Pedra da Gávea

This guide to Pedra da Gavea in Rio de Janeiro opens with a number that upends the postcard skyline: this granite dome outranks both Corcovado and Sugarloaf in height, yet rarely gets photographed. It follows a 1920 claim by the self-taught scholar Bernardo Azevedo da Silva Ramos, who climbed partway up the rock face and insisted its cracks were ancient Phoenician writing naming a king's son, and the decades of argument that followed. Along the way it covers the Carrasqueira, the roped granite wall every hiker crosses hand over hand near the summit.