A Visual Feast - Las Cañadas & the Orotava Valley

Any walk in the Las Cañadas National Park guarantees spectacular scenery but when this is combined with aerial views across the Orotava Valley, the awesomeness factor increases significantly. Setting off from El Portillo Alto, I followed the well worn path towards La Forteleza, which I always think of as Tenerife's Ayers Rock in miniature, until I reached El Cabezòn. As I walked in the early morning sunshine, I enjoyed the stunning views of Teide completely dominating the view to my left, as it stood silently surveying the desert-like scenery I now passed through. As I reached a crossroads in the path below the summit of El Cabezòn, I turned off of the main path and descended into the forest, initially on a wide track then later on a narrower, more ill-defined path through the trees.Arriving on another broad, level forest track,

Often, the views are simply of the Mar de Nubes or Sea of ​​Clouds, which in itself is rewarding enough but today, was a stunning mixture of this combined with views to the valley floor, the pine forests and the high mountains. It was just perfect! With my camera working overtime, I strolled along soaking up these wonderful scenes as I made my way to the Choza Piedras de Los Pastores. Here, I took advantage of the shade and the picnic table and stopped for a break before beginning the long, very steep and tiring climb back uphill. Eventually, I reached the Fuente de Mesa Viewpoint for ever more stunning views into the Orotava Valley before returning via the Degollada del Cedro with it's tiny hermitage to my outward path, which I followed back to the start.    

 

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