the mountains. At first I was really afraid, but it turned out that they were even more afraid of my screaming so they run away pretty quickly from me. When I came back from the mountain, I read more (just to recall) about the right attitude when you met different wild animals. Luckily it's quite rare here in Rila. I' m not sure that I would manage to keep calm if I met a bear. The baby pigs were pretty cute though!
Expect soon the next three :) When the snow melt. Here are all of them(without the first one).
Thank you for stopping by!
Hi danielapetk,
LEARN MORE: Join Curie on Discord chat and check the pinned notes (pushpin icon, upper right) for Curie Whitepaper, FAQ and most recent guidelines.
Thank you very much, you awesome Curie :) Glad you liked it!
Уникални снимки :) Браво за прехода.
Благодаря! :)
:)
Гледам ги за трети път. :)
Hei. You have been on a very nice hike in great mountains. Liked the pictures, especially them with flowers in the foreground, nr 1, 10, 11, 18. Nice contrast to early spring in the mountain.
Hey, @harkar! Glad you liked it! Thank you very much for your comment! These crocuses really make the mountains more « spicy » :D
Congratulations, Your Post Has Been Added To The Steemit Worldmap!
Author link: http://steemitworldmap.com?author=danielapetk
Post link: http://steemitworldmap.com?post=four-of-the-seven-rila-lakes
Want to have your post on the map too?
How I always tell you your publications are wonderful, something that surprised me about your story ... you walk barefoot in the woods ??? I could not do that. Anything, even a tiny one, hurts my feet. The photos of the third lake enchanted me. Once again thank you for sharing your beautiful photos !!!
Hey, @blessed-girl, I am always barefoot in nature, it’s a matter of practice, I started probably 3 years ago with running barefoot and the strange thing was that it was less painful than walking(barefoot). But now shoes are far more painful for me than the rocky pathways :D. I love it! If it wasn’t necessary, I probably wouldn’t wear shoes at all. Still can’t walk in the snow for too long, but there are a lot of people that do it and are ok :) Walking barefoot is claimed to have huge effect on our health, if you’re interested google earthing :)
And thank you very much for your comment! Glad you liked the post!
I almost felt like I was there through your images and text...Actually not really, no substitute for the real thing huh? Looks amazing.
Just wondering, you always have earphones with you. What do you listen to? So intrigued...
Hey, Galen! I listen to podcasts, interviews, audio books, but not through the whole time. The subjects vary a lot. For example - that day I think I listened a lot about a Bulgarian spiritual teacher - Peter Deunov. Actually (coincidence) he made his students walk all the time in all weather conditions around the mountains, and every year in the summer a lot of people gather by these lakes to honour him. Before that I was listening to all the podcasts of Dr. Gerald Pollack, who researches water and had made some really interesting discoveries. Sometimes it’s astrology, health, body, mind, nature.. Stuff like that :)
Glad you liked the post! Thank you very much for your comment and have a great day! =)
Absolutely breathtaking, what a smashing article!! I'm also interested to know what you're listening to with your headset : )
“Smashing article” ☺️☺️☺️☺️ Thank you very much, @anna-bella!! Glad you liked it!
Heya, just swinging by to let you know you're being featured in our Daily Travel Digest!
Amazing photos, incredible colors. Thank you for taking us on your journey with you.
This post was nominated by a @curie curator to be featured in an upcoming Author Showcase that will be posted late-night Monday (U.S. time) on the @curie blog. If you agree to be featured in this way, please reply and:
You can check out our previous Author Showcase to get an idea of what we are doing with these posts.
Thanks for your time and for creating great content.
Gene (@curie curator)
Thank you very much, Gene! Glad you liked it! It would be great to be featured in your author showcase and you can quote text/images :)
The beauty and majesty of these mountains contrasted with the depth of field of those clouds make these images feel so three dimensional. I can almost hear the wind in my ears and smell the mud squish between my toes.
I found you thanks to @curie, they do good work helping us find one another.
Hey, thank you very much for this lovely comment, @donnadavisart!! Reading it made me feel like I am there again :))) Glad you liked it!
I always try to take pictures with flowers in the front and landscapes in the background but they never turn out as nice as yours :)
Haha, these are my favourite! It’s just because of the place, the flowers were everywhere!! Thank you very much for your comment :)
oh my god dear did u just ascend to heaven, this scenery is breathtaking , out of this world, i love each and every single capture that uve done but the most beloved is the third lake i think the trefoil the first capture of the mountain being reflected in the water, with those beautiful purple flowers at its side, this scenery is my dream landscape , a lake surrounded by mountains with beautiful flowers blooming on its side, and then the second picture omg i just have no words its gorgeous.
i truly agree with u theres a difference between a crowded place and one where u enjoy the beautiful scenerys atmosphere etc all to urself . the lesser the people the better the experience.
Hey, @moonprincess, thank you very much!!! Really glad you liked it :)) It’s my dream landscape too :)
Благодаря за хубавата статия ! Прави ме много щастлива, когато показваме на света най-хубавите неща от нашата родина, а природата ни е със сигурност едно от тях! Аз се занимавам с музикология и културология и скоро смятам да напиша статия за българската музика, защото мисля, че в този глобален свят е хубаво да представим страната ни с нейните положителни качества :)))