Second Summit

Pedra da Gavea

As promised, the second enstallment of hill climbing in Rio. The day after stumbling accross the trail to the summit of Pão de Açucar I was headed up a steep, root-choked trail to Pedra da Gavea along with Javier. The trail was not exactly easy to find. Javier, his girlfriend Lucia, and I had tried to find the trail two weeks previously, and by following the directions of the bus drivers and random strangers we ending up hiking to the summit of Pedra Bonita instead of Pedra da Gavea. The two are right next to each other, but still, wrong mountain. Pedra Bonita was well worth the climb though. It is where all the hangliders and paragliders launch so we got to watch people soaring off into thin air. Looked super fun and I really wanted to go, but it is expensive (about US$175) and I didn't have any money on me... maybe next time.

 Pedra da Gavea from afar.

 Pedra Bonita, just to the right.

Wooden launch ramp near the top of Pedra Bonita where the line-up of hanglider pilots with their tourist charges take turns soaring off over Rio (neighborhood of São Conrado). Flights last around 15 minutes, longer if you have a good pilot who knows the updrafts.

Anyway, the second time Javier and I headed out to find the lost trail of Gavea I was armed with a map scribbled on a napkin that a Brazilian trail-hiking guide had made for me (the same guy who generously dropped me the rope to climb up Pão de Açucar). This time we succeeded in finding the trail without much trouble, although it was in an obscure part of town, in the back corner of a dirt parking lot inside a gated community... that map was really good.

The pictures of P Gav below are mixed with shots from my second summiting (it was way too cool to just go once, so last Sunday I went again, this time by myself). The trail is super fun, full of rocks and roots, its like nature's obstacle-course/playground.

Roots! Its like running up a staircase, but none of the stairs are the same dimensions so you have to really pay attention to your feet. Especially when running down.

 Javier working his way up one of the more technical sections. This trail was a steep hike in the easy parts, a scramble in the harder places, and a legitimate climb in one place.

 The "head of the emperor," the peak of Pedra da Gavea from a distance is said to resemble Emperor Pedro II (Cap, eyes, nose, bushy beard... makes a pretty convincing likeness).

 The climb section. Some people were roped up for this, but it wasn't necesary. The rock was steep but not vertical, and the holds were plentiful.

 Who is the safer climber in this picture? Sure he is roped up, but look who has the bloody knee.

 Javier and me at the summit. The views from up here were awesome.

 

 

This photo shows the size of the summit, it stretches along for a couple hundred meters. I'm standing near the ocean here, looking back towards the slightly higher end of Pedra da Gavea.

 

 This is the absolute high point. You can see this boulder in the previous picture.

 This is the view off to the west, the neighborhood of Barra de Tijuca. Barra beach is a little longer than Ipanema and Copacabana combined.

 The little islands out at sea were super cool, I really want to explore them...

This was my favorite view, to the east. The closest beach is São Conrado, which runs into Pedra dos Dois Irmaos (Two Brother's Rock). On the other side of 2 Brother's Rock you can see Ipanema and Copacobana beaches, Lake Rodrigo de Freitas (shaped like a heart), Pão de Açucar (behind the lake), and the statue of Christ the Redeemer (prominant peak to the left of the lake). Its hard to leave once up on top of Pedra da Gavea, everywhere you look provides a stunning view.

Even after my second climb up Pedra da Gavea I want to go back again. Its become my Sunday morning tradition and with my limited time left in Rio (only two more weeks!) I'd have to be hard pressed to give it up.

Crazy Fruit

I finally hunted down the exotic maracuja fruit which had until now eluded me. Known for its unique and tangy citrus flavor and its curious anatomy, maracuja is an experience like none other.

 

Once you have caught your maracuja you cut it open like a pumpkin and pour sugar inside, mix it up, and eat the soupy innards--juice interspersed with crunchy, flesh-covered seeds.

 

Afterwards I carved my maracuja and set him on my computer to guard against evil spirits.

Ethanol Research

Besides doing lots of hiking and exploring on the weekends (which makes for great photos and interesting blogging) I have actually been working during the week. I've completed my research on the second generation ethanol companies in Brazil, the US, and Europe, and am now synthesizing my data into an article. Here is a summary to fill you in on how ethanol works in Brazil:

Brazil, following the world oil crisis in the 70’s, developed a national ethanol program called “Programa Nacional do Álcool” to promote the research and production of ethanol as a substitute for petroleum. Thus since 1976 Brazil has had a mandatory blend rate of ethanol at 10% or higher (percentage of ethanol mixed with gasoline--the current mandated rate is 25%). This provided infrastructure (all gas station had to incorporate ethanol blended fuels) and incentive for businesses (a secure market for ethanol).

Since then Brazil has developed the world’s most well-established network of 1^st gen ethanol production. Almost all ethanol facilities in Brazil produce the same iron triangle of products: sugar, ethanol, and electricity. The sugar and ethanol both come from extracting the sugars from the sugarcane, the electricity comes from burning the dried remains (bagasse). The industry is robust and requires no government subsidies to stay afloat, in contrast to the substantial US subsidies on corn.

The problem, in fact, is that this system is too well-entrenched. A switch to 2^nd generation ethanol in Brazil would mean breaking this iron triangle. Instead of producing electricity to run the facility and sell when in excess, the bagasse would be converted into more ethanol. One ton of sugarcane yields roughly 74 liters of ethanol via 1G processing. This initial processing also yields about 300 kg of bagasse. 300 kg of bagasse, if converted into ethanol using 2G technology, would provide roughly 35 liters of ethanol. This means it is possible to gain almost 50% more ethanol via additional 2G processing compared to 1G processing alone.

Yet currently there is no strong incentive to do so. The increase of ethanol does not justify the cost of adopting 2G technology and loss of electricity revenue. Nor does the Brazilian culture of conservative business allow for much investment in future technologies. For these reason almost no companies in Brazil are researching 2G. Of the 52 Brazilian ethanol companies researched in this study none held patents on 2G technology while the 44 US companies researched held a collective 90 patents on 2G technology. Only large companies (i.e. Petrobras) and the government are willing to front the expense with yet-unrealized benefit.

A time will come when this trend changes. Oil prices will continue to rise, and ethanol prices along with them. Thus at some point it will make economic sense to begin converting the bagasse into ethanol rather than burning it, and purchasing or producing the electricity by other means. When this happens the technology needs to be ready and available to these companies wanting to upgrade to 2G. Therefore the government work on 2G ethanol is a vital piece of the process. By developing the technology in anticipation of its future use Brazil can streamline the switch to 2G when the time comes. The lab I work in focuses on exactly this kind of research.

***Critiques are welcome, it's a work in progress and if any part needs clarification or more detail please let me know. I do have sources for my stats but did not include them here.

Such Great Heights

Last weekend I climbed two of the highest and most well-renowned peaks in Rio.

First was Sugar Loaf.  Cable cars exist to carry tourists to and from the summit but I had refused to give in; if I didn't carry my own weight up I didn't deserve the amazing view. But luck was with me on Saturday. I spent the morning hiking the trail up Morro de Urca (the smaller hill that serves as a stepping stone for the cable cars up to Sugar Loaf) with two friends from work.

 Lorraine and Cristina with Sugar Loaf in the background.

After that I headed off on my own on a little trail that split off from a seemingly dead-end walkway around Sugar Loaf.

Unwittingly, I had just discovered one of the coolest trails in Rio. From just about anywhere in Rio, Sugarloaf appears to be a peak of sheer rock, but around the backside where I followed this trail the climb was more of a scramble. Yet the scramble became steeper and steeper, and when I passed a group of three guys strapping on rock climbing harnesses, ropes, and helmets, I started to doubt whether this was feasible. A short while later I ran into a pretty steep rock climb/scramble that terminated in a vertical cliff section about 15 feet high. The difficulty of this section was only entry-level, maybe a 5.8 in rock climbing terms, but without ropes, climbing shoes, or anyone with me, and already at the top of a 50 foot scramble which I would shurely tumble all the way down if I botched the climb, I decided to turn around.

You can see the cliff section as the patch of rock showing through the jungle in the upper center of the photo above, I think there is a climber standing above it too, having just climbed up.

Photo above was the start of the steep scramble, ending with the tricky overhang cliff in the photo below.

On my way down I passed the group of three climbers again, and later on I turned and watched them climbing the section where I had turned back. From my vantage it looked like this one cliff was the only spot requiring a rope, once I got past it I could scramble my way to the top and catch the cable car down...

So I scrambled back up just in time to watch the last climber make it up the cliff. After they had made it up the guide tied off the rope up top and dropped it down to me, and I climbed up to join them. They were a party of a Brazilian guide leading a Frenchy and a German, but everyone spoke passable Portuguese.

 

 German, French, Brazilian

As we continued on to the summit the views just kept getting better.

 

Looking across Guanabara Bay towards Niteroi on the other side.

 Looking towards Zona Sul, with Copacabana visible over the hills.


Finally reached the summit! Really besides the cliff of doom the trail was not too difficult, and not long. I already want to go do it again... Here are pics from the top, where the cable cars arrive and spew forth crowds of tourists.

 

This picture is looking back towards the heart of Rio. The cables lead down to the top of Morro de Urca. The pointiest summit in the distance that juts above the mountains behind it (just right of center) is Corcavado, where the statue of Christ watches over Rio.

We caught the first cable car for free, the second you have to pay to descend, so we hiked down from Morro de Urca via the trail I had taken earlier that morning.

Well this post is already long so I'll save my Sunday summiting of the second awesome rock, Pedra da Gavea, for the next installation. FYI you can see Pedra da Gavea in the last photo above--farthest range of peaks in the background, second peak starting from the left, it has a flat top which is obscured a bit by the clouds it is just scraping.

To Be Continued...

Easter Adventures

Brazil has abundant holidays, and I took full advantage of Pascoa (Easter) to travel to Belo Horizonte (BH), a city further towards the interior of Brazil, in the state of Minas Gerais. A good friend of mine, Pedro, put me up in his apartment for four days and we explored new parts of the city every day.

The photo above is from the top of the "cerra" (range of large hills) to the south of BH, were I hiked on my last day. You can see almost the entire city from this vanatge, all the buildings stretching way off into the distance are part of BH. The closest neighborhood with the large fancy houses, red roofs and swimming pools is Mangabeiras, a "bairro nobre," or "noble neighborhood" which is the name they use for the wealthy regions of the city. BH is a conglomeration of noble, middle class, and a few poor neighborhoods, with several favelas scattered about, usually on hill slopes. But all the neighborhoods are unified by a well-organized system of roads and grids. Clearly the city planners knew what they were doing. All the north-south and east-west roads serve as local access to shops and apartments, while the diagonal roads are the highways. The city is foot on the foothills of the cerra, and therefore walking from north to south is a steady upward climb. Some of the steep streets with large buildings looming overhead reminded me of Seattle.

Above is a picture of the Lagoa de Pampulha. Pedro and I walked around the whole thing, which is pretty large (18km walk to get around it). In the distance of this shot you can see two stadiums. Both are being renovated now, the closer is an indoor soccer stadium, the other on the right is the soccer stadium that will be used for some of the preliminary games for the World Cup in 2014.

Climbed a tree to get a picture over the fence of the World Cup stadium being renovated. I wanted to go explore it but Pedro explained a lot about guards and video cameras and trouble so we kept walking.

 Governer's palace. Wouldn't mind staying there.

 

More or less the view from the Governer´s palace. Apparently he only stays here part of the year anyway, the rest summer he spends in his mansion up in Mangabeiras. Maybe he will pay me to house sit for him. 

 

 My friend Pedro in front on an impressive tree next to the lake. I thought it was cool that the tree had roots shooting out of its trunk and growing down into the ground.

 Clouds in the lake and capybaras in the mud.

 Bird symmetry.

Unfortunately there was a lot of trash in the lake, and when we passed downwind of it the stench was foul... It's a shame such a place of natural beuaty is maintained better. Apparently there are crocodiles in the lake, but I can't imagine how they would survive. The only animals I saw were birds, dead fish, and capybaras. Maybe they eat the capybaras.



I made two journeys up the cerra, the first with Pedro, the second alone. On the other side of the mountains I found a hidden paradise. I was genuinely shocked that such beauty could be so close to a huge metropolitan sprawl and not be tainted. But from the ruggedness of the trails I discovered I think few people know of its existence and fewer still are willing to make the journey. But what I found was worth every effort.

 

 

The hidden lake in all its glory. The lake formed as a result of water filling in an old mine site. They excavated a tremendous amount of iron ore here, and the pit has since filled with water. I think it is very very deep.

 

 

The route down the other side of the cerra, dropping down into the mine. The sides were too steep to hike but we found a storm-drain canals with a series of concrete drops that was climbable. This route took us directly to the lake.

Pedro demonstrating great scaling skills. Getting up and down some of the steps was a bit tricky. This particular step (above) was a beast. Some other explorers before us had scratched their names above this step, but we found no names further down. It seemed very few jumped down it for fear of not being able to get back out. Rock climbing skills came in handy when I had to get out the second time without Pedro's help.

 The rocks around the mine were amazing, chock full of iron ore and feldspar (I think) and super shiny. Hard to resist playing with shiny rocks so they were a major distraction as I was hiking around.

 Finally nearing the summit of the highest point on the cerra.

 Views from the top. The line of darker green signifying denser plants on the left marks where the drainage canal was. That's where we descended and ascended.

 Finally reaching the water.

Private swimming pool. The water was clean and cool, perfect for swimming around and hanging out. One would be hard pressed to find any of the nobles in Mangabeiras with a setup this plush. Although for some reason as I swam around, alone in the giant lake, I had this sense that there was some giant lake monster lurking in the depths below me, waiting to snatch me by the leg and pull me under. Kind of unsettling.

I imagine the monster of the lake looks something like this street art near Pedro's apartment.

Belo Horizonte was awesome, I enjoyed my free time immensely. I could really get used to Brazil's system of frequent holidays... Now its time to get back to work here in the lab. More to come soon on developements in the lab.