Glorious landscapes
Travel contest is back! Sooo long since I joined, but now that @lightcaptured brought it back, jumping right in with my entry! The official entry is as a comment in the contest's post, but decided to do a post for increased visibility. You can check the original post here!
And this week's theme is My best landscape. Well, it would be hard to choose the absolute best, but definitely this one is the most present on my heart right now:
Seeing clouds from above is one of my personal favourites, but it takes an extra flavor when you're hiking the highest mountain in Portugal, and alone (by the way, don't do it: it's dumb! Go with friends or a guide!)!
Pico, the mountain in the island with the same name, rises to 2351 meters. And I had no idea how hard it would be to climb up! Started way early in the morning; my plan was to start during night and try to catch the sun rising, but it was impossible due to the heavy fog and rain.
All hikers must pass at the interpretation center, and take a gps transmiter in case something bad happens. From there, a hard hike to the top! These poles mark the way from the center to the top. And if you're wondering how steep it is...
This steep! You can see the poles above, scattered among the fog. As soon as you cross a certain altitude, the view gets a lot better.
The inclination unfortunately, stays the same. And as you reach the crater above, there's the final challenge: piquinho, that little (and even steeper!) mount.
I made it all the way to the top. The wind was insane; I enjoyed the moment, and got my camera for a photo from the very top.
From there, time to go alllll the way down again. It took me six and a half hours total. And at the end of the day, back in the hotel, feels great to look at the mountain and know I was there at that tip, up above!
I couldn't go down stairs properly for the next two days. But given those glorious landscapes and the thrill of reaching the top... totally worth it!
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