Las Cañadas to Poris de Abona - A walk from Summit to Sea

The 'El Filo' path is a route in the Las Canadas National Park that starts from the TF24 road close to El Portillo and initially follows a broad track through the desert scenery of the park as it weaves through the Tiede Broom and heads towards the parador. I recently set off on a two day hike following the path as it wound it's way through the parched landscape typically found in this part of the park. Being summer, the weather was very hot and as I could not be sure that I would be able to replenish my water supplies, I carried around 7.5 litres in my pack, which made it quite heavy when combined with my camping gear.

Walking through the Island's Volcanic Past

Montana Samara

I have recently been exploring the area between Montana Samara and Montana Chinyero, site of the island's last eruption. The north-west Santiago rift is littered with many volcanic cones and makes the area a fascinating one for observing the recent volcanic history of the island. I parked at the Montana Samara car-park and followed the obvious path to the summit where I had fantastic views towards the Teno Mountains, Teide and even down towards the south-west coast. 

Climbing El Sombrero

El Sombrero from the start of the walk

Since living in Tenerife, I have long had an ambition to climb El Sombrero, a very distinctive mountain in the National Park. The mountain is instantly identifiable because of the rocky, 'turret' on the top but until recently, I have never found a route to the summit.