PR2Between the Mente and the Rabaçal

A ridge between two rivers

This route travels along the back of a mountain with a river on either side. The Mente and the Rabaçal flow southward here, parallel to each other, roughly four kilometres apart, and the path connects the two. This is not a trail that descends to a river and returns; it is a crossing from valley to valley: on one side, a terrace overlooking the Mente, on the other, the gorge of the Rabaçal.

The route lies in the north-western corner of the concelho of Vinhais, the most overlooked and one of the most beautiful. To the west and to the north, what can be seen is Spain. To the east, the mountain of Pinheiro Novo.

Cisterna

The route is circular and begins and ends in Cisterna, beside the Capela de S. Salvador — a village of particular tranquillity, the kind where voices are lowered without anyone noticing. The trail passes through much of the village and connects to the hillside via the old road, with around 500 metres of tarmac before the surface gives way to earth.

The terrace above the Mente

The west-facing slope is a terrace. Below, the banks of the rio Mente wind along the valley floor, and on the far side lie the Galician villages of O Seixo and A Veiga do Seixo, close enough to count the rooftops. The border here has neither wall nor marker: the river itself is the boundary.

A land of smuggling

With Spain at such a distance, today's stillness is deceptive. For generations, these paths were walked at night, in silence and with loads on the back, and the river now admired from above was crossed in the dark. On one side, the Fiscal Guard kept watch; on the other, the carabineros waited. It was not adventure — it was the means of putting bread on the table.

That history is not on an information panel; it lives in the people. Even today, in Cisterna or in Vilarinho da Lomba, raising the subject is enough to hear accounts of escapes from the guards, pursuits across the hillside, and loads abandoned halfway along the path. Those who tell these stories lived them or heard them at home. This route follows the same tracks, and it is worth taking the time to stop and listen.

Vilarinho da Lomba

Vilarinho da Lomba sits roughly at the midpoint of the route, and the path passes through the centre of the village. It is the hinge between the two valleys: on one side of the village the trail looks towards the Mente, on the other it is the Rabaçal that dominates. The river is not yet visible, but it is suggested by the rugged character of the mountain ahead.

The gorge of the Rabaçal

Between Vilarinho da Lomba and the northern end of the route, the path follows the Rabaçal valley for more than three kilometres, with a continuous but gentle gradient, and with every metre of height gained the gorge carved by the river over thousands of years opens further. This is the most demanding section of the route: steep slopes, the river far below, and on the opposite side the serra that dominates Pinheiro Novo and the PR1 · Pinheiro Crags, with a different landform and a different landscape altogether.

The tip of the concelho

The northern end of the trail sits almost at the very tip of the concelho, with Galicia once again in sight and the village of Barxa on the horizon. It is the northernmost point of the route, and the furthest from Cisterna.

The post that was never finished

Near Cisterna, the path passes within a few metres of the former border post between Portugal and Spain. On the Portuguese side, the building still stands, unfinished: walls that never became what the plans had promised. That was not why the border went unguarded.

The customs officers carried out their duties there, with the cold of Trás-os-Montes coming in wherever it pleased and without the conditions the post owed them. They were military personnel, and the rule was to endure and not complain. The building was left half-built; the duty was not. After hearing about those who fled, it is worth pausing for a moment before those who stood watch: the two halves of the same story, a few metres apart. Those who arrive in Cisterna wanting more will find two answers nearby: the PR1 · Pinheiro Crags, in Pinheiro Novo — the mountain that was always ahead — and the Smuggling Museum, in Moimenta, where these stories are kept.