Ribeira das Cales II

Medium to strong flow after rain in January (including rain and hail), and high after heavy rain in April: when the water is thrown 3 to 4 m outward at R1, allowing an easy crossing to the right bank on the lower ledge.

There is a bad anchor on the ground on the left bank below R1 (bring material to replace it). General deterioration by January 2022 called for total replacement. One of the R4 points was stolen and the maillon on the downclimb was not replaced. R6 can be done as 24 m from the first rings, with the rope retrieved fine from the right of the pool; two rings right of the pool, out of the water, allow a guided rappel. By April 2025 many anchors were missing or single-point: the canyon had recently been re-bolted for commercial use but most hangers had disappeared again, some uncertified hardware sat on the existing 316L bolts, and several points were no longer doubled.

Fallen trees. From November 2017 the canyon was not recommended because works on the banks had filled it with fallen trees. Large fallen trees spoiled its vertical charm for several years, with many trees and branches up to R2 and in the non-avoidable downclimb; a clean-up of branches around R2 was done in March 2023, and by April 2025 most rappels were free of obstructing trees.

R1 rockfall. In February 2024 a rockslide hit R1. R1 (E12 and E20) is still equipped and possible, but rope retrieval from the bottom of the 20 m pitch is very hard because of rub on rock, trunks and branches; an alternative is to stop on the ledge mid-way, where an improvised roughly 6 m natural anchor on a rock spike just before the fallen trunk (blue cord and maillon) makes R1 = E12, E14, C6 natural; two ring bolts were removed just right of it. Re-equipping this waterfall on the right bank with a guided-rappel option would be sensible, since the slide added more rocks to the first ledge on top of the existing tree and new branches; rope retrieval remains a known problem.