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| Early morning cloud drifts over the mountains |
Most hikers who have walked in the south of Tenerife will be familiar with the Barranco del Rey. The GR131 long distance trail flirts with this impressive gorge in it's initial stages and as it departs Arona, on it's journey to La Esperanza in the north of the island, it crosses the ravine before heading off into the hills.
Today, I set off on a walk to the mostly abandoned settlement of Cuevas Negras, deep in the laurel forest in the Barranco de Las Cuevas Negras, in the Teno Mountains in north-west of Tenerife . Starting from the village of Erjos, I descended steeply before leaving the path after a couple of miles to the village of Tierra del Trigo. After climbing out of the Barranco de Las Cuevas Negras, I paused for a break by some abandoned buildings on the Lomo del Topo from where I had stunning views to Los Silos and the Isla Baja. After my break, I continued towards the village of Tierra del Trigo and just before the village, took a path running alongside a water channel filled with water rushing down the hillside. The path ended where the water channel finished, with the water then simply tumbling down the hillside. This is the Cascada Lomo Morin, which in the bottom of the valley, becomes an impressive waterfall. Unfortunately, the path to the falls in the valley has become so popular with walkers posting photos and video of themselves standing under it on social media that it has been closed to walkers by the addition of a locked gate at the start of the path. The number of walkers using this unofficial path had become a problem for local people working in the area so the authorities felt it necessary to take action. Having enjoyed the view from the top of the cascade, I made my way to the village before climbing steeply back to Erjos, which was something of a slog in the heat. Despite this, the views throughout the walk were simply stunning.
