Hard Trekking Vertical Maão

We begin our day with a pleasant walk through centuries-old forests of pines, chestnut trees, and large birches. We descend and pass through some of the villages on the eastern slope of the Marão mountains along small paths that only those who live there know.

Our vertical kilometer challenge begins, after our legs are well-warmed, next to the river of the mills. From here, we climb uninterruptedly to the chapel of Senhora da Serra, the highest point in the Marão Mountains (1,415 m).

We descend a bit through the rocky slopes of the mountain, before facing a new challenge, climbing to the "Padrão dos Centenários da Pátria" (Standard of the Centenaries of the Fatherland), at the top of Alto da Freita.

We descend again along a ridge path with plenty of loose stone and some beautiful views up the western slope of this mountain.

We once again plunge into pine forests and, further on, pseudotsuga and birch trees until we return to our meeting point.