Climbing Orlovets Peak in the Rila Mountains

Orlovets Peak is 2,686 meters high and is located in the Malyovitsa section of the Rila Mountains. The starting point for the climb is Mecha Polyana in the Malyovitsa resort complex, also known as CPS (Central Mountain School) Malyovitsa.

There are several routes to Orlovets Peak, but the fastest and easiest is to start from Mecha Polyana, pass through the Malyovitsa hut, then turn off at the 2nd Terrace onto the path to Zaslon BAK and then attack the peak itself.

Other options are via Elenin Peak and Petlite, which is more extreme. Or via Strashno Lake and traversing Kupenite and Lovnitsa, and only then climbing Orlovets – this route is quite long.

Initially, I was thinking of first climbing Malyovitsa from Malyovishki Lakes and then climbing Orlovets via Petlite. But the group grew and there were people who were afraid of heights and not particularly physically fit. So, in the end, we chose the easiest option – via the BAC shelter.

At around 9:15 a.m., we arrived at Mecha Polyana and parked in the huge paid parking lot. Someone had written on Facebook groups that the parking lot was free... No way, it costs 5 leva per day.

After our group of eight people gathered, we set off in the direction of the Malyovitsa hut. We moved at a relatively good pace and reached the hut in about 45 minutes. There we took a relatively long break.

We continued up to the first and then the second terrace, where the monuments to the fallen climbers are located. There we waited for the group to gather. From there, the trail turns left and follows the blue markings to the BAC shelter. The main trail to Malyovitsa is marked in red and continues straight ahead.

As it was a Sunday, there were normally a lot of people in the area, but almost everyone else was heading towards Malyovitsa Peak. After we turned off towards the BAC shelter, we hardly met anyone.

With breaks to wait for Nina, we reached the shelter. It was already lunchtime, so we ate quickly to recharge our energy. After the shelter, we first went to Zliyat Prelez to look at Beliyat Uley from its upper side.

From Zliyat Prelez, along the cliff of Zliyat Zub (Evil Tooth), we began to climb a not particularly pleasant sandy-rocky gully to the pass between Zliyat Zub and Orlovets. This gully is not too difficult to climb, but you have to be more careful on the way down, although the poles make it much easier to move on such terrain.

We waited again at the pass, and then it was time for the final climb to Orlovets Peak. We had just reached the summit when we ran into some acquaintances from Blagoevgrad – Ani and Maria, with whom we had hiked from Ribni Ezera to the Macedonia hut a few years ago. They were just leaving the summit and started descending from where we had climbed.

The peak was now free for our group alone, so we took some photos in peace, rested, and enjoyed the wonderful views of the surrounding peaks – Malyovitsa with the deer lake below it – Lovnitsa and Kupenite – the Bricheborsko-Rilets ridge and many other Rila peaks.

Speaking of Lovnitsa and Kupenite, a few years ago we made such a transition, then instead of Orlovets we headed for these peaks and continued to Popova Kapa and descended to Mecha Polyana through Strashnoto and Yonchevo Lake.

We had some initial ideas for today, but overall we were slower today. It took us 4 hours to climb to Orlovets Peak. It took us about the same amount of time to descend back to the Central Mountain School.

Part of our group was from Simitli – Saschka and two other new guys. Right at the summit, they got a call that there was a serious fire in Simitli, and our group split up. They quickly started to descend and went to help extinguish the fire.

We, the slower ones, also started to descend, but at a much more moderate pace. Slowly but surely, we made it back to the second terrace, where we hid in the shade under a bush and took a longer break. The sun was so hot that day that our necks and other parts exposed to the sun got quite sunburned.

At the hut, we took another break before covering the last distance to Mecha Polyana and loading the five of us into the car. Traditionally, after a hike in this area of Rila, we visit the Zaharno Petle pastry shop in Samokov. After cakes, pastries, and tolumbichki, it was time to return to Blagoevgrad.