Finally in Rila! For various reasons these months we've been sticking mostly to Vitosha and last Friday was our first hike in Rila for the year.
We decided to repeat a hike we did last year with our daughter - to peak Ushite in Rila. Although the climb to Ushite is considered fairly difficult and rather steep, the place is so beautiful and the terrain so varied, that this hike is becoming one of my favourites.
The first part of the hike starts from the parking lot at the Central Mountain Station towards hut Malyovitza. The day was hot, but cloudy and for August the popular place was fairly empty, probably because of the work day.
We stopped at hut Malyovitza only for a short while, to fill up our water bottles, and continued towards the first terrace.
Me-made items, worn on this hike:
Husband: boxers, Burda T-shirt, Burda cargo pants, Burda hoodie
I: lingerie, Burda raglan T-shirt, Burda colour jeans
The trail to Ushite deviatesfrom the popular trail to Malyovitza at the first terrace and takes a steep climb along the Ovcharski chute.
Finally on the ridge - by the beautiful Malyovitza lakes
We had decided to divide the hike into two phases and had a small protein packed power snack for the first break by the second Malyovitza lake - boiled egg, cheddar, home-grown cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.
After a nice and relaxing pause, we continued up by the third Malyovitza lake to the next ridge.
The view from the ridge towards the gorge of Urdina river
Peak Ushite
Finally on the peak - the scenery was like from a post card
Hike info:Date: 05 August 2026
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
We had a long lunch break here, enjoying the views and the well deserved tortillas and beer.
The gorge of Urdina river is home of Gold eagles and common kestrels, as well as many other birds of prey and mountain birds. It was simply amazing to watch the mighty eagles fly around us so up close.
Zeleni ridge and the Kalin peaks across
The astonishing Malyovo pole - so level and grassy at 2500 m altitude. We went down through the meadow towards the first Malyovitza lake, directly through the grass, without trail, probably the most fun part of the hike.
To close the circle, we decided to climb down through the so call Rabbit trail - a long, very steep and slippery trail from the ridge to Malyovitza hut. One of those trails, where going down is almost as tiring and slow as climbing up.
Finally, back to Malyovitza hut, for a short break and to fill up our water bottles again, before the final stretch to the parking lot and the car. Summer is late this year and the blueberries at the higher altitudes were still green, unlike last year, but the bushes in the forest near the start of the trail had enough berries, so that we managed to pick some for a blueberry crumble, that I baked immediately on the next day - and it was delicious :)
