One of our favorite things about Portugal is the Sintra Mountains. From our Airbnb near Cascais we could easily access the city of Lisbon as well as the mountains. And, the abundance of mountain bike trails makes it ideal for me to take Züri out to play or for a hike while Rich goes for a ride. Here are some of the highlights of a few hikes near the Rio da Mula Dam.
Züri ready for a hike.
Our niece, Jamie, above the Mula Resevoir. This lookout was relatively close to the dam and offered beautiful views.
The area around the reservoir was scattered with large rocks and boulders.
Jamie looking in the direction of our Airbnb.
The nearby Caminho de Penha Longa path took us near underground limestone caves and through green rolling fields.
We found a flock of sheep being herded to their next pasture. Züri was very interested in this find.
We were surprised to find so many eucalyptus trees in this area. Jamie learned that large numbers were planted in Portugal in the mid-1800’s in response to massive deforestation and erosion. In the 1900’s timber companies again planted large quantities of eucalyptus for pulp.
One highlight was encountering a search and rescue team training with dogs. This was a fun discovery because Jamie also does search and rescue in Washington. The group had several German Shepherds and they made an offer to take Züri, but we decided to keep him with us.
We, on the other hand, had no need to practice “searching” since Züri refused to let Jamie out of his sight. He never took his eyes off of her when she climbed to the top of these not-so-dog-friendly rocks.
