Pedra do Desengano: A Ribu Worth the Extra Road
We nearly abandoned Pedra do Desengano when our cars could go no farther and a late start became an even longer approach. Instead we walked the extra road, found sour wild oranges, almost stepped on a sleeping snake, crossed steep slabs and reached a Ribu summit above the Atlantic Forest.
Pedra do Desengano was on our route for a very specific reason: with about 1,100 metres of prominence, it qualifies as a Ribu. By the end of the day, that numerical reason felt almost secondary. The mountain rises inside Parque Estadual do Desengano, a large protected block of Atlantic Forest in northern Rio de Janeiro state, and getting to the summit turned into a much longer day than the map first suggested.
The road stopped before we did
After a long drive, we took the cars as far along the unpaved approach as seemed sensible. Eventually the road asked for more clearance, and probably more four-wheel drive, than we had. We turned around, tucked the cars into the roadside vegetation and looked at the time. Parking early had just added extra kilometres to an already late start. For a few minutes, skipping the mountain was a real option.
Then we changed, shouldered our packs and started walking.
The lower approach crossed open pasture and farm country before the road entered denser forest.
The first road section went quickly. There were already good views across the green hills, which helped compensate for the extra distance. At one point a broad, steep slab wall rose directly beside the road.
We passed what looked like a small farm or house in the forest and kept going. Not long afterwards we reached the park gate, complete with proper parking for vehicles capable of getting that far. Ours had already declined the invitation.
Beyond the gate, the road was in surprisingly good condition and the forest closed in around it.
Farther on, a viewpoint with a picnic table gave us another pause before we reached a ranger post or small park station with information panels. Desengano State Park was created in 1970 and is the oldest state conservation unit in Rio de Janeiro. INEA describes it as protecting one of the most important continuous remnants of Atlantic Forest in the northern part of the state.
More immediately useful to us was a wild orange tree growing almost exactly where we needed to leave the road. The fruit was extremely sour and extremely good. As trail markers go, it was hard to improve on.
The access road gave occasional openings into steep, cloud-filled valleys before the route disappeared into the forest.
Inside the Atlantic Forest, tall trunks, exposed roots and bromeliads (Bromeliaceae) replaced the open lower slopes.
A snake on the trail
From the orange tree, the route became a proper forest trail. It was good quality, easy to follow and much more pleasant than the uncertainty of the road approach.
At one point I nearly stepped on a fairly large snake curled up among the leaves. Three companions were already ahead of me and somehow none of them had noticed it. Either the snake had arrived after they passed or it had selected an impressively inconvenient place for a nap.
The rest of the forest section was straightforward, with enough small details to make the long climb feel less repetitive.
Fungi, flowers, textured leaves and dense upper-slope vegetation along the forest trail.
Slabs above the forest
Closer to the summit, the character changed. The trail reached steep open slabs where the angle finally demanded more attention. Small patches of vegetation gave occasional footholds. Nothing felt outrageous, but the steeper sections were not a place for careless steps.
The final approach crossed steep exposed slabs with vegetation growing in cracks and along their edges.
Once those sections were behind us, the remaining ground was easier. Cloud hung around the upper mountain and a few drops of rain came through, but the views kept opening in different directions.
Low cloud moved through the valleys while the upper slopes stayed mostly open.
Low flowering plants, reddish fruit or seed pods and rocky ridges around the summit area.
The summit itself felt appropriately remote. Rob measured the altitude, and we spent time looking across a landscape of steep forested ridges, exposed rock and clouds drifting through the valleys. This was exactly the kind of mountain I had hoped to find on this trip, still surrounded by a park that felt largely untouched.
Views from the upper mountain across the layered ridges of Serra do Desengano.
Cloud, bromeliads and other low vegetation around the exposed upper slopes.
Out of the forest before dark
We descended the same way. The slabs required care again, but once we were back in the forest the walking became easy. By then we already knew that the day would finish after sunset. The practical target was simply to get out of the forest trail before dark.
We managed that, and in fact reached the earlier viewpoint while there was still usable light. I only needed the headlamp for roughly the final two kilometres of the unpaved road back to the cars.
It had been a long drive followed by a long hike, made longer by parking well before the intended start. I came to Pedra do Desengano primarily because it was a Ribu. After the extra road, the sour oranges, the sleeping snake, the slabs and the summit views, the park itself felt like an equally good reason to have come.
After the hike we drove to Santa Maria Madalena and stayed there for the night. The next morning brought another long drive, this time west towards Cruzeiro, where another cluster of summits was waiting for us.
Links & Resources
Peakbagger.io įrašas: Pedra do Desengano.
English Wikipedia overview of the Rio de Janeiro state park whose culminating point is Pedra do Desengano (1,761 m).
Trip account of climbing Pedra do Desengano from Santa Maria Madalena, describing the trail and summit panorama.
Official park management plan by Rio de Janeiro State Environment Institute (Inea), covering trails and protected area.