
Day 1 - Bulgaria, BANSKO --- For this International Trip
Mountain was Vehren and the Koncheto Ridge.
We parked up at Vehren Hut at the end of the road from Bansko..! We were able to obtain an OS style map of the region to allow me to navigate the route - the weather conditions were perfect so it was easy to locate and follow the map contours to the mountain. I used the map throughout the hike to ensure we were going in correct way, although the route finding was reasonably straight forward as we had a very clear day.
From here we ascended the saddle (2560m) to the South side of Vehren. We then ascended to the summit of Vehren (2914m). After taking summit photos, we continued on and descended the North side of Vehren this was a via Ferrata route to a saddle (2660m) that led us to Kutelo (2908m). On summiting Kutelo we approached Koncheto Ridge (2810m) with care - this is a very narrow ridge and has a via Ferrata along the ridge allowing us to use cowtails to clip in. After traversing the ridge we ascended Banski Suhodol (2884m). Our descent was back to the saddle between Vehren and Kutelo. Although the route was along a very steep side of the Koncheto Ridge and Kutelo. This route was a via Ferrata route and some sections of the steel cable was broken requiring us to use a rope between these sections to ensure our traverse was safe. Once back at the saddle we descended the valley to the North side of Vehren in a Easterly direction to a height of 2350m, we then hiked around the the lower sections of Vehren and eventually returning to the Vehren Hut (1980m).
Vehren is the highest peak in the Bulgaria's Pirin mountain range reaching 2914m. It's Bulgaria's 2nd highest peak after Musala (2925m) and is in the Rila mountain range. Koncheto Ridge (2810m) is a narrow ridge with a via Ferrata along the Arete and is between Kutelo (2908m) and Banski Sudodol (2884m).