SERRA DA FREITA (CANDAL) 17.12.19

It's the 17 December. The day is chilly, the air feels fresh, and you can hear water streams running all over. It has been raining a lot but not today. Today is just fine with the sun venturing out. It is the perfect day for a hike.

I love this mountains I call Serra da Freita, which is in fact a combination of more than just one mountain. I love it due to its landscape versatility, its villages, its people, its animals, and the fact that it's like a voyage into the past, the more astounding because it lies just 1h 15min drive from the big city of Porto. The trail looked unproblematic with the classic village and the beautiful landscapes. The atmosphere was so great that even two wonderful black dogs insisted in coming along. Beautiful!

Everything went smoothly until the point I got off track around km 10 and had to trail up and down about 2 km on moderate to very difficult terrain, which seemed like an eternity, in part through very dense stinging vegetation and rough ground. I believe I was literally stuck there in those 2 km for circa 2 hours with the sun going down fast. For the first time in my hiking history I had the feeling I was not going to make it out of there that day and the perspective of having to spend the night bothered me because I was not able to contact my wife due to lack of mobile phone signal. Whatsmore, I had insufficient food and they gave tons of rain for the next day. The cold would probably be unpleasant but never a life threatening issue because I had brought warm clothing and a good rain jacket and because the temperature would stay above freezing. And those were my thoughts which darkened when I suddenly realized I had lost my old and loyal watch as well as my pocketknife. At this point the dogs had already said goodbye without saying goodby. I don't blame them. Who wants the company of a fool? I don't.

At last, with great effort and my body scratched all over, I managed to push forward and arrive at the road. I was tired, the loss of my watch made me sad, but the feeling of adventure was kind of rewarding. I was amazed that my clothing was still in very good shape after the ordeal. That my boots were impeccable and my feet dry was no wonder because I only hike with the best boots available, in this case the Asolo Fugitive GTX. But most of all I was given a lesson which reinforced some very valuable rules. Never underrate Nature, never overrate yourself, better hike with friends, and be prepared for the unexpected.

Don't do this trail during the summer due to wildfires. Take good protective clothing and very good waterproof hiking boots.

Afterword:
On the 8th of January, without any hope, I returned to the local of the crime armed with my GPS in a desperate move to retrieve my watch. And I really did! After 22 days under heavy rain there it was, working as beautifully as always. 1 in 10.000 chance! As we say here, all the devils are lucky.