Teide and the Canal de Vergara

Start of the Teide path

This week, I completed a two day hike starting on the Teide path before crossing the Las Canadas National Park and descending into the pine forest and finishing in Chio in the west of the island. Starting out on the Montaña Blanca - Teide path, I followed the route uphill for a short distance to around the 8,200ft mark where a path veers right to the visitor centre at El Portillo, which I followed for a few moments before leaving this for a path to La Forteleza. 

Climbing the caldera

Teide & Mt.Guajara from the caldera rim

One of the advantages of living in Tenerife is that it is possible to decide what type of walk you want to do, pick an area and within a short space of time, find yourself enjoying exactly the type of walking you want, such is the diversity of the terrain. This happened to me recently when I decided on a fairly strenuous high altitude mountain hike, so I drove for around three quarters of an hour to the Las Lajas campsite and recreation zone above Vilaflor for a hike onto the caldera rim.

A hike to the Fuente Madre del Agua waterfall

Blue Chaffinch

One thing I miss about walking in Tenerife is the lack of running water as there are virtually no rivers on the island, so I was interested to read recently about a waterfall in the south of the island high up in the mountains above the village of Vilaflor. The waterfall, which is fed by the Madre del Agua spring, is located in the upper reaches of the Barranco de Las Vegas at an altitude of around 1840 metres. It is possible to drive along the Madre del Agua dirt road to the Madre del Agua campsite from where it is only a short half hour walk to the waterfall but I wanted to make a day of it, so chose to hike along the Paisaje Lunar path from Vilaflor. 

Some 2014 Walking Highlights

As 2014 draws to a close, I thought it would be nice to look back at some of the walking highlights from the past twelve months. 

A snowclad Teide seen here on a walk through the Chinyero reserve, site of the last eruption on Tenerife in 1909

Two Springs Walk

View from Degollada de Ifonche

Summer is not a good time for walkers in Tenerife. The sun is at it's most powerful and this combined with the high temperatures make it very uncomfortable for walking. During this period, I usually plan which walks I want to do during the coming walking season, which I start as soon as the temperatures become a little more bearable, usually in the latter half of October. One of the last walks I did before the weather got too hot was to investigate some newly recovered and signposted paths to two springs in the Ifonche region. I had noticed the signs when walking in the area and took the opportunity to investigate them and in doing so, created a very interesting circular walk. Starting from close to the parapente launch point, at the foot of Roque de Los Bresos, I walked the camino rural before picking up the sign to the Fuente de Las Pilas in the Barranco del Rey. I have crossed the barranco at this point on many occasions in the past but never knew of the existence of the spring until the installation of the signs, so I was grateful to whoever is responsible for them. A pleasant path led me through trees and bushes initally, before descending to the rocky stream bed of the barranco, arriving a short time later at a neatly tended 'garden' surrounding the Fuente de Las Pilas. It was clear that someone was tending to the area around the spring as the plants and flowers were obviously planted and cared for. The spring flowed gently through a three-tiered rock 'water feature' creating a very peaceful and pleasing ambience. Leaving the spring, I continued along the rocky barranco floor to soon reach the top of a very dramatic dry waterfall in the Barranco del Rey. Peering over the edge was very exciting although it may not be to everyones taste as the drop is very sheer but it did give a stunning views into the deep part of the barranco below the El Refugio restaurant. Returning along the barranco, I climbed out and followed the dirt road from the restaurant to the Ifonche road, which I followed to the El Dornajo restaurant. This road is very quiet and largely traffic free so it is a pleasant walk.

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.

Tenerife in Bloom

Tajinastes in Vilaflor

Recently, I have been training in the Tenerife hills for my imminent Pennine Way hike in the UK by carrying my rucksack weighing around 13 kilos, which is roughly what I'll be carrying on the walk. During my training I have been impressed by the beautiful floral displays I have seen on my walks, which as most of them have been in the south of the island has only highlighted that despite what many people believe, the south of the island is not a barren wasteland, good only for sunbathing or propping up a bar. The area around Vilaflor has been particularly stunning this year, helped no doubt by the rain in the winter and reinforced by a rather late season day of rain a couple of weeks back, which left Teide with a covering of snow in April! The Vilafor/Ifonche region has been a riot of colour with the dominant bloom being the California Poppy, although there have also been plenty of Corn Poppies as well. In the main plaza in the centre of Vilaflor, there were fine displays of the red Tajinastes just coming into bloom when I paid a visit the other day. 

'Winter' comes to Tenerife

Roque Imoque and the snow capped mountains of Las Cañadas

Here in Tenerife we have, at times, had quite a cool 'winter' with decent amounts of rainfall, which in the higher regions fall as snow. This weekend saw wintery conditions in the mountains and northern parts of the island, although here in the south, the 'bad weather' resulted in no more than a handful of showers in an otherwise sunny day. Today, (Sunday 16th Feb) I have been out walking in the Ifonche region and the weather was quite superb with clear blue skies, although, because of the altitude, it was quite chilly at times. The area looked particularly attractive with a backdrop of snow covered mountains above the pines. Of course, when the weather is bad in the mountains, this can be quite dangerous at altitude and over the weekend a group of walkers had to be rescued while trying to climb to the summit of Teide. 

Last Walk of 2013

New Years Eve saw beautiful weather across the island and I took the opportunity to check out some alternative paths above the tiny village of Las Vegas in the south-east. This is a scenically stunning part of the island and it looked particularly good as I set off into the hills, the recent storm having left the countryside looking very green. One surprise on the walk was the sight of almond blossom in bloom in the Barranco de Las Vegas, which is very early as it normally appears sometime during late January. Here are a few photos from the walk.

A stone oven used for drying fruit and baking bread

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.