Mt. Pico in Azores

Mt. Pico in Azores

Page Type Page Type: Trip Report
Location Lat/Lon: 38.47000°N / 28.4°W
Additional Information GPX File: Download GPX » View Route on Map
Date Date Climbed/Hiked: May 19, 2013
Activities Activities: Hiking
Seasons Season: Spring

Climbing Pico

Mt. Pico in the Azores

While the mountains of Portugal and Mt. Pico in particular
are perhaps not famous climbs, I found very little information regarding the
mountains of this western European country.So I decided to write an article     
with a few photos about my May 2013 trip with friends in Portugal.

The highest mountain on the mainland, Torre (6539 feet), is
in the Serra da Estrela mountain range of the central highlands. This mountain
has roads to the top for the winter skiers. Eight hundred miles west of
Portugal lie the Azores Islands and it is here that the highest peak in Portugal
occupies the island of Pico. As the guidebooks say, “the full majesty of Mt.
Pico becomes apparent when it is seen from the neighboring central islands.”

Mt. Pico from the town of Horta on Faial Island

 “Only then does one realize how gracefully this volcanic
peak soars out of the Atlantic, shooting up to 7713 feet to form the summit of
the greatest mountain range in the world, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.”  -- Eyewitness Travel


Arriving on Pico Island on May 18, 2013, my friends Kent and
Linda and I explored the island and drove to the mountain.  Many people come to Pico to climb the peak.
It is a strenuous climb. Guides are available and hikers must register and
watch a safety film before climbing. 
Some hikers like to climb to the crater and camp overnight. The summit
and descent are done on the second day. 
The roundtrip distance is 6-7 miles but the incline and volcanic rock
slow down the pace.  Many days the top of
the mountain is shrouded in clouds. We decided to do the one-day trip and so we
began our ascent about 9:00a.m. on Sunday, May 19, 2013.


The route to the crater rim is well-marked by wooden posts
(45 in all). See Kent approaching Marker 29 in the photo. With a few
exceptions, the next marker is visible from below (or above when
descending).  We had no trouble on the
way up.  The mountain was fogged in on
our descent and finding the next marker became a challenge where there was no
discernible trail. See photo.

Climbing our way up the summit peak amounted to some route-finding
and easy bouldering over the volcanic rock. I discovered a chute near the top
that climbed steeply past some steam vents and onto the summit.


Steam vents in the chute near the summit


Our Pico climb took about nine hours roundtrip delayed by
the foggy conditions on the descent. The risks for broken bones or lacerations
are real—one reason for the required safety film.  The Park requires each climber or team to
carry a smartphone with GPS.


After our climb we took the ferry over to Faial for several
days there. We flew from there to Ponta Delgada on the big island of Sao Miguel
passing right beside Mt. Pico on our return to the mainland.  See photos from the plane window.




 





Comments

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rgg

rgg - Jun 15, 2013 11:24 pm - Hasn't voted

Perhaps you didn't search the right way?

Pico
Torre

All I did was search for Mountains & Rocks where I selected country Portugal. These two popped up right away. However, the resulting list was rather short, and so I have to agree that Portugal is very much underrepresented.

ckbarnard

ckbarnard - Jun 17, 2013 6:35 pm - Voted 10/10

Strenuous climb indeed!

I'm Kent, whom "AncientPaths" (aka Tom) mentions in his post. I just wanted to say that, though I'm glad now I did it, not being in very good shape, not to mention being 64 years old (though Tom's similar age didn't bother him nearly as much; he's clearly in much better shape), it was one of the hardest things I've experienced doing, including climbs of Rainier and the Mountaineer's route of Whitney. In addition to my not being in good shape and being older, the climb of Mt. Pico is relentlessly steep; there are hardly any areas of relative flatness to give one a chance to regroup and stretch out the legs in normal walking. Plus the footing was maybe 85% on rough lava, so most steps were on very uneven footing. If I had it to do again, I'd prefer to spend the night in the shallow caldera, then summit and descend the second day. Besides, I've read that the view of the stars from up there is extraordinary!

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