We started from Vihren Hut, climbed Muratov Peak and spent the night at Sinanitsa Hut. The next day, we climbed Sinanitsa Peak before making our way back to Vihren Hut.
The reason for heading to Sinanitsa at the end of August was Mihaela’s birthday on the 28th. It has become something of a tradition for her to celebrate the occasion by climbing Sinanitsa Peak. This was my third year joining in. The first time, we climbed Sinanitsa via Konski Kladenets, while the following year we approached it from the Mandrata area. This time, our starting point was Vihren Hut.
Actually, only three of us took this particular route – Mitaka, Miglena and me. The birthday girl and the rest of the group were going to hike up to Sinanitsa Hut from Mandrata again.
Day 1: Shiligarnika – Vihren Hut – Muratov Peak – Sinanitsa Hut
Since we were spending the night at Sinanitsa Hut, there was no need for an early start. We left Blagoevgrad at around 10 a.m. I even had enough time that morning to renew my mountain insurance, which happened to expire that very day.
In my opinion, mountain insurance is a must if you regularly go hiking, and it costs only €30 for an entire year. If you don't spend much time in the mountains, you can also get short-term coverage just for the weekend or however many days you're planning to be out there.
We reached Shiligarnika at around noon. The road further up was closed, with shuttle vans taking people to Vihren Hut for €4 per person – ridiculously expensive for such a short ride. It's supposedly a service intended to reduce traffic further up the mountain, but it seems to have turned into a nice little money-making scheme instead! For comparison, the bus from Blagoevgrad to Kartala also costs €4, despite covering several times the distance.
The walk from Shiligarnika to Vihren Hut is about 4 km, and it took us exactly an hour. After a short break in front of the hut, we continued uphill towards Muratovo Lake. Even though it was a weekday – Thursday – there were plenty of people on the trail. Families with children had settled along the river beyond the wooden bridge, and there were quite a few people around the lake itself as well.
We stopped for another short break before tackling the steep climb to Banderishka Gate. Many people mistakenly call it Muratova Gate, although the actual Muratova Gate lies between Muratov Peak and Gredaro.
Slowly but steadily, we climbed up to the upper part of Spano Pole.
Mitaka and I decided to climb Muratov Peak, while Miglena stayed at Banderishka Gate to rest and keep an eye on the backpacks we left behind. It took us around 20–30 minutes to reach the summit.
The view from Muratov Peak is one of the most impressive in Pirin. Directly opposite rises the marble ridge, dominated by Vihren – the highest peak in Pirin – followed by Kutelo, Koncheto, Banski Suhodol and the rest of the ridge. Below you are the Vlahinski Lakes, Muratovo Lake and the Gergiyski Lakes. You can also see the Banderishki Lakes and a small part of the Spanopolski Lakes.
After taking a few photos on Muratov Peak, we descended back to the pass, picked up our backpacks and continued with Miglena along the blue-marked trail towards Sinanitsa Hut.
For a bit of variety, instead of continuing towards Sinanishka Gate, we took a detour through the pass between Bezimenen Peak and Georgiytsa. On some maps, this pass is marked as Georgiyska Gate.
The distance is probably slightly shorter this way, while the elevation gain is more or less the same. We definitely didn't regret our choice, though. Very few people use this route, and we came across plenty of large, perfectly ripe blueberries that nobody had picked. Needless to say, our pace dropped considerably as we kept stopping to eat them.
After the pass, there is a short but steep descent. We then kept slightly to the right to avoid the rocky terrain until we eventually reached the trail connecting Sinanitsa Hut with the Gergiyski Lakes.
Once on the trail, there was one short climb as we skirted the northern side of Bezimenen Peak, followed by the descent towards the hut.
Along the way, we encountered two cows and a bull standing on the trail. They were perfectly calm and ended up walking ahead of us almost all the way to the hut.
When we arrived at Sinanitsa Hut, we discovered that the rest of the group hadn't made it there yet. They had no mobile signal either, so we settled in and waited.
It wasn't long before they started appearing one by one after struggling up the brutally steep final climb below the hut.
We spent the evening in the hut's dining room, eating, drinking and generally having a good time. We also went outside to photograph the sunset. After midnight, we wished Mihaela a happy birthday and finally headed to bed.
Day 2: Sinanitsa Hut – Sinanitsa Peak – Vihren Hut
There was no rush to get up early the following morning either. We had ordered mekitsi for breakfast (€2 each), and I had two – I even took the obligatory photo of them with the lake and Sinanitsa Peak in the background.
All nine of us got together for a group photo before setting off towards Sinanitsa Peak. We took the direct route straight up from the lake. It's steep, but technically quite straightforward. It took me around 50 minutes to reach the summit, while the slower members of the group made it in about an hour and a half.
We spent quite a while on the summit – probably around an hour and a half. There were candles, balloons, sweets and everything else you might need for a proper birthday celebration on top of a mountain.
At the same time, we were waiting for two friends who were approaching from the direction of Vihren Hut. We could actually see them across from us on Momin Peak, but they eventually decided they wouldn't have enough time to make it all the way to Sinanitsa and waited for us there instead.
After leaving Sinanitsa Peak, we headed towards Sinanishka Gate. At Momin Peak, our two friends joined us, and by the time we reached the pass, the group split up again.
Part of the group descended back towards Sinanitsa Hut and from there planned to continue down to Mandrata. The rest of us carried on towards Banderishka Gate.
Just before the pass, there is a small spring. It was partially clogged, but with a cup it was still possible to collect some water. We sat down on the grass beside it for a lunch break and something to eat.
Afterwards came the long descent towards Vihren Hut. It's not the most enjoyable descent when your legs are already tired, but we took our time and made our way down carefully.
And that was pretty much the end of our two-day hike – at the restaurant below Banderitsa Hut, at Lazar's place, with a cold beer in hand.
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