What a foggy day it is! You MIST it? I did. I actually love these days, that make surroundings more mysterious and get yourself connected. Getting rid of the wide view and all kinds of distractions. Waking up with blurred windows in the van, full of condensation. Opening the sliding door and jumping into the wet muddy ground. It's difficult to drive away, I am taking it slow. I had to pick up a good friend and was ready to explore new mysteries. Is today a grey gloomy day? Definitely NOT. We found an interesting little hike along the Cascatas do Rio Ocreza in Portugal.
This trail is a less known one in the Castelo Branco province. It is actually part of the challenging route Gardunha Trail (PR1 CB), although we seem to have 'mist' this 17km challenge. The short version (of around 5km) is full of clear natural pools, little waterfalls, ruins, old watermills and all kinds of rock formations. When you look at Google Maps, you won't find this place. Even while we were there, it was hard to find. You start in the little village called 'Torre'. There is no real parking spot for hikers, so we parked Vin Diesel in front of the Torre of a little church. First we used our intuition to find the route by listening to the water, we found several pools and waterfalls pretty quick. On route we picked some fresh tangerines to fuel ourselves with vitamines. During our exploration, we ended up in the bushes at some point and my friend didn't really trust my intentions of today... I stopped crawling through the fallen eucalyptus trees and got her out of the slippery green rock formations. I can understand that a mysterious character does not always give the other person enough confidence in a misty remote environment like this :)
The red & yellow trail marks here, seem to be painted by someone that was a bit tipsy that day (or maybe this person also had a blurred view). The marks did not always make sense, There were also some plasticized prints that actually tried to send you in the right direction. At some point the prints send us in the direction of someone's gate, but the red yellow marked cross means not to take this direction. The place looked a bit creepy, so I turned around and tried to understand the mind of the tipsy painter. I managed to figure out the vague trail. This short trail got more and more interesting. Green surroundings, fresh air, sounds of streaming rivers and waterfalls, long talks and actually getting connected to my inner emotions again. The trail was blocked by fallen trees and I realized that my inner feelings were also blocked.
We crossed forests, little farms and at some point we entered a so called 'quinta'. The trail marks led us to someone's stairs. A chained dog was chilling there in the shed. Getting closer didn't change his attitude. But... All of a sudden he turned into a mad dog. He kept dancing in the air and showing his teeth. Is het trying to lift off? The metal chain was not the strongest one. But who cares which direction we choose...if the chain breaks, he will chase us anyway. I walked on and took the stairs down, whistling together with the birds and ignore the loud barking. No doggystyle today, let's continue with this foggystyle.
What followed was a beautiful part of the trail. At least, if you like ruins and the color green. I was imagining how it would be like to live here. A big challenge to get materials down. The old watermills were collapsed. The trees RUINed it. Crossing the river Ocreza had to be done by using some wooden little bridges. This was probably the most 'dangerous' part of the trail. No matter what kind of shoes, the bridge was extremely slippery and also crooked. Taking off the shoes and walk on water? No, Walking on sheep woolen socks...you know, we are getting older and actually wear these things. The most interesting parts of the river are called 'Po莽o Verde do Ocreza' and 'Po莽o do Inferno'. Don't expect huge impressive waterfalls and don't confuse it with the 'Po莽o do Inferno'trail around Manteigas. Some parts of the waterfalls are actually made of concrete and used as a dam.
All this talking, hiking, drinking, getting lost, picking fruits, listening to the streams...it creates that annoying feeling...I NEED TO PEEEEE! I have this strange habit of taking a piss at special places, especially the ones with a good view. So, I climbed the dam and opened the zipper. And we all know, when the drop comes...it's a huge relief. It would be nice when stress could disappear that easy, by just letting your pants drop.
My friend said we would probably end up at the creepy property's gate, where we turned back earlier this day. I had to admit, she was right. And now she wanted to stop here for a snack. I am not so sure, what kind of snack... I was looking around this spot after eating my Dutch syrup waffles. I saw a huge injection needle between the bushes. Together with the dirty old mattress and a huge cage, my freaky fantasy went nuts. I've been watching too many horror movies. After telling my crazy thoughts to my friend, she would probably not do another hike with me anymore 馃槀
Today ended pretty juicy. Not because of my friend, but because of her oranges. Vin Diesel was almost out of Diesel and he was thirsty. When we wanted to leave this remote hidden little area, the locals surrounded us...a herd of sheep. Maybe it was because of my socks? BEEEHHHHH 馃悘馃悜
