Exploring the Barranco de Tagara

Montaña del Cedro

I have been busy recently with guiding so haven't had much time to explore new routes or update this blog but yesterday I managed to check out a route I haven't walked before around the Roques del Cedro close to the perimeter of the National Park. I started the walk from the Mirador de Chio on the TF38,  the bulk of Pico Viejo forming an imposing backdrop as Teide peered over it's shoulder like a big brother keeping an eye on his wayward younger sibling.

Exploring the PR-TF83 from Cruz de Tea

Cruz de Tea from the PR-TF83

One of the original reasons for writing this blog was to keep purchasers of the book updated with any route changes and alternatives that I came across while doing the walks. Recently, I walked from Cruz de Tea, start of the Montaña Colorada walk, to check out the new PR-TF83 signposts that had appeared recently in the village as I was curious to discover where the route went. Picking up the signposts near the bus stop, I followed them along the quiet road out of the village, which eventually joined a stony way-marked trail as it climbed steeply to the hamlet of El Pinar on a beautiful morning as the dark silhouette of Gran Canaria hovered over the coastline far below.

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 

El Jaral - Walking in Guia de Isora

Casa Amarilla, Finca Palo Alto

This week, I headed towards the south-west of the island to the tiny hill village of El Jaral in the Guia de Isora region, situated around 800 metres above sea level. This tranquil, sleepy village is the 'jumping off' point for numerous pathways and there are a number of information boards outlining details of the more major routes.

Valle Arriba circular walk via Arguayo and Las Manchas

 Valle de Arriba

Continuing my recent exploration of footpaths in and around the Santiago valley, I set off on Wednesday from Valle de Arriba to walk to Arguayo with the intention of returning via La Hoya mountain and the village of Las Manchas. As usual, I was wearing shorts and T-shirt but had to stop fairly soon to don my lightweight anorak owing to a sudden downpour of chilly rain. As the Santiago valley marks the dividing line between the north and south micro-climates, it can often be shrouded in mist and rain on the northern side while the southern side is bathed in sunshine.

A Walk from Valle de Arriba

Recently, I have been exploring footpaths in the west of the island and today I decided on a walk that I had found on the internet from the village of Valle de Arriba, close to Santiago del Teide . Although I was already familiar with many of the paths in the walk there were some promising variants that I hadn't tried and as I am always on the lookout for alternative routes, this was an interesting choice. 

Ascending from Valle de Arriba

Setting off from the village on a pleasant but cool morning, I located the path up and out of the valley. This section was new to me and was a delight to walk and must be wonderful in spring when the flowers are in bloom. As I climbed fairly steeply up the narrow valley my attention was drawn to the cry of a buzzard just overhead and I stopped to watch as it soared above me and disappeared out of the valley.

An Erjos circular walk

Dodging the puddles on the way to Las Portelas

The village of Erjos, which is situated at over 3,000ft above sea level in the north-west of the island, is crossed by numerous footpaths and offers many opportunites to create circular walks in the area. I had planned a route from the village to Las Portelas from where I would climb to the Cumbre de Masca and then onto the Cumbre de Bolico before returning via the Erjos Pools.  As I set off to walk to Las Portelas, the air was cool and a little damp, the wet roads and puddles on the footpaths evidence of overnight rain.

Climbing Montaña de Guama

The Santiago Valley

After a fairly lengthy spell in which I have walked very little, I decided it was time to get out of my armchair  and lace up the walking boots again. The previous week in Tenerife had been wet with some fairly heavy rain and although this had passed by when I set off for Santiago del Teide, the skies were still quite overcast.

Tenerife Wildfires

As many of you will have no doubt heard, Tenerife has suffered a number of damaging wildfires this summer. One of the worst occurred in the southern region of the Corona Forestal pine forest, an area covered in 'Discovering Tenerife on Foot'. The fires were fuelled by the very hot temperatures we have experienced on the island this summer and also the lack of any substantial rainfall in the past eighteen months. The countryside everywhere is tinder dry and only a spark is required to start a devastating fire, and this is indeed what has occurred in numerous locations across the island in the past few weeks, although it is not known if  arson was the cause or carelessness. 

Arona to Ifonche Circular Walk - A Southern Classic

One of the things I like about living here in Tenerife is the ease with which I can get into the mountains when I want to go for a walk. In the UK, as I lived in the south, it meant a drive of at least two and a half hours to get anywhere with any ‘real’ mountains. Now, it takes me less than fifteen minutes. Close to where I live in Chayofa in the hills above Los Cristianos in south Tenerife are the Adeje Mountains, which are easily accessible from the town of Arona from where there is a wonderful circular walk along old caminos linking the town with the remote hamlet of Ifonche. The route leaves Arona for the nearby village of Vento, from where it crosses the Barranco del Rey in the shadow of the imposing table-topped summit of Roque del Conde. This impressive ravine passes through the Ifonche region on its way to the coast where it reaches the sea by the infamous Veronica’s nightclub complex in Playa de Las Americas, a world away from its origins high in the mountains.