Ushite, Rila, 2026

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 :)

Boyana Waterfalls 2026

We had a wonderful hike on Friday to Boyana waterfalls on Vitosha. The day was very hot, but the forest offered us shadow and breeze, the trail is fairly easy and we definitely had one of our most relaxed hikes lately.

The Boyana lake - I had never seen it with so many water lilies!

On Borova skala, overlooking the Kopitoto tv tower and peak

Hike info:

Date: 31 July 2026

Destination: Boyana Waterfalls

Mountain: Vitosha

Total length: 14 km

Elevation gain: 290 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 5 hours

Average difficulty: 4 / 10

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxers, Burda cargo pants, Burda hoodie in backpack

I: lingerie, Love Notions Joggers, Love Notions LDT

The waterfall - in the middle of the summer, the rivers, that usually run along the trail near the waterfall, were almost dry and the waterfall itself is only a small part of its full-watered self in spring.

We stayed here shortly - lately we prefer to take our lunch at a less touristy and quieter place - although the trail was not packed, by any means, the waterfall itself was quite packed with hikers and there was even a big schoolchildren group.

On our way back, we made a happy discovery - the hidden trail to Sui vrah - very secluded and totally empty. We found a lovely oak tree grove with comfortable moss covered ground, where we spent a blessed hour, drinking cold beer, enjoying our delicious tortillas and jam-filled muffins.

While husband was resting, I explored the trail to the end and climbed the Sui vrah

The view to Sofia from Sui vrah

And back to Boyana lake - it was so beautiful with all these yellow water lilies

and a couple of white

Although the trail is to and fro, and I prefer circuit trails, it was one of the best hiking experiences we've had lately - so beautiful and relaxing, and only half an hour car drive from home - what is there not to like!

From Aleko to Cherni vruh to Zlatnite, 2026

Yesterday we did a new for us hike, that involved driving by our car and riding on three different buses, so that we could start the hike from one point in the mountain and end it on the other side of the mountain. We've done every part of the hike many times, returning to the starting point, combining the two was the trick.

The idea for this hike had been brewing in my mind for a long time, but the logistics of the transportation stopped me from getting anywhere with it. I use Gemini (and other AI models) a lot, so I asked it to make me a plan for the optimal transportation. I checked its suggestions with the available bus schedules and Google street maps and it turned out doable and tolerable, so we decided to do it.

We drove to the foot of Dragalevtzi, left the car there (the only tricky part - to find a free parking spot, we lucked out). Then we took the bus to Aleko and started on our adventure towards Cherni vruh along the so called King's road.

The first part of our hike was a repetition of the start of the hike we had with Vali exactly a month ago. Unlike then, however, and despite the clear skies, the weather on the peak was cold and the wind was strong and freezing.

Hike info:

Date: 26 July 2026

Destination: Cherni Vruh (2290 m)

Mountain: Vitosha

Total length: 16 km

Elevation gain: 500 m  - Elevation lost: 910 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 4 and a half hours

Average difficulty: 4.5 / 10 

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxers, Burda cargo pants, Burda hoodie

I: lingerie, Burda raglan blouse, Burda color jeans

We found some shelter among the rocks on the western part of the peak, where we enjoyed our tortillas, beers and home-made muffins, but we didn't linger long. My lips were getting blue, fingers losing sensitivity and in the end I was starting to tremble - it was time to move.

We took the trail down to Samara Shelter and decided to make a detour and climb peak Samara - one of the "Vitosha's dozen" - peaks above 2000 m, which we climbed a couple of years ago for the first time.

Once we got on peak Samara, we realized what a big mistake we had made with our lunch place - only a few hundred meters lower than Cherni vruh, the temperatures were tolerable, the wind much milder and the peak would have been a perfect lunch stop - next time we'll know!

The view from Samara towards the Pernik valley.

The trail through the plateau is one my favourites and the main reason I wanted this hike so much - the vastness of the almost level ground, surrounded by high peaks on all sides is really impressive.

The trail lead us to Konyarnika - another of my favourite spots on Vitosha, which we hiked at the end of June.

And back to Zlatnite mostove. Here we took another bus to the Ring road, and from there a third bus back to our car. Although the logistics sounds complicated, on weekends the buses to Vitosha are quite regular and the trip was surprisingly comfortable and smooth - I even managed to read a few chapters on my Kindle while riding the bus, so win win. We'll definitely plan a similar hike or repeat this one some time in the future.