Up Madeira MadeiraAday Hikes October 16, 2024 Today didn't turn out as planned, but that's not a bad thing at all. The plan was to check out Caniçal, which is the next big town east of Machico. I liked Machico so much, I thought the city next door might be just as charming, and both have access to some good trails. Unfortunately, it didn't take long to realize Caniçal is very different from its neighbor. The original plan was to spend some time exploring the city and then take the bus back to Funchal from there, but there just wasn't enough to see to make it worth staying. I knew there was a trail over the hills that would take me to Machico, so I opted to take a hike instead of hanging around. It was only a two mile walk, although the elevation gain is 700 feet, so it took an hour. It was a nice sunny day, so in all a very happy way to spend the time. The sign below was at around the halfway point. I'm not sure why it was there, since there really wasn't anywhere else to go. Because down would be a bad idea...
Pico Alto Trail Another picture from Caminho Real de Monte, also known as trail PR3.6. About two-thirds of the trail is more or less stairs made from small stones. The last section before you reach the top of Pico Alto is a more traditional trail through a rocky landscape.
Holy Spring The Caminho Real de Monte is part of an old royal road that encircled Madeira back in the sixteenth century. This section was also a pilgrimage route, up to a chapel built to honor the Lady of the Mountain. Just below where the church stands is this spring, where it is said the lady appear to a shepherdess.
Machico II The town of Machico was quite a surprise when I visited it last week. I could see on maps that there were a number of trails around town, but you see trails all around Madeira. However, Machico has proclaimed itself the “trail running capital” of Madeira and the trails around town are well marked and maintained.
Bananas The levada nearest to where I'm staying isn't the prettiest of them. Much of it is a bit suburban, but if you walk west, it quickly turns rural. It's still not very pretty, but there are occassionally some great views down to the ocean, and there are lots of banana plants.
Up in the Trees Having been thwarted last week in my attempts to revisit a couple of trails I found in the hills above Funchal, I finally found one that was open and provided a considerable amount of “tree time.” Like most of the trails around here, this one follows an irrigation weir, known as a levada.