Friday, August 20th, 2021 - A Long Walk Around Sete Cidades

 This morning found us on the road before sunrise, headed to Sete Cidades, a popular vista nearby. Robyn had done a great job researching the day's itinerary, so we had plans to walk around the magnificent volcanic caldera here.

Miradouro da Vista do Rei

The caldera is touted by the local websites as being one of the largest abatement calderas in the world, but it did not show up on the top ten list that I found online. The rim has a diameter of about 3 miles with very steep walls and is 1640 feet deep. It formed about 22,000 years ago, followed by about 22 subsequent eruptions - the last one being in the 15th Century.

Route Map for pr4smi - Mata do Canario - Sete Cidades
https://trails.visitazores.com/en/trails-azores/sao-miguel/mata-do-canario-sete-cidades

The plan was to follow the red trail shown on the map anti-clockwise from the far right hand side, around the crater's rim and then down into the town of Sete Cidades. Happily it was mostly downhill and we knew there were taxis in town to get us back to our car. First stop after the Miradouro da Vista do Rei (Miradouro means 'Viewpoint') was Miradouro da Boca do Inferno (isn't that a great name!) near a little lake. From it one is supposed to be able to clearly see a large lake below and another smaller one - the 'inferno' - called Lagoa de Santiago.  

Miradouro da Boca do Inferno

But as you see - life doesn't always go according to plan and we found ourselves in the middle of the clouds! Not a lake in sight!

Cows near the trail head

As soon as we down a bit to start our 7-mile walk, we were back in full sun, enjoying the bucolic scene through hydrangea hedges.

Muro das Nove Janelas

The first delight was this beautiful aquaduct which is no longer used. The trail map said it was rebuilt  in 1830 to supply water to Ponta Delgada. I loved the contrast between the rich green vegetation and the red algae growing in its arches.

Pico da Cruz

When we got to one of the first viewpoints where we hoped to see the lakes, the clouds had still not burned off - perhaps our hopes would be dashed!

ATVs on the Rim Trail

There were vey few other walkers on the substantial wide trail, so it was no surprise to run into folks who preferred fossil fueled access to this special place.

I expect they were equally surprised to find a big old truck up here, too! It looked like a tight squeeze.

The Blue Lake - Sete Cidades

Happily, by the time we arrived further along the trail, the clouds had burned off and we had a clear view of the lake surrounded by its lush, green beauty. You can see the little town center right - that is our destination.

Atlantic Ocean - the other side of the rim

The rim itself is quite narrow - so if one just turns around and looks the other way - the ocean is right there! The yellow flowers look like a variety of ginger. Along with he hydrangeas, they provide wonderful color in the landscape.

Blue and Green Lake - Sete Cidades

And here we have the view we were seeking! The blue lake in the foreground, with the green one in the distance.

Although the crater is all one lake, the differences in depth result in different light reflections - the bridge across appears to separate the two bodies of water. This is part of the magic of the place that draws people to it. The name Sete Cidades means Seven Cities - as it's hardly and city and there's only one here. I still can't quite figure out exactly how that name came about - but it seems connected to some mythical place called Antilia in the ocean where legend claims that a Portuguese Catholic expedition built seven cities on it. The island has never been discovered. There is also a story of a princess of the same name who fell in love with a shepherd. As is often the case with princesses, her parents wanted her to marry a prince. At their last meeting, the two lovers said their goodbyes - the princess's tears flowed into the blue lake and the shepherd's tears into the green! It's too bad when science comes up with a much less romantic explanation!

Robyn also took lots of photos!

Robyn came away with lots of photos too - I was almost going to name this blog ' let's see how long it takes to bore you with hundreds of photos of beautiful lakes?' Happily for you I have selected the few that I hope are the best.

Mosteiros from the crater rim

It was cool to see how close we were to Mosteiros on the other side of the ridge. You can see the rocks off the coast here and some of the village to the right. 

When will this hill ever end!

From here it was downhill! That might sound great, but it was so steep and so long that our muscles were totally spent at the end of it and Robyn's toes had been so squished she ended up with six blisters. On the other hand, I felt more sorry for the people walking up!

Igreja de Sao Nicolau - Sete Cidades

All we had left in us after finding a restaurant for a cold drink, was to take a quick look at the church and then find a taxi back to the car. (15 Euros and Robyn thought he'd overcharged.)

Lagoa de Santiago from Miradouro da Boca do Inferno

Having been teased by the clouds earlier in the day, we decided to revisit the earlier lookouts - this is the same place from the third photo which shows Robyn in the clouds. It reveals the smaller lake resulting from a side vent that formed after the  main volcano had erupted - the 'mouth of the inferno'.

Signage from Miradouro da Boca do Inferno

The former science teacher in me can't resist posting this explanation from the lookout! 

Miradouro da Vista do Rei

Finally, I had to drive back to the beginning to see what the clouds had been hiding this morning! This is the view from the same spot as the first photo at sunrise, this time with the green lake nearest.

It had been a fabulous walk - one of the best! Stopping at 'home' for the remainder of the day also felt great, and rejoicing that we have the capability to do it was pretty high up there, too.