Have you ever thought about discovering new paths out there without following the trails that everyone treads? If it is already difficult for most hikers to go through some of the most popular parts of the beautiful landscapes of the Brazilian mountains, just imagine what it is like to venture through them outside the marked paths, with water signs, a camping area and other services. Can you imagine? So let some experts tell this story a little better.
“Opening a new trail requires, above all, a good knowledge of the type of terrain on which you are going to walk”, explains Rodrigo Rodriguez, a 47-year-old from Campinas, a psychiatrist and hiker since 1994. 20 new routes, mainly through the Serra da Mantiqueira region, between the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, have a meticulous method to avoid problems: study, study and study some more.
“The first step”, he says, “is to identify, among the maps of the already existing trails, stretches that people simply do not go through”. At that time, he explains, satellite maps are his best allies. Enlarged, they clearly reveal the open paths in the area, which can be identified by having little or no green cover. From there, it is necessary to define which section you want to travel outside of these tracings.
It may seem simple, but it is not. After all, if no one or almost no one had the idea of carrying your backpack for a certain stretch, there may be some reason that recommends simply avoiding it, right?
“Yes and no,” replies Rodriguez. Always with the help of maps, and a detailed analysis of the images, he explains that he can identify, by the darker shade of green in a forest, where the incidence of bodies of water is more likely, for example, always valuable allies of the hiker. . Areas with rock walls, which can complicate the journey, are also identifiable on maps (well, not always, but it’s the rule), as well as the best option to get around them — or, eventually, face a small hike, which nothing it’s more than crawling along the unevenness of the path, distributing the support in four points (feet and hands) instead of the usual two feet.
“The great thing is that you can make a beautiful plan, design the trail perfectly, but all it takes is a 10-meter high rock wall, a deeper and faster river, a change in the tide, and that’s it, you may have to abort the project. “, adds the doctor.
And he adds: “Each trail has its difficulties and trials. “The Evergreen National Park circuit, in Serra do Espinhaço (MG), for not having any information, demanded an accurate logistics and two months of studies in images of satellite, the complete Transpapagaio (MG) crossing, with its 86 kilometers and important altimetry, could be done in one go after three incursions”.
What’s the fun of meddling where no one goes?
For the administrative assistant of the Health of Sumaré Divanei Goes de Paula, 52, born in Paranapuã, in the northwest of São Paulo, it is “an unspeakable pleasure” that every mountaineer, as he increases in level and experience, begins to seek. “You’re on top of a mountain, you see others in the distance and you start to wonder what’s there, is it a good place to camp, and those waterfalls far away, can you dive…”, he explains, passionate about trails for 25 years.
But he also warns: “Of course, you can’t do it just in the excitement, it’s necessary to plan, study maps, discover escape routes in case something goes wrong, in short, identify paths and roads that lead as close as possible to the objective that has been traced, sometimes getting permission from farm owners on the way, studying satellite maps and digging for information from residents who may not even know how to get there, but generally give valuable tips”.
De Paula makes an important caveat, which is a subject of controversy whenever the subject appears on the trails: “It is difficult to say categorically that no one has ever been in such a place, the probability is almost zero, and there are always those who say that, ah, palm trees must have passed by, or hunters and such, but neither one nor the other is going to get stuck in closed valleys, in a canyon, and the most likely thing is that some adventurer has, yes, walked there, but he didn’t tell anyone. nobody”.
The server says that he has lost count of how many unidentified trails he has traveled in all these years, especially in Serra do Mar in São Paulo. “I had the honor of exploring dozens of rivers that no one could ever tell us how to get to, we went to their sources, some clearly untouched”, he says, noting that before the task was easier. “Many years ago, it was easy to venture into the forests of São Paulo, even in state parks, but today, with the explosion of outdoor sports, the parks have closed down and everything is more controlled.”
Get to work
The planning of new trails, of course, gained great momentum with the internet and, mainly, with the many applications of geolocation and aerial visualization. Rodriguez explains that he plans his paths with the help of Wikiloc, Wikimapia, Wikiexplora, Google Earth and Caltopo. “With them you can even see the holes in the path you are going to take before taking the first step outside the house”, he guarantees. From the door to the street, the GPS is the guide.
De Paula agrees with him. “Many times I am asked how I do it, and I soon realize that the person visualizes me with a machete in my hand, opening a path, chopping everything that is a tree, which is far from reality, the objective is never to leave a path behind us and, in the In fact, being macheted for hours is almost always useless and only breaks your arms”, he sums up.
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