Pico do Soares: A Ribu, Flowers and a Pousada Feast

The morning after Pico da Bandeira, we left Muriaé and drove north towards Pico do Soares. The main reason for putting it on our route was its Ribu status: a summit with at least 1,000 metres of topographic prominence. Peakbagger gives Pico do Soares 1,121 metres, which was more than enough reason for us to go and have a look.

We still had a few unknowns: what the access would look like, whether we would meet any park formalities on our approach, and whether the road would end at an obvious trail. In the end, the complicated part failed to materialize. We fitted both cars neatly into a forest-road fork, changed, and started climbing.

At first the route stayed under the forest canopy. The path soon became easy to follow and was marked with black-and-yellow signposts. One of the first things I remember was traffic on a much smaller scale: leaf-cutter ants crossing the ground with pieces of vegetation that looked comically oversized for them.

From forest to high ground

Pico do Soares is the highest point of Parque Estadual da Serra do Brigadeiro. The state forestry institute describes the park as a mixture of Atlantic Forest and high-altitude grasslands, and that transition was one of the best parts of the hike. Dense forest gradually gave way to open slopes, wider views and a surprising amount of colour.

As the route gained height, the forest occasionally opened onto the surrounding valleys. One view included a narrow waterfall on the far slope, and a band of cloud hung over one of the darker ridges. Otherwise the day was fairly clear, with good visibility across the surrounding hills.

The botanical part

Once the vegetation started changing, the mountain became much more interesting to me. There were bromeliads, flowering shrubs, bamboo, seed heads and plenty of plants I could not name. Michal could. He seemed to know most of the English and Latin names and was enjoying the hike to the maximum. My system was less ambitious: notice something colourful, stop, photograph it, and avoid pretending I was a botanist.

Higher up, the variety continued. Red lily-like flowers appeared among the grass, bromeliad rosettes sat close to the ground, and even small leaves seemed determined to add another shade of red. This was one of the most flora-rich hikes of the Brazil trip.

The ridge before the final summit section was probably the most impressive part. The forest fell away, the views opened across the neighbouring ridges, and the upper slopes felt much less disturbed than the agricultural land far below. I had written "untouched nature" in my notes. That is too absolute for a trail inside a managed park, but it captures how the place felt at the time.

The official park material emphasizes the Serra do Brigadeiro's unusual botanical diversity, including rare plants and species that are still poorly documented. Normally that kind of wording can drift into tourism copy. Here it felt unusually easy to believe. Even when I could not identify what I was looking at, there was always another flower, seed pod or strange forest-floor detail a few metres farther on.

Shortly before the final summit slope we crossed a small stream running over smooth rock. It was much more a stream crossing than a waterfall. From there the route turned sharply uphill towards the summit.

Six on the summit

Soon all six of us reunited at the summit. Rob took a careful altitude measurement before we left. The numbers attached to Pico do Soares are slightly untidy: the Minas Gerais forestry institute gives 1,985 m, Peakbagger lists 1,970.8 m, and our GPX track reached 1,974 m. I am content to leave the surveying argument to people with better instruments and more patience.

We returned by the same route. On the way down I photographed the same small stream we had crossed before the final summit slope, with water sliding over smooth rock. Even late in the descent the vegetation was still producing another reason to stop for a photograph.

A pousada that understood the important part

Back at the cars, we drove roughly 15 or 20 kilometres towards Bom Jesus do Madeira and found a pousada. The owner did not really speak English, perhaps only a few basic words, so communication was mostly improvised. At first he understood that we wanted a room and started showing us one. We explained that accommodation was not the immediate problem. We wanted to eat.

Eventually he seemed to understand and disappeared to sort something out. About twenty minutes later a table appeared covered with different dishes. Everything was good. At the time, it struck me as an excellent place to stay for Pico do Soares as well, although I never established whether the pousada appeared on the usual reservation sites.

Afterwards we drove back to Muriaé, to the same place as the previous night. Reusing the hotel meant one small road-trip luxury: no unpack, pack, unpack and pack routine for a change. With no football on, the churrascaria was much quieter than the night before, though the food was still good.

The next morning we would turn towards Pedra do Desengano. The Ribu status was what put Pico do Soares on our route, but what I remember is the hike itself: forest, the small stream, open views, an unreasonable amount of plant life, and the pousada meal afterwards.