Atlantis
Halfway between USA and Europe, almost in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the Islands of Azores have only been found at the beginning of the XV century by Portuguese sailors.
With some of the islands only some thousand years old, volcanoes are still active nowadays, like is the case of "Capelinhos", a small volcano that rose from the sea and was active during one year from 1957 to 1958.
The most remarkable of these volcanoes is undoubtedly Pico. With 2351m, it is the highest mountain in Portugal, being truly impressive since it rises directly from sea level. At the summit you have a large crater with about 500m diameter and 30m deep. Still today you can see a lot of "fumarolas", small holes where heated water rises in dense vapour. At one side of the crater there is "Piquinho", a small mountain inside the mountain, at the top of which you can step the highest point in Azores and Portugal.
Why Atlantis?
It was Plato who first described the lost continent of Atlantis, located in the middle of the ocean that gave it its name. There lived a highly advanced society that was destroyed by volcanoes, earthquakes and giant waves and all their knowledge was equally lost forever. Still today some people believe Atlantis was in fact replaced by the Azores, where life and society had do be rebuilt from scratch.
The hunt:
For this cache hunt you'll have to do some effort. Cars only go to 1250m altitude, the other 1100 are up to you. The path is well marked, technically easy, and will take a fit person about 2 hours to complete. If you have the time I strongly recommend that you spend the night up there and watch the sunrise from the top of Piquinho. It is well worth the effort!
Attention, this cache is inside a Nature Reserve, please take every care to preserve the endemic flora present.
It is not necessary to leave the official trail to find this cache.
