A great day to be on the GR130 in Franceses

Today was a red letter day for us and one we have been looking forward to for some months.  You see, the GR130 has been moved.  And not just moved but moved to come right along the path just below our finca in Franceses.  Yey!!

GR130 signpost 50 m from us

In September last year, I posted 'An Old Path in Franceses gets a New Look' but little did we know that this path was to become part of the GR130.  Then, just before Christmas, lo and behold the white over red blazes appeared, painted on rocks and all became clear - the GR130 was being re-routed right by us with the result that a 1km walk along the road to La Fajana is now no longer part of the route.  That really is an improvement!  And of course, for us it is perfect as walkers only need to leave the GR130 at this point where the above photo was taken and head up the 9.1 in the direction of Roque Faro for 50 metres, and they arrive at our doorstep.  Thank you Cabildo for our Christmas present!
But the intrigue didn't end there.  In our super-sleuth mode, we noticed that holes had been dug at junctions in the path.  Ah, posts then ...

I decided that I wouldn't put this in the blog until the posts were put in and I could put some photos with it.  Of course this did cause me to wonder what I would do if putting the posts in became delayed, or never happened.  But this week - they went in.  Even the path leading up to our finca was not forgotten and now we have the lot - the original lovely old wooden sign that says 'Las Tierras,' the white over red blaze (just visible in the photo) and a GR130 walking sign.

Pointing the way along the new route

And the spring flowers were out too.  Colour me happy!

GR130 Las Tricias to Santo Domingo - 11.3km 3.5hrs

Timeline - Tuesday, 28th December, 2010.
Yup, back on the trail again.  Not that we haven't got anything else to do except walk and then write about it.  We have!  But we wanted to make sure that we had walked every section of the GR130 this year and after this walk, we will have - and some sections in both directions.
At first we planned to walk from Puntagorda and, having left the car in Santo Domingo and now sitting on the bus heading in that direction, we suddenly decided that we would get off earlier at Las Tricias and walk from there.  Reason?  It was so darned hot!!  Yes, one of those crazy weather days added to the fact that we were having a really late start due to other commitments.  See - I told you we did other things!
It was 13.30 by the time we were getting off the bus but as it was where the trail meets the road, we were walking straight away.  Almost immediately, it feels like we are deep in the countryside, miles from a main road and we are treated to some fabulous views - can this really be the Canaries?

But there are a few walkers about and as we pass close to an 'era' - a stone threshing circle - we see it is being used by a family as a handy picnic spot.  And why not!  The children are keen to head off and explore though and they won't be disappointed when they come across this spectacular dragon tree, hundreds of years old.

So far the walking has been pretty easy - a few lose stones and downhill tracks but nothing even remotely challenging - just wall to wall beautiful scenery and visual treats.

We are beginning to wish we had walked from Puntagorda now as the temperature seems to have moderated to 'warm' and is very pleasant, especially without the tough ravines to conquer.  But no walk on La Palma would be complete without some fairly serious down and up bits and after a few more kilometres, we are not disappointed.  It looks SO far to get down to the bottom but we know that the winding path will get us there, step by step.

We've walked 3.6km and a signpost tells us that there is a diversion to the Buracas caves, but we don't take it this time.   A little later a 'few' signs tell us that we can get a drink or ice-cream at a house nearby but we are keen to crack on.  I remember last time we passed here, somebody Did want an ice-cream and I had no money, mm that doesn't make you popular.  Now I always carry money, not for an ice-cream necessarily but you never know!  A little later the GR130 runs along the road for 0.9km - not the most exciting part of the walk but at least we can walk quickly and it is especially nice when we get back on a path again.

Oh, oh, another barranco.  This time the path looks a little uncertain - as in, 'is this it?' and 'is it safe?'  Nothing to do but go for it and see what happens. Of course, it is absolutely fine and as we get to the bottom and start the ascent up the other side, we see that the Cabildo have been busy clearing the path for us.
A third barranco welcomes us to the top with a simple but nonetheless dramatic wooden cross.

Now it is a completely easy-peasy path - lush green and a delight. A few special sights along the way such as a shrine with Mary Magdalene and several other figures including a man in a white coat and trilby hat. Uh?

Now we join the little road to Cueva de Agua where there is obviously some sensitive issue going on about who has a right to use the road.  We can only assume that those on foot are exempt from any restrictions.  Quite quickly this minor road joins the main road and I'm afraid it's road walking all the way to Santo Domingo - 2.9km.  Well, it's a chance to stride out and we quickly come into town. I have to say what a curious place Santo Domingo is, it can often resemble a film lot where everybody  has just left the scene for the day. As we walked through everything was closed, even its four bars.  But there are some very interesting side roads for those that want to explore the old part.

 

Well, that's it for 2010.  It has been a great year for walking on La Palma and we feel truly lucky to have been able to do it.   I hope many people will also be able to enjoy it in 2011.

GR130 - Franceses to El Tablado then LP 9.1 to Roque Faro

Ah - our old friend the GR130 and more specifically, the part of the GR130 that we look at, day in day out, right from our finca.  I remember when I once found a guest looking at the path as it zig-zags between El Tablado and the ravine of Los Hombres below it.  He turned to me and simply said, 'Know your enemy.'  Indeed.  But I do like to think of the GR130 as a friend rather than foe, even though it can undoubtedly be testing at times.

Looking over the GR130 and El Tablado from the finca

Perhaps that is where the love affair with it started, this hypnotic path carved into the landscape that has carried people on its back for centuries. It almost speaks for itself about the harshness of life for those who used this gruelling track which not only punished but also rewarded with a vital link to the old port of La Fajana.
Of course, it's easy to romanticize about it as we didn't have to walk it with a load on our shoulders such as a sack of grain and then make several more trips, one after the other.  Just ask Rosa at the shop in El Tablado.  Some days this witty and enigmatic lady in her 70's can hardly straighten her back and walks with such a stoop, she has to turn her head to see you.

Anyway, enough of that!  Our mission this week was to walk from home in Franceses which is 500m above sea level down to La Fajana using the new path, or rather old path now restored, that has become the GR130, rather nicely moving us to within 50 metres of the route.  The official GR130 posts are not in place yet, but the blazes are there and so are quite easily to follow.  Then from almost sea level at La Fajana up to El Tablado and then Roque Faro at 1000m Yikes!  

Not only is it great that the route passes just by us but it also cuts out around 1km of walking on the road - and there is a spectacular view right from the edge of the barranco. (It is in the blog 30 Sept, 2010 - An old path gets a new look.)

After a short section on the road, we join the zig-zag track as it descends down the side of the barranco. 

It now joins the road again, but only for 20 metres before you absail off the side onto another new section of the GR130.  This completely cuts out the long almost level track to the immediate west of La Fajana.  This is not marked at all yet and is fine coming up but tricky going down.

Zig zag path between Franceses and La Fajana

Now we have arrived on the track which runs alongside the barranco.  It is easy to go wrong here thinking that we must cross the barranco straight away and there are no signs to help, but we know from past experience that we must keep on the track to the left and only cross the barranco when this track runs out. 

Heading up the path to El Tablado is a bit of a plod but also a pleasure - no running!  And when you are just over half-way up, there are these great caves to look into. 

Wierdest caves ever, check these out. 

After a couple more bends, we come to the mirador which is a good place to rest or just read the information board.  We stop and wave to our house!  And just after this we explore the caves which are located just to left of the mirador.   A 'proper' photographer or geologist would get very stuck here! 

Two hours from leaving home, we arrive in El Tablado.  It is a wondeful village, full of fascinating history, a story in itself.

Arriving in El Tablado

But today, we don't plan to linger as we have a lot of ascending still to do and we leave the GR130 route here.

We  leave the GR130 route and head up towards Roque Faro on the LP 9.1

We head up the old path by the side of the church and the restaurant El Moral.  Looking back, we get a dizzying view over El Tablado.

Great view of El Tablado from above

The path crosses the road in several places and then takes us into the woods - with just a few flat sections - to Roque Faro. 

 A couple of light showers have us reaching into the backpack for rain jackets.  And because it has been so wet, the steep hard-packed path is extremely slippery and we cannot imagine how you could walk down.  
The whole walk takes four and a half hours and we reward ourselves with a snack at the bar Los Reyes in Roque Faro.  And, as luck would have it, a bus is just about due to that goes almost by our door - just 20 minutes ride away.  

Back home again - the maiden statue in our garden overlooking El Tablado

GR130 - Puntallana to Los Sauces

Timeline - Wednesday, 15th December and we were sitting in Bar Halley in Puntallana with backpacks and walking poles at the ready, sipping a short, strong coffee.  We had already left the car in Los Sauces and taken the 20-minute bus journey to Puntallana - all we had to do now was to walk back on a trail which would take us through some, let's say, challenging terrain over a distance of 15.2km and most likely take more than five hours.
In fact, we have already walked this section before but last time we walked north/south and so we were keen to walk it in the opposite direction  Now the ups would become the downs and vice versa - and it's easy to miss what were obvious signs before or quickly spot signs that we struggled to see when walked in the opposite direction.  And with our coffee finished, we would soon be bouncing over those barrancos.
The first part of our walk was an easy route starting at the side of the church and then exiting stage right down a little cobbled street, passing a selection of old and quaint houses and then passing by farmland.

 Briefly hitting the tarmac road which leads to Playa Nogales, we headed off into the open countryside along a natural path.  Up a stone path with a new, well-built handrail, we headed upwards and soon discovered that we had walked 3km already.  Off along another path stepping over the vines of the creeping chayota plant and practically stumbling over the fruits which are  pear-shaped and about the size of a tennis ball.  However, the cactus growing at the side of the path did not look at all enticing. 

Now we were high enough to get a lovely view over Playa Nogales, a beautiful black sand beach.  Apparently, turtles used to come ashore here to lay their eggs but from where we were looking, there were not many applicants for either egg-laying or indeed any form of laying on the beach at all.
Continuing along the path, we ignored the sign to El Granel which we have taken twice before.  It is a Very Long Way up to the main road - once we walked it and the second time we hitched a lift in the back of an old Santana Land Rover. Neither was comfortable.
Gleeful to be carrying on, we were rewarded with some wonderful views looking inland.

Now things were becoming a little tougher as we came to the Barranco de Nogales, just before La Galga.  We had previously viewed this as something of a task, but for some reason it now felt like an easier friend.  But I don't want you to think it was that easy!

As we progressed upwards, there was a junction of paths where we could choose to go to La Galga 1.8km away.  No thanks, we had enough with our own path.  Eventually popping up on the other side of the barranco, we came to an impressive sight looking towards Los Sauces. This was our half-way point.

After a few ooh's and aah's and half a dozen photos, we wondered on down the track and soon became immersed in growing country.  A field of carrots, skinny trees with papayas dangling above us and oranges scattered over the path - this was infinitely better than driving over lemons.  Then another barranco, owww, which takes us down towards the sea but in the end it's a fairly straight-forward affair which doesn't even make us whimper. 

Amongst a myriad of plantation roads we now come to a concrete shed with the number 7 on it.  This is where we know we can 'escape' up to the main road at the church of San Juan only a few minutes away.  But we are fine and carry on.  'Bout time we had another barranco ...
Yep, here we go, back down the side of the ravine on what begins as an exceptionally pretty path.  Soon, we are surrounded by ñame, a root vegetable with enormous, tear-drop shaped leaves.  This plant loves water and it has plenty dripping from the rocks.

Unfortunately, that also means mud and we gloop our way downwards with an occasional slide along the way.  Our eventual destination, rather surprisingly, is the sea.  Yep, the GR130 route actually takes us right down on the rocky beach where the white over red blaze is painted on a large(ish) rock.  Hope nobody moves it or things could get exceptionally wet.

Back up the other side again, we eventually emerge at the crematorium of San Andres.  Still 3.1km to go so not far now and pretty cobbled streets lined with bananas lead us into the village.  But San Andres really does not take long to walk through, unless you stop off to admire the church and its bars.

Before we know it, we are leaving the village heading towards the sea again before our final ascent to Los Sauces.  This is the first time we have used the new footbridge and we are quite impressed with the attractive build of it along with some rather wonderful paved paths.

Just the other side of the bridge, we see a GR130 sign for Los Llanos which tells us that it is now only a further 1.5km.  Yes, but it's all uphill!!!  This is surely the hardest part - or maybe it is just because it's the last part - but we get there, arriving in the plaza with its magnificent church.

The walk took us around 5 hours of actual walking time.  Fairly tough going in some places but we were lucky because it was not a particularly hot day.  We took almost 100 photos and have added a selected 47 of those to our GR130 slide show (please ask for details if you are interested).
We have two more planned walks before the New Year so had better not put those boots too far away.