Twelve of us just came back for a week of hiking on the island of Madeira. Several of our hikes were along the levada (waterways), but our "peak" experience was our hike to Pico Ruivo de Santana at 1,862 metres or around 6,100 feet. This trip was a walk in the park compared to climbing to the summit of Mt. Washington.
We started from about 5,000 feet on a graded stone pathway with stone steps. About 1/4 mile from the top, we arrived at a white hut, "hutte", "casa"? At this hut, manned by a grouchy hutmaster, we could buy soft drinks, candy bars, postcards. It had wooden tables and benches, but I didn't see any bunks.
The view from the top was outstanding with many volcanic mountains in view,windmills in the distance, the ocean and the village of Santana. There is a more difficult way to "bag" this peak on a trail called the Balcony walk, that I am sure would have been much more exciting then our stone path. Nevertheless, it was great fun to bag this peak.
The walking along their waterway systems was fun, too. The levadas were built in the 1600's as a way to get water down low for irrigation. Hikers discovered how neat they were to walk along side - there are over 1,000 miles of levada trails on Madeira. One of our walks went through a tunnel, which took about 15 minutes to travers.
It was a great vacation, and I loved the island, which is off the coast of Africa with beautiful flowers, trees and vegetation!
We started from about 5,000 feet on a graded stone pathway with stone steps. About 1/4 mile from the top, we arrived at a white hut, "hutte", "casa"? At this hut, manned by a grouchy hutmaster, we could buy soft drinks, candy bars, postcards. It had wooden tables and benches, but I didn't see any bunks.
The view from the top was outstanding with many volcanic mountains in view,windmills in the distance, the ocean and the village of Santana. There is a more difficult way to "bag" this peak on a trail called the Balcony walk, that I am sure would have been much more exciting then our stone path. Nevertheless, it was great fun to bag this peak.
The walking along their waterway systems was fun, too. The levadas were built in the 1600's as a way to get water down low for irrigation. Hikers discovered how neat they were to walk along side - there are over 1,000 miles of levada trails on Madeira. One of our walks went through a tunnel, which took about 15 minutes to travers.
It was a great vacation, and I loved the island, which is off the coast of Africa with beautiful flowers, trees and vegetation!
