Defeated!!

I have always said that I was a cat or a lizard in a previous life given my penchant for the sun and my love of basking in it. Today I discovered that I must have probably (in some other life) been a mountain goat!!!!

Joanne and I headed off early morning for the Cerro da Cabeça, a loop trail located near Moncarapacho. If you look it up online you will find that various sites will tell you it’s just over 4 km, others tell you just under 6 km but I can tell you that today when we had finished it it was just shy of 10 km. The sites will also tell you it’s moderate, which is true if you stick to one particular path but if you decide, as we did, to climb to the top of the “marco geodesico” you will find yourself on your hands and knees climbing over huge boulders and trying not to tumble into crevices!!! I think these web sites need to be updated.

The views were spectacular and at times the climb a bit steep but overall I can tell you we enjoyed every moment of the challenge. We did not however make it to the highest peak!! We were probably about 75 meters from the peak and directly in front of us, with no way around it, was a deep chasm. It wasn’t particularly wide across but the point of rock on both sides was narrow and each time I made the attempt to get across it I found myself experiencing vertigo and therefore, after a few attempts, I gave up in defeat!!

Getting back down from this peak to the main trail was a big of a challenge as going up we were hands and knees to the ground at times. Not so easy when heading down however we made it and decided to keep going with the main trail. Not a disappointment at all.

Another great hikes for the books and one that we will do again this trip.