Serra Fina reopens trails for the 2023 season – 03/31/2023 – É Logo Ali
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This Saturday, April 1st, access to the coveted Serra Fina trails, closed since October 3rd of last year, will reopen. The resumption of mountaineering activities at the site was announced on Saturday (25), at an event that brought together, in addition to members of APSF (Association of Owners of Serra Fina), representatives of ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation), researchers , ecotourism entrepreneurs and residents of the surrounding area.
“Our evaluation of this first year of closure was very positive”, says José Antônio Cintra, president of APSF. “We found that it was very good for nature, because summer is the breeding season for many species and we saw that the closure was very important, it will continue every year, six months for mountaineers and six for nature”, he adds.
The case of Serra Fina is being closely monitored by ICMBio, which is known not to have the arms or resources to manage all conservation and environmental protection units in the different biomes of the country. In fact, under Lula’s government, the body did not even appoint an effective president, whose name should come out of a triple list that is being studied by a working group created to take the names to the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, within a period of endless 50 days. The partnership with the owners of the access areas to the mountain, therefore, can serve as an example for several areas of interest in ecotourism.
Among the novelties that Serra Fina brings this year, one of the highlights is the installation of the meteorological station in the area of the summit of Pedra da Mina, the fourth highest mountain in the country, with 2,798 meters of altitude. “It will be the highest station in the country”, says Cintra. According to him, the equipment, installed in partnership with the company WS, will make it possible to measure not only rainfall and temperature levels, but also the air quality in the region and the incidence of lightning. “The southeastern region of Brazil is recognized as the one that receives the most lightning in the world, but there are no detailed studies on this, and this measurement, using sensors imported especially for this purpose, will be available on the association’s website for the public and for researchers”, he explains.
Another improvement that will begin to be implemented in the next few days is the installation, by specialized firefighter teams from São Paulo and Minas Gerais, of QR Code plaques to guide users who have any type of emergency. “There are 60 signs that the firefighters themselves will place in places they consider to be at greater risk and that can help if rescue is necessary”, he adds.
Although the season officially starts this weekend, the excessive rainfall of recent months still compromises the search for the trail in these first days. “This year we have a quota of 40 visitors per day only, with progressive discounts for those who come outside of weekends and holidays”, he says. Prices for visitors vary according to the type of trail you intend to follow and the number of days you stay in the region.
“The entire amount collected pays for the workforce that deals with the entrance, management and care”, says José Sávio Monteiro, vice president of APSF and manager of the RPPN (Private Reserve of Natural Heritage) Pedra da Mina, an area that gives access to the ridge. Last year, between June and September, he says that 1,851 people visited the mountain range, 1,657 of them mountaineers on various routes and 194 guides, who are exempt from payment upon registration on the entity’s website. In addition, residents of the surrounding area have a 70% discount on admission, while athletes who train in mountain running are also exempt from paying. “It’s a way of democratizing Serra Fina without compromising its maintenance”, he explains.
The options offered by the Ruah! agency, which manages and schedules the accesses, range from a day trip to Capim Amarelo, with a ticket of R$ 25.20 per person, to the classic crossing, of 26 kilometers in four days and three nights, with several stretches above 2,000 meters and which includes the main attractions of the mountain range, such as Pedra da Mina, Capim Amarelo, Três Estados and Passos dos Anjos. For this route, a maximum amount of R$ 350.00 is charged per visitor, with the right to camp in Capim Amarelo, Pedra da Mina and Três Estados.
And, speaking of camping, Cintra points out that it is no longer allowed to set up tents in the formerly heavily used area, called Biloca da Mina. “After the closure, we found that what was a water mine that filled the surrounding tents turned into a lake, full of flowers and flamenco frogs, snakes, it looks like a garden, showing that we have to let the mountains breathe for it to give the answers,” he adds.
Mountaineers more familiar with the Serra Fina trails will find another novelty this year: the crossing will no longer pass through the Ruah Valley, nor through the swamp at the source of the Rio Verde. “The original trail didn’t go through there, and we just wanted to go back to the historic route, which only went through the ridges”, explains Monteiro, remembering that the name of the mountain range is precisely due to the route that prioritized narrow, thin spaces, which require more of the hiker.
The resumption of the historic route may surprise less experienced mountaineers, recognize the association’s managers. “I rescued some historical records and, speaking with people who made the crossing in the 1990s, we saw that the Ruah was not part of the route, it was only incorporated by some who went down there to get water and, to facilitate the trail, they continued there , which was easier”, remembers Monteiro, adding that the change, after all, “should not scare the true mountaineer, the one who seeks adventure and is not afraid of difficulties, likes a challenge”.
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