Overview
The way back with Altar Peak very close
Altar Peak is 2.665m high, and stands as the 10th highest peak of Brazil along with 3 Estados Peak, which has the very same altitude. Pedra do Sino, or Bell Rock, is a little bit higher and it has 2.670m of altitude and because of that takes the position of 9th highest brazilian peak. The Altar – Sino traverse is a simple summit to summit shortcut, but not everybody here in Brazil knows about that, therefore don’t do it.
Getting There
You will find info about how to get on this route on the mountain pages.
The starting point for this traverse is Rebouças Hut, inside Itatiaia NP.
Route Description
Not a big secret here, summit to summit in almost a straight line, but not that easy. There’s a stream to cross, a little bit deep (up to 1m deep) and you might get wet, but avoid that at all costs.
Once you cross this creek (the only water point at the traverse), you will have to navegate on the cracks of Sino Rock all the way up to its summit. Not very easy since some of them just end up in deep crevasses (20m deep, or deeper), and you end up having to get back a great deal of terrain to try again. You can get some three hours just to find a way to gain only around 400 feet of altitude to the summit of the mountain.
Photos of the route:
Watch out for these!
Nasty little snake, it is quite small (3 feet long tops), but very venomous bite.
Essential Gear
>Gaters
>3L water hidration bag
>Waterproof jacket
>Knife
>Gloves (for grab on rocks)
>Gloves (for the cold)
>Good hiking boots (waterproof better)
>Fresh socks protected inside your backpack against water
>At least 30L backpack
>Hand GPS (very useful in a rock labyrinth)
Legal Issues
To hike/ climb is a dangerous activity and requires proper equipment and clothing, the owner of this page cannot be blamed by injuries caused to anyone who read this page for its info about the mountain, and eventually got hurt by doing so with reckless behaviour or bad weather conditions.
Paulo Roberto Felipe Schmidt – AKA: PAROFESExternal Links
A brazilian website to get mountains info, including gps files to download:http://www.rumos.net.br/rumos/
My youtube channel: www.youtube.com/parofes - Now with 260+ videos online!
The biggest brazilian website about climbing and mountaineering, for which I'm a columnist: