Azores: Pico Island September 13-17

The looming peak of Pico Mountain can be seen from most points in the "Triangle" islands of the Azores, and at nearly 8000 ft, is the highest point in Portugal. A volcanic mountain, it is frequently shrouded in clouds and a favorite of hikers. 

"Pico Island, in the Azores archipelago of Portugal, had me at hello. Before hello, actually. A couple years ago, I went to the neighboring island of Faial and heard again and again how magical Pico is. However, it was shrouded in fog the whole time. And it became shrouded in mystery and appeal to me."   ----Ann Abel, Forbes magazine

Pico has the highest mountain in Portugal, an intriguing wine scene, and some truly stunning topography. It’s the youngest island among the nine volcanic specks that make up the Azores—only 300,000 years old, compared to millions for the others—and notably more rugged. It has more than 200 volcanoes, all of them dormant except for one that last erupted in the 18th century.

Some of the land is only 1,000 years old. There is striking black lava everywhere. It’s in the walls of the vineyards, in the construction of the homes, and along the coastline, where it takes the place of beaches.

A typical "natural swimming pool" formed between the lava rocks of Pico. These are abundant on ALL of the islands and where you will find the locals on the weekend. 

This is a closeup of a lava wall of a house.

Typical house, made of lava stones, but there are plenty of BIG ones, often owned by foreign nationals living on Azores. 

Not as many cows on Pico---but it still has more cows than people. 

Panoramic view of the look back at San Jorge

Lagoa do Capitao, an important fresh water reserve on Pico Island. 

 Whatever isn't black on Pico (known as the Black Island by locals) is an impossible shade of green. Wild hydrangeas grow alongside all the roads just as they have done on all the islands we visited. We are told the flowers put on quite the show in May, but there were plenty still in bloom in September. The architecture is typical and charming. There’s usually a shimmering sea view in the distance.

Hardly anyone lives here---some 15,000 people on a this relatively large, second biggest island of the Azores. In fact, some locals say there are only 12 restaurants on the island. I'm sure that is an underestimate, but if you are looking for a place to eat, especially on a Sunday, that is a pretty accurate estimate of what is available. (HINT: They don't take reservations online, but if you CALL the restaurant, they speak English and they will keep a table for you.. Otherwise, you might go to bed without your supper!  They will be busy. The service will be VERY slow, but food is good and no one leaves an Azorean restaurant hungry. Portions are generally enough to feed an entire soccer team.  Try the tuna! Skip the limpets. 

Overall, there are three main reasons people visit Pico. 

Two fantastic reasons to come to Pico: Climb the mountain and whale/dolphin watching These are Atlantic spotted dolphin. We ran into a large school that were even more fun to watch than the sperm whales. 

We did our share of hiking on Pico, but we did not attempt the mountain which was nearly 8000 feet from sea level and required a licensed guide with a group of 20. I can assure you I would have slowed everyone down. Oh to be young again. Volcanic pebbles are a real problem as you get near the top where other hikers described losing several inches for every step up they took due to the character of the terrain. There is no real path.  I experienced something similar on Cierra Negra, a much smaller volcano in Nicaragua and didn't think I could last through 8000 feet in those conditions.  Companies all over the island take hikers up Pico, both as day hikes and as camping experiences with a night in the crater. 

The vineyards of Pico are literally within cubicles made of lava. Instead of vines growing in rows, the grapes mature along the lava strewn ground. 

Paul hiking down a narrow path that is used in theory to provide water in the vineyard. 

Our hiking group at an observatory point in the vineyards. 

Another main reason to visit Pico is to sample some unusual and delectable white wines. They’re produced with grapes that grow only here, verdelho, arinto dos Açores and terrantez do Pico. Most wines are a blend and just called WHITE, not by the grape. The extreme climate, mother-stone volcanic soil and proximity to the ocean—back in the day, the winemakers chose land where they could “hear the crabs singing”—create a flavor profile that’s mineral, slightly salty and always interesting. Azorean wines, particularly Pico wines, are lately getting more and more notice on the international stage, but winemaking is an old tradition here. Before the double whammy of a fungus and phylloxera in the 19th century, wine was the main business. Pico had some 40,000 acres of vineyards and exported wine all over the world—during the Bolshevik Revolution, they found a bottle of Pico wine in the cellar of a Russian tsar. That all but died after the disease, but in recent decades, some winemakers are bringing it back. (They’re up to about 2,500 acres.) UNESCO declared the island’s traditional lava-walled corrals a World Heritage Site. They’re unique in the world, but necessary here, to protect the vines—which lie flat on the ground—and keep them warm. Locals say if you put all the stones from these walls in a line, it would double the equator. Just for the vineyards of the Azores Wine Company, they rebuilt about 500 miles’ worth of walls—that’s the entire length of continental Portugal.

Vineyards in Pico

The sight of the vineyards is striking enough, but tasting is even better.  It remains a cooperative in spirit as well as name, with some 250 grape producers and winemakers involved, producing known labels like Frei Gigante, Terras da Lava and Terroir Vulcánico. We were treated to a really nice wine tasting at the latter. 

No sad faces here!

The building for Terroir Volcanico is a converted nobleman's house. 

It’s a good place for a crash-course education in the wines of the island, especially given its location in the capital city of Madalena.

If architecture is more your thing, there’s Cella Bar, a project from Porto architects Fernando Coelho and Paulo Lobo that’s somehow equal parts futuristic and naturalistic. The tasting room inside the groovy domed structure offers tastes of many of the island’s best bottles, but Paul and I sat that location out. 

Cella Bar--the world famous bar of the island was visited by most of our group!

 We really enjoyed Pico Island and even if you don't want to walk up the mountain, there are plenty of other hikes and such to keep you amused for at least a few days. 

A view across the vineyard to the ocean. 

These succulents were growing onto the bare lava walls. I've only ever seen them in a pot.

The Azores people are VERY religious and they place a lot of emphasis on the Holy Spirit. In my own experiences, the Holy Spirit doesn't get a lot of press. But here, they build separate facilities adjacent to the churches just for this oft neglected member of the Trinity and they hold elaborate festivals throughout the summer months to celebrate the H.S. They even crown a "Miss Holy Spirit."  

We did see some small windfarms in the Azores, a place that is really into renewable energy. But mostly we saw these old decommissioned ones once used to provide flour. It is also an attestation to the Dutch, who were on the seas early like the Portuguese. 

Random harbor. Lots of sailboats around from all over the planet. 

Pico also makes a port. We tried it and it was good, but you probably won't spot it outside of Azores.

EU has provided a lot of good roads, but old cobblestone streets in smaller villages still rule. 

Natural swimming pools abound. 

We also visited an old whaling factory. Nantucket and New Bedford seem to roll easily off the tongues of the locals here. New England whaler used the Azores as a restocking location and they often recruited sailors from these islands.  People were poor and looking for a way out or adventure---and sometimes they were hoodwinked or kidnapped as well and put into service on a whaling ship. Eventually, Azoreans learned whaling themselves and there are old factories once used for capturing, dissembling and processing whales in numerous Azorean harbors, including on Pico.  We toured a historical factory and found out a lot about whaling. I can't recommend the video showing the processing of a whale though. The last whaling took place here in 1987. 

Whaling was very lucrative back in the 19th and early 20th century. They used all parts of the whale including grinding the bones to create fertilizer. However, I don't recommend watching the informative video. Messy work and also, poor whale.  :(

My friend and colleague, Blaine Enderson, gives a perspective on the size of a sperm whale's head. 

I would certainly recommend Pico to folks who are into hiking, wine and watching whales. It was a very enjoyable location. There isn't much else though, so if none of this appeals to you, you may wish to try other Azores islands instead. 

“We live well here. It’s safe, it’s beautiful. If you enjoy nature, you can do everything in a day: You can be in the sea, in a hot spring, on a volcano. The biodiversity isn’t huge, but what we have is so special.”  ---Maria Ines Nunes, native Azorean

Paul's Ponderings:   Pico was an interesting island.   We did not even think about climbing the main peak, as the general consensus seems to be "it's really hard".   We are often up for hard, but not volcanic pebbles coupled with rock climbing at the end, then a tough descent, taking several hours.   That said, we had some great walking along the coast and in the interior as well.   For the wine-heads out there, Pico makes some of the best white wines in the Azores.  We've noticed the red wines are a lot less interesting -- I would call them more like those from the Canaries.   We've been blessed with great weather so far, verging on hot a few days.   Next up, we move on to the island of Faial as we near the end of our trip.