2351 top

It was at the morning of December 29 of 2011 which was held the last adventure of the year. A Pico mountain climb, with 2351 m of altitude, accompanied throughout the journey by rain, wind and cold. It was an exhausting adventure, but no less interesting.

Pico Mountain

Is at the Pico island (Azores archipelago, Portugal) which is situated the highest mountain of Portugal with 2351 meters.

It is the island's biggest tourist attraction, especially during Summer, but still challenging during Winter.

By car you can reach an altitude of 1200 meters and the remaining 1151 meters are covered on foot by a trail of 4700 meters.

The route starts at mountain support house and there is a mandatory registration for all climbers.

After the first 900 meters of trail you find the Alagar da Furna Abrigo (which is a cavern), the first resting point, also known as "a furna" (the cave). It is a main vent of an old volcano with 39 meters depth, according to IPEA (Azorean Speleologic Heritage Inventory). Extreme caution is advised for the not protected depression located east of the existing wall because it is a part of the roof of this cave which may show some instability.

The climb takes on average between 3 to 4 hours and descent takes 2 to 3 hours. You can climb and descend the on the same day or you can spend the night on the top (which i strongly recommend).

At night the temperature is around 0 degrees Celsius, even reaching negative values (even during the summer).

Any discomfort during the night is compensated with the best sunrise in the world!