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.

A Short Walk in Arico

Today, I have been walking in Arico, which is one of my favourite hiking areas on the island. The scenery is truly stunning and whenever I've walked in the area I've usually had it to myself as the region does not seem to be on the radar of the majority of hikers visiting the island.

Walking in Arico

View from the Lomo de Tamadaya

This week, I walked from the beautifully preserved village of Arico Nuevo to El Contador, high in the mountains above Arico. The walk, which was quite strenuous, is around 20 kilometres long, took 7.5 hours and involved around 4,600ft/1,400 mtrs of ascent. After leaving Arico Nuevo, I followed an old camino real to Villa de Arico from where I picked up the PR -TF86 path to El Contador, a recreation zone/barbecue area in the pine forest. From there, I followed another branch of the PR-TF86 back to Arico Nuevo. The scenery, particularly around the Roques de Tamadaya is stunning. Below is a video of photos and video clips taken on the walk. 

Arico Nuevo to El Contador and back again!

Los Roques de Tamadaya

Recently, I finally got around to walking to El Contador, something that I had been planning to do for some time. El Contador is a recreation zone/campsite high in the pine forests above the south-east coast of Tenerife and it took me around four hours of continual climbing to reach from the lovely village of Arico Nuevo. The walk certainly tested my fitness and I began to wonder if the climbing was ever going to stop before I emerged from the forest by a picturesque finca situated above a barranco. After a break, it was a case of turning around and walking back down again and overall the walk took 8.25 hours to complete. The scenery throughout the walk was superb, particularly Los Roques de Tamadaya, a forested rocky ridge in the Barranco de Tamadaya. As I descended, I became aware of three lesser spotted woodpeckers in the pine trees above me and stood quietly watching them as they hopped from tree to tree and even managed to get a reasonable photo of one clinging to a tree trunk. The walk itself is easy to follow as it is clearly signposted, although there are a couple of alternatives. I followed the path from Arico Nuevo to the village of La Sabinita initially before heading across the Barranco de Las Hiedras to the summit of the Lomo de Tamadaya and then on up to El Contador. The whole walk is certainly not for anyone who is unsure of their fitness but a short circular alternative can be made by utilising the two branches of the PR86 path. The start of the path, which initially follows Calle el Molino, can be found on the TF28 across from the Calle de La Luz leading into Arico Nuevo. This soon splits into the PR86.2 & PR86.3 and both rejoin on the Lomo de Tamadaya. It is here that you should head to either Arico Nuevo or La Sabinita for the short circular of around 6 kilometres, depending on which way round you are walking. The full route however is around 23 kilometres and climbs and descends around 1300 metres, taking between 8 to 9 hours. An album of photographs taken on the walk can be found HERE