Luís Marques

As mentioned before on this blog , I’m preparing to walk the section Sintra – Cascais of E9 - European Coastal Path / GR11 - Caminho do Atlântico as part of my #E9Project . Today I will share with you some details about the research I did about this section. This path was requalified recently, and the marks on are clear but this requalification was done between Tamariz beach – Magoito beach only, excluding the section Magoito beach – Carvalhal. Even so we didn’t’ found missing marking areas in this last section. About the requalified section, the marks are visible with a high cadence and you will find some old marks not erased. I only will point a concern about this, in Grande beach a part of this sections was change due to problems with the hills. If you pretend to walk this section from north to south, you will note a marking error. You will find a “right way” mark instead a “turn left”, you can check the imagens below to understand better. Probably this error is related t...

I All, I’m thinking about why not look inside Portugal and let you know something about what you can find in my own country… If you wish visit us, and walk, you will find two different route types, both certified routes by FCMP . The short distance routes “Pequena Rota [PR]” and the long-distance routes “Grande Rota [ GR ]”. PR are short distance hikes that will take you one day maximum and GR are medium or long-distance hikes, mainly designed to take more than one day but you can find some GR to fulfil in less than the expected if you are an experienced hiker. You can find some three European long-distance paths ( E-paths ) too, but they are usually marked with the GR symbols and in the same pathways. Usually PR are marked in yellow and red, and for GR are used the same symbols but in white and red. You can find some different colors such in “ Rota Vicentina – Fishermen’s Trail” the green and blue ( just because in south of Portugal they need to be different 😊 ). Yo...

Hi All. I’m searching for an ultra-light backpacking gear and this post will be about what I’m considering using, given my little experience on trekking long-distance paths. Since I was young, I had hiking and camping experiences due to my parents’ fondness for this kind of activities, and later on #Scouting activities. I already went thru the experience of preparing a backpack, but usually for one day activity, and for one single campsite. So, this will be quite a new experience for me. My goal is to prepare a 13kg / 28lb backpack for my first 21 days thru-hike at Kungsleden, Sweden, including three litters of water, three meals and considering the possibility of cold night conditions. This is the first time that I will be packing a tent. It’s very different from what I expected. I can easily get for an acceptable price a two-body tent with 1,6kg / 3lb only. The tent isn’t my major weight problem. Including the usual stuff, like the backpack itself, sleeping bag, sleeping p...