Portugal Coastal Hiking 9/16/14

Day 3:  Hiking 3.3 miles in Arrabida Natural Park. Our shortest hike of the week and also the one with the most rain.

Remember the Franciscan Convent from Day 1?  Here are four small dwellings the monks built to live in isolation for extended periods of time.

Portugal Coastal Hiking 9/15/14

Day 2: We hiked 4 miles along the coast line from Praia Grande - see above - to Cabo da Roca, the most western point of continental Europe. 

Just a little steep - lots of up and down on this trail...

An ice plant variety brought in from South Africa to stabilize the dunes over 100 years ago. It has taken over the landscape and crowded the native variety.

Our guide collecting garbage along the way.  Unfortunately, we found the beautiful coast line in less than pristine condition.

In the afternoon, we toured Sintra Pena Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal. Above,  Neptune keeping guard.

Portugal Coastal Hiking - 9/14/14

First day of our REI week-long hiking trip along the southern coast of Portugal: Lisbon to Sagres. From Sintra, we hiked 6 miles down to the village of Cascais, in the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. We walked through forests, along a rugged coastline with high cliffs and past long stretches of beaches.

In the afternoon we visited an austere Contemplative Capuchos or Franciscan convent. The monks believed in living in simplicity and in harmony with nature.  Thinking a head of their time, I say :)

It was our first introduction to cork trees, found all over southern Portugal. The monks used cork to line walls and windows for warmth.  Cork is a sustainable and renewable resource. Removing the bark from the tree does not affect the health of the tree and is done every nine years.

Hidcote Manor Garden, Cotswold, UK, 12/9/14

Instead of doing a hike in the Cotswolds with my cousin Margot and her husband John, they took us for a stroll to see Hidcote Manor Gardens.  The land was bought by an American heiress in the late 1800's who promptly passed it on to her son, Lawrence Johnston.  The garden is now managed by the UK National Trust. Hidcote is known for the lavender we are all familiar with and has a white garden that predates the well know white garden of Sissinghurst.

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Hawk Watch Trail, Sandias, NM, 8/16/14

Because we hiked this trail many times, I didn't think of taking the camera. Wthen we got there,  we found that everything was green... Like we had never seen it.  Green New Mexico! I had to document it. So we went back today for a an early morning breakfast hike. (Trail 215, 2 miles one way, elevation 1600 feet.)

Ocean drive, Newport, RI, 7/5/14

Wonderland and Ship Harbor Nature trails, Acadia National Park, 7/1/14

We rode the shuttle to Southwest Harbor to reach Wonderland trailhead that winds for 1/2 a mile through a grove of twisted pines.

And this is what we found... A beach lined with rose bushes!

Smelling the roses...

No high cliffs here. We found cobblestone rocks and granite ledges that made it easy to walk along the shore.

The guidebook mentioned bringing binoculars to watch the wildlife.  We did not have binoculars but we were not disappointed.

Another attraction: tide pools.

Found masses of small clams and and a few baby crabs hiding in the tide pools's seaweed, and just one empty crab shell.