Peak Ushite, Rila 2025

Last Saturday Gaby, husband and I did one of the best hike for this year, to peak Ushite in Rila. The trail is new to us and was very interesting, challenging and extremely rewarding.

The day was sunny and warm, absolutely perfect for a hike in Rila. We started from the parking lot at the Central Mountain Station towards hut Malyovitza.

The trail to the hut winds by the Malyovitza river.

Hut Malyovitza - we filled our bottles of water here and continued towards the first terrace - this part of the trail coincides with the trail to peak Malyovitza.

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxers, Burda T-shirt

I: lingerie, Burda raglan T-shirt, Burda shorts, Love Notions Sabrina Slims

From the first terrace our trail takes a detour through the steep Ovcharski chute.

Up the chute towards the ridge

Finally we are near the Malyovitza lakes

We passed by the first lake 

and stopped for a short break at the second of the three lakes.

The place was packed with ripe blueberries and we ate handfuls of them.

At the third lake - the three lakes are connected by a small river.

On the ridge towards peak Ushite

A view to the three lakes from above

Peak Ushite - a very peculiar looking rock formation

The objective is achieved -  on peak Ushite

The vast views towards the valley of Urdina river, peak Malyovitza above us and the sea of Rila peaks near and far was so breathtaking!

Here we saw three falcons and an eagle - I hadn't seen one in ages - they are really big and impressive!

Hike info:

Destination: Ushite peak round trail (2547 m)

Mountain: Rila

Total length: 16 km

Elevation gain: 850 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 7 hours

Average difficulty: 7 / 10

On the way back we took an alternative trail down the opposite slope of Ushite, through the grass, directly down to the first Malyovitza lake.

Walking down through the grass valley without any trail was surprisingly very pleasant

By the first Malyovitza lake

From the lakes we took the long and very steep Rabbit trail back to Malyovitza hut. A herd of wild deer ran past us and up the nearby slope, where they stopped to graze!

Unlike on other hikes, when going down is the easy part, the Rabbit trail was so steep, that going down it was quite an adventure

This hike was definitely one of the highlights of our hiking season this summer!

Strashnoto Ezero 2024

It's been another cold and rainy weekend in Sofia, which husband and I spent at home, studying for our upcoming exams, but I'm using the pause to post about our last hike in Rila at the end of September. It was probably one of the last really hot days of the year and I am so happy that we managed to enjoy it fully along some of our most beloved mountain tracks - to Strashnoto Ezero. 

The round trail starts from Malyovitza center and gradually climbs to Yonchevo ezero.

The sun was strong, the sky was intense blue, the tracks were almost empty - there were just a couple of people here and there, that we met on our way - pure bliss!

Hike info:

Destination: Strashnoto ezero round route (2451 m)

Mountain: Rila

Total length: 17 km

Elevation gain: 750 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 7 hours

Average difficulty: 7 / 10

The first of the many lakes along the way - Yonchevo ezero. Here we had a short break and some snacks before the big climb.

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxers, Burda cargo pants, Burda longsleeve

I: lingerie, Sabrina Slims III

One of my favourite parts of the trail - the valley above Yonchevo ezero:

The trail goes up the rocky slope

And here they are - the small and the true Scary lakes (Strashnoto ezero)

The waters of the lake were deep turquoise. We found a picnic place a bit above the lake and couldn't take our eye off the reflections of the sun and the play of the waters.

If we didn't have many kilometers of hiking to get back to the car and then back to Sofia, we would have stayed hours, enjoying the beauty of the place and the small group of mountain goats, that grazed on the rocks not far from us.

There were several more lakes on our way back to Malyovitza hut

The Needles

Peak Malyovitza and the hut

Malyovitza river. May be due to the excellent weather, but this is probably the best hike we've had this year!