Pico da Neblina (Yaripo), Brazil Highpoint

Pico da Neblina (Yaripo), Brazil Highpoint

Jan 4, 2026

Eric, Serge, Jared, Ben, Roraima Adventures, Yanomami members

Survey results: 2996.2m +/-0.2m (SIRGAS Brazil Geoid 2020).

Dec 25 depart US

Dec 26 arrive Manaus

Dec 27 flight to Sao Gabriel

Dec 28 buffer day

Dec 29 4×4 ride 80km north, boat 150km along Rio Cauaburi to Maturaca village

Dec 30 Boat 90km to trailhead, hike 8km to camp 1, 115m elevation

Dec 31 Hike 5km to camp 2, 465m elevation

Jan 1 Hike 9km to camp 3, 880m

Jan 2 Hike 5.5km to camp 4, 1650m

Jan 3 Hike 5km to camp 5, 2030m

Jan 4 Summit, return to camp

Jan 5 Descend to camp 3

Jan 6 Descend to camp 1

Jan 7 Hike to river, boat to Maturaca

Jan 8 Boat to road, drive to San Gabriel

Jan 9 Buffer day

Jan 10 Fly to manaus

Pico da Neblina (Yaripo) is the tallest mountain in Brazil and the tallest peak east of the Andes in South America. It is located in northwest Brazil, within 1km of the Venezuela border. The first documented ascent was in the 1950s.

The summit was surveyed in 1965 by José Ambrósio de Miranda Pombo using theodolite measurements to find an altitude of 3014m. In 2004 Marco Aurélio de Almeida Lima, a member of a Brazilian army expedition, measured the summit with GPS to find an elevation of 2993.8m. In 2016 this was corrected to be 2995.3m using an updated geoid model of Brazil.

Prior to 2003 the summit was a popular hiking destination, but in 2003 it was closed to tourism due to issues overuse, trash, and exploitation of the local Yanomami tribe.

In 2022 the mountain was reopened to tourism with stricter regulations. The Yanomami now have more control over trips, with trips limited to once a month by tourism agencies with valid permits (currently only Roraima Adventures and Vivala), and all trips are lead by Yanomami guides with Yanomami porters.

One reason the mountain was reopened was to give sustainable employment opportunities to locals to discourage activity in illegal gold mining in the area.

The dry season for this area is approximately December through May, and we decided to climb in December. We went directly through Roraima Adventures to get the cheapest price. Any operator that is not Vivala or Roraima Adventures is a middleman company that will charge a higher price and take a cut.

The itinerary for the trip is determined by the Yanomami, and is split into 9 hiking days covering a distance of approximately 70km round trip with 3000m gain on good trails. A faster itinerary is not allowed.

The closest airport to the peak is in Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira. To reach the trailhead from there requires travelling 80km on dirt roads, then 240km by boat. Sao Gabriel is reached by a twice weekly flight from Manaus or a three-day boat ride from Manaus.

To get the cheapest price, the trip requires at least six participants. Serge, Jared, Ben, and I went together and we were joined by Goran and Bill.

On December 25 I flew from the US to Manaus, where I gave myself a day layover to account for potential delays. I spent some time at the port of Manaus and saw a lot of interesting boats going up or down the Rio Negro, which was near the confluence with the Amazon River. Interestingly, the boats don’t really have seats but instead have places to hang hammocks on three different levels.

On Dec 27 we flew to Sao Gabriel, where we met our guides from Roraima Adventures, Xiosner and Melina.

Dec 28 was a planned buffer day to account for any delays in participants reaching Sao Gabriel. We hiked up hill in town called Morro da Boa Esperanca and I took a one hour measurement with my GNSS unit on the summit. I like to do this before measuring my main mountain objective to ensure the equipment is working properly.

On December 29 we loaded into two 4×4 trucks and rode for two hours north, crossing the equator. After 80km we reached the Rio Cauaburi. There we loaded into a long boat that fit the right of us plus a driver and scout.

We rode down the river, and I saw one monkey on the way. This would end up being one of the only wildlife sightings on the trip. I think they area has enough residents and enough hunting that wildlife sightings are not as common on this approach as in other jungle expeditions I’ve done in Suriname and Belize.

We boated for about six hours, covering 150km, until we reached Maturaca in mid afternoon. Maturaca is the closest village to Pico da Neblina. It has a small landing strip but I think that is only for emergency usage. The village is on a side river from the main river, and that is where the Yanomami who would accompany us lived.

The main village is on the west side of the river, and on the east side is a large concrete building with diesel-powered electricity for lights and Internet. The tourists are only allowed on the east side, and Yanomami cross in boats back and forth.

We went to the tourist building and there met and shook hands with the Yanomami who would accompany us. It was 26 porters plus a cook and a head guide. I wasn’t sure what could all be carried by that many people, but I expected it to be a pretty luxurious trip. I carried all my personal gearyself but it’s possible to hire a porter to carry your personal gear.

We hung up hammocks at the building that night, and would sleep in hammocks the rest of the trip.

In the morning on Dec 30 four elder members came over in traditional dress and conducted a ceremony for us to be allowed to climb the mountain. We then all loaded into four boats and continued up the river for two more hours covering 90km. It rained most of the way but let up by the time we reached the trailhead.

By mid day we started hiking up the trail and the boats returned to Maturaca. It was well established and in good shape, much easier than when I’d bushwhacked through the jungle in Suriname a few months earlier. We hiked for 8km on mostly flat terrain and reached camp by mid afternoon.

There was an excellent stream behind camp and we all went for a swim. At camp there were three large wooden structures with roofs but no walls. One was a kitchen and the other two were for setting up hammocks. One was for the tourists and the other for the Yanomami.

They roofs were made of palm leaves and the porters brought big tarps to improve the waterproofing. All camps were set up in this same style.

That night it rained pretty hard, but the shelters were mostly waterproof. In general I found the rain was mostly random. Sometimes it rained at night, sometimes in the morning, and sometimes in the evening. I’m used to big mountains being clear in the morning and having precipitation in the afternoon, but that is not the case for pico da Neblina.

Dec 31 we hiked steeply out of camp, over a small peak, then made it to camp two after 5km. The days were generally pretty short, hiking for only 3 or four hours between 8am to noon or so. It certainly would have been possible to hike farther on the good trails, but that’s not the approved schedule.

We would generally stop halfway through the hike and the porters would set out good snacks of pineapples and cookies, then we’d have a nice lunch at camp.

Camp 2 had a smaller stream, just barely deep enough to swim in. I found a big tarantula living in the outhouse.

Jan 1 we hiked 9km to camp 3, climbing 880m. We again got there by early afternoon. Camp 3 had the best swimming hole, with the water over waist deep in a creek. The shelters weren’t quite as waterproof there, but luckily I’d brought a rain fly for my hammock and set that up to stay dry.

Jan 2 we hiked 5.5km to camp 4 at 1650m. This was the first camp we got a view of the summit. In the afternoon Neblina was covered in clouds, but by sunset it cleared out. This view was of the south east face, which was an imposing cliff. Our route would go up the easier west face, though.

Jan 3 we hiked for 2km steeply up to a plateau, then another 3km on mostly flat terrain to camp at 2050m. The plateau was very muddy and swampy, and required care to avoid getting our shoes soaked.

Camp 5 was at the base of the southwest face of Neblina and had shelters without roofs. So the porters out the tarps up on top. There was a nice stream near camp but it was too cold for me to want to swim.

We had good views of sunset from camp, and Neblina cleared out in the evening. That night I was a bit chilly in my 0C sleeping bag, though it didn’t get below freezing.

The next morning Jan 4 started out clear and we started our hike earlier than normal, at 645am, just after sunrise. This was the funnest section of trail. It went up steep cliffs with occasional metal rungs for hand and foot holds, and occasional ropes to pull up on.

We had great views of the plateau to the west and Venezuela to the north. The clouds gradually built, though, and by the time we topped out at 10am the summit was completely locked in. Luckily it wasn’t raining, though.

Interestingly, on the way up we heard a helicopter in the distance. This may have been related to the recent events of the US in Venezuela, but we never found out for sure.

I quickly identified the highest rock, marked by a small brass cap survey monument. I mounted the DA2 right on top and started logging data.

There was a flag pole nearby with a tattered Brazil flag in need of replacement. We found a nice summit register that went back one year, and there were over 100 sign ins! Most sign ins were from Brazilians, and we recognized our friends Viri and Fernando who had climbed the Suriname highpoint with us.

We hung out for an hour catching occasional views through the clouds. Ben flew his drone around and got some good videos.

Interestingly, on some maps based on satellite data there are two other maxima in the area of Neblina. Pico 31 Marco and Pico Phelps. There is conflicting information on the elevations and names of these peaks. Ben flew the drone around at the elevation of the summit of Neblina and said any other locations were significantly lower.

Based on the 2004 GPS surveys Pico 31 Marco is 71m shorter than Neblina and is the second highest peak in Brazil. It appears the satellite-genetated maps like Gaia erroneously have another peak east of Pico 31 Marco. This peak doesn’t show up on the Brazilian topographic map. On Gaia it’s labeled Pico Phelps, but this was the old name for Neblina before it was changed. The elevation given for pico Phelps on Gaia is the elevation of Pico Marco 31 from a 1965 theodolite survey.

I was hoping to get a view to confirm whether that peak exists or not, it it was socked in the clouds. Given that the Brazilian topographic map doesn’t show the peak, and Ben didn’t see it from the drone, it appears to be an error from satellite data and doesn’t actually exist.

I’ve seen this before on other peaks in the jungle, and it appears that one erroneous satellite measurement might result in a peak showing up in digital elevation models that isn’t actually there.

After an hour we headed down, and it soon started raining. Our guides said they summit no matter what the weather is, but I was happy it had been dry for us.

We got back to camp by 2pm and rested there the rest of the day.

Jan 5 we hiked back down, reaching camp 4 just as a strong rain squall hit. We had lunch there, then continued to camp 3.

Jan 6 we again skipped camps, and made it to camp 1 by mid afternoon.

Jan 7 we hiked out to the river in a few hours. The boats then met us and took us back to Maturaca by dinner time.

Jan 8 we boated back and drove back to Sao Gabriel.

Jan 9 was a planned buffer day, then Jan 10 we flew back to Manaus.

I processed my elevation measurements with Trimblertx and found the summit of Neblina is 2996.2m +/-0.2m (SIRGAS Brazil 2020 geoid). This is 0.9m taller than the official elevation of 2995.3m. This is possibly because the official measurement was taken using older technology in 2004, while I was using more modern surveying equipment.

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