About twenty years ago, by this time, the highest mountain in Portugal was already covered in white. The first snowfalls were arriving in late October and the temperatures would drop below freezing, only to recover a little Spring warmth late in March.
Those were nice times in Serra da Estrela. We had, basically, a snow covered 2000 Mt's mountain for almost five months per year. And that mountain was our playground. Although with some stormy days every year (it's a mountain, right?), the Serra da Estrela had, generally, a gentle climate, even during the cold season.
So, when the first snows started to paint the mountain in white, we all started to program our weekend "expeditions" to the massif. Suffering in anticipation with the vision of a peaceful white mountain under a blue sky canopy.
And we would spend a few days, sometimes a full week, camped in Covão da Ametade, our small Throne Room of our small Mountain Gods, enjoying mutual camaraderie and making our first attempts in ice climbing.
Those days of youth linked for life a few dozens of persons, commonly bonded by the love for the mountains and for the mountain activities.
The Covão da Ametade, our noble room in Serra da Estrela, was the place where it all happened during those years of curious discovery of the mountain activities for our generation. There we would meet friends that we haven't seen, sometimes, for more than a year. And we would program our daily activities in the massif. At the end of the day, the usual campfires would warm both our camping place and our souls.
The Covão da Ametade and a frozen Zêzere river in the beginning of Winter, nearly twelve years ago.
Picture taken with Nikon F100 and Nikkor 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 AF-D.
Fujichrome Velvia ASA 50 scanned in Nikon Coolscan V ED and post-processed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
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