Vezhen

Worth a detour

The high point of the Zlatishko-Tetevenska section of Stara Planina, in the western arm of Central Balkan National Park. The whole summit is above the treeline — wide alpine grassland rather than rock — and the Kom–Emine ridge route runs straight over it. Reachable in a half-day from the Beklemeto pass road, which is what makes it a good introduction to the high Balkan ridge.

Story

Background

Vezhen is 2,198 metres, which puts it among the higher summits of the range without being anywhere near the drama of Botev further east. It is a broad grassy whaleback, and that is the appeal rather than a failing: from the top the ridge runs away in both directions in long green waves, and on a clear morning you can see a very long way across both the Danube plain and the sub-Balkan valleys.

The usual approach is from Beklemeto, the Troyan pass, where the road over the mountain gives you a start at altitude; from there it is a walk along and up the crest, with the Vezhen hut below the summit on the northern side and Eho hut further along the ridge. The Kom–Emine route, the long traverse of Stara Planina and part of the European E3, comes over the top, so in summer you will meet people two weeks into a month-long walk.

The Kozya Stena reserve, one of the nine strict reserves whose beech forests carry the World Heritage listing, lies on the ridge to the east. Conditions on the summit are the thing to plan around: there is no tree cover for the last few hundred metres of ascent, no shelter on top, and weather on this ridge changes quickly in any month. Snow lies late, and in poor visibility the broad grassy top is genuinely easy to get disoriented on.