Guy Witney Krocker: Hiking the highlands of Itatiaia National Park

I intended to hike up to altitude today so an early start was key for a couple of reasons; firstly to minimize climbing in the oppressive heat of midday as well as increasing the probability of spotting larger wildlife and birds during their most active period. I wanted to be at the trail-head well before 700 am breakfast was served so I asked the hotel staff if they would prepare couple of snacks the night before. Although I should not have been surprised the “snack” they prepared for me was humongous. Excellent, but more than I would eat for breakfast and lunch combined. I ate what I wanted, selected a few choice snacks for second breakfast then gave the rest away to the Park workers just starting their day at the trail-head. Smiles all around.
The trail was in perfect condition albeit quite steep, and it provided a stark contrast in vegetation on leaving the rainforest and entering the "Campos de Altitude" which reminded me of the Altiplano of the high Andes, a grassy lichen rich environment with few trees and shrubs.
I was glad that I managed to get a few conditioning hikes in at home although due to circumstances out of my control I was not able to prepare as much as I would have liked. My new backpack configuration containing camera gear/tripod/ camping stool worked out flawlessly.
I was totally drenched in sweat in no time and quickly determined the one glaring error in my pack component selection; I should have bought the three liter hydration pack instead of two. I had to start rationing almost immediately.
In terms of wildlife I came across a troupe of Capuchin monkeys in the treetops, a few Toucans, and a fantastic assortment of other birds to numerous for this blog entry. I will post a single blog with my Brazilian bird count once I collate my notes.
I had to take one last trip by the abandoned Hotel Simone and the nesting site to see if the Cotinga was ready to show off. Thankfully when I arrived back to the hotel late afternoon I finally got that picture of the Slaty-breasted Wood Rail.