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| Stone Oven near Las Vegas |
This walk started in the tiny hamlet of Las Vegas that nestles in the slopes below the imposing summits of Guajara and Pasajiron high in the National Park.
Download the Caldera walk
The route of my recent walk in the Las Cañadas caldera can be downloaded from the Wikiloc app or from this link. The GPX file can also be downloaded from the link.
Walking in the Caldera, Tenerife
A collection of video clips taken on a recent walk in the spectacular Teide National Park in Tenerife
Climbing Baracàn from Puerto de Erjos, Tenerife
Video of a recent walk to the summit of Baracàn in the Teno
Descent into Heaven - Walking to Afur
An early morning start from Mirador Pico del Ingles in the Anaga Mountains was short on views as mist drifted across the mountains obscuring the stunning vistas from the viewpoint. The objective for the day was the tiny village of Afur, nestling in the bottom of the awe-inspiring Barranco de Afur. The walk involved a descent and ascent of a thousand meters and initially the beautiful laurisilva forest more than made up for the lack of expansive views in the early part of the walk. Later, as the mist cleared and the trees thinned out, superb views emerged revealing awesome mountain scenes in every direction. Continuing the very steep descent, Afur eventually came into view below and as I reached the outskirts, I crossed the Afur River and stood for a while watching the unusual sight of ducks waddling alongside the river, which is one of the only constantly flowing streams on the island. Pausing for a break in the village, I sat trying to imagine living in such an isolated yet stunning location, where everything is a long drive away along narrow, winding mountain roads. Having rested after the descent, the long return ascent began, but the incredible scenery as I huffed and puffed uphill was more than ample reward for the effort involved.
Montaña del Cedro and the Barranco de Tàgara
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| Montaña del Cedro |
The sun was just rising over the mountains of Las Cañadas as I climbed out of the caldera towards the summit of Montaña del Cedro from the Narices del Teide mirador. Having reached the summit, the views were simply spectacular with a 360 degree view that included Teide and Pico Viejo, Las Cañadas with the lava fields of the Las Narices eruption in 1798, the three western islands, the Teno Mountains as well as Playa de Las Americas and the west coast. After a break on the top, I headed very steeply downhill and into the Barranco de Tàgara. The path in the barranco was a real 'Indiana Jones' job, with many large fallen pines blocking the trail, as well as fallen boulders and overgrown foliage. The climb out was a little better, but not much, as the path was again overgrown and strewn with boulders and the top of the path had been destroyed by a landslide. Once out of the barranco, the walk, although steep at times, was much easier with clear paths to follow. Despite the difficulties, the stunning scenery made this one of the most memorable walks I have done recently.
Refugio Casa de Chasogo
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| Sun rising over Pico Viejo |
Yesterday morning, I set off early as the sun was rising over Pico Viejo to climb to the Refugio Casa de Chasogo from the TF38. The first half of the walk was a long cliimb through open countryside with good views to Pico Viejo and the pine-clad slopes of Montaña Chasogo, which sits behind the refugio. After passing the refugio, the character of the walk changed as the route entered the beautiful Corona Forestal pine forest, the green of the trees combining beautifully with the harsh volcanic lava fields. Overall, the walk was 13.75 kilometres with 740 metres of ascent/descent.
Rediscovering the 'lost' village of Las Fuentes, Tenerife
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| House in Las Fuentes with Montaña Tejina |
The 'lost' village of Las Fuentes sits at the foot of Montaña Tejina in the south-west of Tenerife and for many years was only accessible on foot or by driving along a precarious, winding dirt track into the hills. It is one of the oldest settlements in the municipality of Guia de Isora, with a past linked to agriculture and the presence of small springs, from where the village gets it's name. Along with traditional rural buildings, other infrastructure can be found such as threshing floors, brick kilns, bread ovens, reservoirs and caves that were used for storage.
A Hike to Cho Pancho Recreation zone
This walk started from the village of El Roque and climbed steeply to the Cho Pancho recreation zone. The weather when I walked it wasn't ideal, with the hot and hazy conditions restricting what would normally be some impressive views, however, my early start meant that I finished walking before midday when it was starting to get very hot. The early part of the walk followed a well engineered, cobbled path that wound it's way comfortably up the hill and was dominated by excellent views to the volcanic dome of Roque de Jama, with Montaña Guaza just visible in the background through the haze. The Cho Pancho recreation zone made a welcome break in the shade of the pines just after the halfway mark and here I took advantage of the picnic tables to rest and cool off.
Thanks to John and Alison Mackenzie for the route, which I obtained from their excellent website Walk Tenerife Sur: Under 10km https://tenerifesurunder10k.wordpress.com
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,
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