Hello all,
Today was a busy day for most of our crew. We had a plan for today decided last night where we were all going to hike around 12 miles going basically straight west from our Airbnb along the southern coast of Portugal from Lagos. We had all agreed to be ready to leave the house at 9:45 and be ready for a long day of hiking. However, Griffin sleept very poorly and decided he needed to stay back and get some more sleep (he proceeded to sleep for 5 more hours so I guess he really needed it) so we decided to change our plans a bit. We instead would explore the eastern shore of Lagos, Portugal for the day so that he could do the 12 mile hike tomorrow.
We embarked around 10:15 without Griffin, who went back to bed and got some much-needed rest. The 5five remaining folks walked along the cliffs and eventually made our way down to the many beaches on the northeastern shore (all of which are connected during low tide). The cliffs and surrounding sandstone rock formations were great visualizations for the power of coastal wave, wind, and rain erosion. We ate our lunch (Jen did an excellent job remembering to bring a trash bag with for the rest of us) in an area on the beach where such significant erosion occurred that the old stone stair path had crumbled and fell at least 60 feet onto the beach below.
Group picture in a sea cave
This paragraph is just a cool paragraph where I, Connor (The one writing today’s blog post) talk about the geology of Lagos 😊. Sandstone is the type of rock that makes up the cliffs located around the city of Lagos in southern Portugal. Sandstone forms in high pressure environments such as those found at the bottom of the ocean and as such, most of the sea floor, especially in its deeper areas is composed of sandstone. As tectonic plates shift, this sandstone can make its way towards the surface. This is the case with these cliffs of the coast of Lagos. That means these cliffs likely date back at least 20 million years! Sandstone is also HIGHLY erodible which leads to unique and often short-lived rock formations. The compaction of sandy sediment can also trap other things, especially those high in calcium such as shells and bone (fossils).
TLDR of previous paragraph: The rock formations here are pretty cool and unique, and fossils can be found here too.
Shells embedded in rock
Hole through ceiling of a cave on coast
The erosion in these areas leads to natural archways and other pathways, some of which connect several of the beaches that we visited today along the coast.
One of many natural archways in this area, some of which connect beaches
After around 4 hours of exploring, swimming, and fun we split up the crew. Kayla and Connor went on an adventure together exploring the historical center of Lagos. The other 3, Jen, Matt, and Gage all went back home to check on the sleepy Griffin. Connor and Kayla’s adventure took them along the Marina and then eventually back home along the coast to arrive back home around 4:15. On the way back Connor did get Kayla some gelato which she said was delicious! During that same time, the other 3 stopped at the store to pick up some hamburger buns for dinner later that night.
After meeting back at the Airbnb, Kayla did her interview and some plans for Spain were decided. Kayla and Connor got to work on some dinner for everyone around 6 which turned out fantastic! Tune in tomorrow for what is sure to be a fun and LONG day of hiking!
One more picture for the road!
- Connor
Looks amazing