Location: North 38.59205, West 028.79805 (GPS on the summit)
Difficulty: YDS class 1
Climbed: July 19. 2014
Information:
How to get there:
This peak is near the west end of the Faial island. Drive the main road, ER-3-2, until
it turns near its westernmost point. Pull off the road at location
N38.60033, W028.81794, elevation about 150 meter. Park here.
Route description:
Head up the big trail marked with small poles. It becomes flat, descends a bit, then
turns left. Keep going left, then note when the trail (with markers) turns right and
climbs gently uphill again. The trail will reach a saddle between a small hill on your
left (there is a signed trail going that way) and the main hill on your right. Turn right
and ascend steps in the trail as your route now climbs more steeply. Near the top, there is
a small gate that one easily may pass through, then a trail fork. The trail runs all the way
around the small crater. Take the right fork and ascend to the local summit with a large
marker. This summit is named Cabeço do Canto and is 346 meter high. Continue along the
crater and find a new trail fork. Go right here and descend to the saddle, a dirt road
crosses here. Unfortunately, the saddle is 243 meter, so Cabeço do Canto gets a prominence
of 93 meter, sufficient in the USA, but not in Europe. (Where we use 100 meter as the cut-off for
an independent mountain.)
Cross the road and follow the trail as it now climbs. You will pass another crater on your left, stay
on the right-hand trail. The trail emerges onto a small, paved road. Follow this road uphill until
you reach a dirt road that circles the local crater. Go left and find some antennas. The crater
high point marker is located a short uphill from the road (small trail), just after you pass the
antennas.
Comments:
I was out exploring this little island by car and noticed this trailhead.
Unfortunately, the weather was rather foggy, with little visibility.
I parked and headed up the trail, knowing that there was some sort of
summit in this area. When I got to the crater of Canto, I circled it clockwise
and sort of believed that I had climbed the peak.
Fortuneately, a young couple came by and he had a better map showing that the
highest peak was further east. Due to the fog, there was nothing to be seen.
I headed down from the first peak and climbed the next hill. Near the top, I ran
into a paved road, sort of disappointing after all this hiking. I followed the
road to the crater and easily located the marker for the high point. The climb had
taken me about one hour. It took me 45 minutes to return to my car.
