Day 71 – to Figueiró da Serra

My wandering northwards through this wonderful mountain range continued. Heading out of Manteigas just before the steep zig-zags I took a right on a smaller road and headed over two mountain passes towards the village of Folgosinho. There were a few hikers around. The parking for what was the first marked hike out of town was quite busy. But the further from town, the less people.

I stopped at the Covão da Ponte on the River Mondego. This is an old campsite, that despite not being managed and charged for, is still used, and is remarkably clean. It is situated in a idyllic spot on the river, where before and after it runs through some cascades and rapids, but for a hundred metres, is still and deep. There was a photography club there, and they were delighted to see the dog, who of course was in the river straightaway. He is very photogenic, as the reader is I am sure aware.

There is a huge amount of old tracks around these hills, which make it perfect for MTB riding, but especially so for bikepacking, as they are relatively gentle. I’ve thought about this as a biking route since arriving into the National Park, and that possibility has just grown. The villages are a delight. Several of them, such as Folgosinho, have castles dominating them in various states of ruin, and are amongst a route between the ‘historic villages of Portugal’. No doubt in the summer they are crammed with tourists, but at this time of year, they are all but empty, and a pleasure to visit.

The weather has been consistently fine, hardly a cloud in the sky, with mid-afternoon maximum of about 18C, and low at night of between 3 and 7C depending on the wind, and the altitude; perfect for outdoor activity. A local told me that usually the weather was like this until the Chestnut Festival, which was last weekend (11 November), then it usually breaks, and stays very changeable. This year the long term forecast, two weeks, still is fine.

And the dog met a new friend, tentatively at least, an Estrela mountain dog, which obviously are from this area.. huge things, often used for working with sheep.

The second stop I made was at the higher of the two passes, at about 1200 metres, and walked up the nearest peak, at 1357 metres, to get some spectacular views of the north part of the Estrela massif. Peaks have various things at the top of them in my experience, one of the worst being Torre, where I was a couple of days ago, with its department store.. Here though, there was a large swing..

I had hoped to stay at Folgosinho, but the village is small, with extremely narrow streets, all of which are on severe inclines. I went on therefore to Figueiró da Serra, which was more typical, less tourist-orientated, and a really good stopover.