Walking the GR131/GR130 El Time to Los Llanos

Just for a bit of fun, we decided that we would walk a short stretch of the GR130 long-distance trekking route. After all, the last time we walked this particular section, we managed to loose the route, stopped way too long at the bottom of the ravine where we paddled in the water, got boiling hot on the ascent and got lost again at the end. So we rather hoped for better with a re-run!
Paddling in the Barranco de Angustias 2010

Last Friday was the designated day then, a day when we could interpolate a walk with getting the MOT for the car (called ITV in Spain), visit the Banana Museum in Tazacorte and try to find some new sun loungers for the Casita. That little list is where the fun element comes in.
Actually though, there was a semi-serious side to it. In November we have a small walking group from Sweden coming over to walk the GR130 as part of a luggage transported walking holiday (otherwise known as accommodation to accommodation) and whilst the normal itinerary for this walking holiday has the walkers finish at Tazacorte, this group will finish in Los Llanos at the Hotel Valle Aridane. Ah yes, the penny drops ... and that's why I was keen to walk this last section - to get it right his time! <BLOG_BREAK>

We started at the Mirador El Time which is on the GR131 route, the same route that the Transvulcania athletes run. Of course there was to be no running for us. So up the GR131 we trudged and 20 minutes later arrived at the GR130 Camino Real. The sign there reads 'Los Llanos 5.6km.' Bring it on! (So say some.) But one thing that is indisputable is the view, it's awesome no matter how many times you see it. It's also a pretty good view from the Mirador El Time by the way so that even if you don't want to walk, you can still take in the view. 

From the our starting point on the GR130, we headed down the northern flank of the Barranco de Las Angustias - the Ravine of Anxiety - whose waters flow out at Tazacorte. (If you want to find out more about the history of Tazacorte, you can check out our webpage here: http://www.holiday-lapalma.com/abouttazacorte.html)

 It's slow going as it's steep and you need to walk with care but just under one and a half hours later we were crossing the footbridge to the other side. This time, we had found the exact route and managed not to get way-laid by clean and cool mountain water babbling its way along the ravine bed. Helped by the fact that there wasn't any water running at this time of year.

After a brief stop in the shade for a drink some fruit it was onward and upward. This time we were lucky because the clouds moved in and we had some natural cover from the sun. Along the way, we stopped off several times to take photos and admire the view from the other side - this time of Tazacorte, the little beach village. 

Although we were pleased to have found the correct route down the barranco (the up part is easy!), walking through Los Llanos requires some concentration. The strange thing about the GR130 route is that as soon as you get to a village, town or city, the signs stop - or at least seem to thin out so that it does become a treasure hunt for those white over red blazes. But with David acting as chief spotter while I took photos of bizarre things such as chemist opening hours, location of phone boxes and the like we honed straight in to the Hotel Valle Aridane and still on the trail.
Perhaps not the most obvious choice for a walk except as part of the GR130 experience but certainly some amazing views, a sense of achievement and, yes, fun!

The GR131 - Roque de Muchachos to Mirador de los Andenes

It has been such a busy 3 months on La Palma since Christmas with both the self-catering cottage and bed and breakfast accommodation well booked up.  Not only that but add a few guided walks and working the land on the finca here in Franceses, it's been all go.  Now though, with a few little gaps in the calendar, it really was time to head off and do something quite different.  What could be better than to leap off to the top of the mountain, the Roque de Muchachos for a bit of a hike along the GR131 in the snow?   So Thursday this week saw us jumping into the Land Rover in search of a few hours of snowy spring madness - and a walk.

The drive up there was fairly uneventful.  It only takes 50 minutes from the finca gradually ascending from 500m to 2426m, although I will say that after leaving the main road, the secondary road up to the observatory is one of the most tiwsty on the island with tight hairpin bends seemingly stacked on top of each other!  All very scenic though as the road wends its way up through the graceful slopes covered in tall pine trees.

We started the walk where the GR131 coming up from Tazacorte joins the main road at a point 0.7km below Roque de Muchachos.  The reason for this was that we had already walked that section between Tazacorte and here and now wanted to make a start on the only part of the GR131 that we haven't done. 
The trail started off with a short section on the road and then it was up a snowy track to the Roque de Muchachos, the Rock of the Lads, which are actually a little group of vertical rocks.  The paper notice advises caution on the snowy paths.

But we were quickly on our way past this point and anyway, most of the snow had already either melted or been pushed into heaps at the side.  The air was fresh and clear, the visibility more than excellent and it was all very exciting!    

Every moment seemed to bring something new to look at and twenty mintues from leaving the Roques, we saw some old dwellings just off the path.  Not quite sure how you could get down to them but certainly could be useful if the weather turned poor - but that's not today. 

 

The path is a serious of small ascents and descents and is made up of gravel in some places and small stones in other, so it is not the easiest of going.  But it wasn't this that was holding us up but the views.  They were just not stop amazing as we walked along the ridge of the mighty Caldera to Taburients and looked out over the Parque Nacional, the Caldera itself which is a width of 9km and 1,500 metres deep.  That's some hole in the ground!  

On the other side of this we could see the Cumbrecita, the Pico de Bajanado and then the GR131 Volcano route going down to the extreme south of the island. 

Continuing along, another sight we have never seen before from up here - the bottom of the Caldera, the Barranco de Angustias, the Ravine of Fear.  Just to the right of the photo is one of several rocky outcrops which suddenly just pop up like a brick wall.  Or is it that everything else around just popped down?

The observatories are a continued presence seemingly springing up at all sorts of points.  The observatories I should just mention if you didn't already know are the third most important in the whole world, after Chile and Hawaii.  They compete with nature to make the most stunning contrast against the pure blue sky and despite the incongruity of being high-tec man-made objects in this awesome natural landscape, they still manage to look beautiful. 

In some places though it is not a good idea to walk whilst looking around as the trail can be quite narrow.  And as I've said, it's a long way to the bottom.  
And here is the most famous wall on the island.  It is called El Pared de Roberto, Robert's wall, is completely natural and you actually walk through a large gap in it.   You won't be surprised to hear that there is a folklore story all about it.  Watch out for it on the www.fincafranceses.blogspot.com in the next week.  
In the photo below, David is testing the depth of the snow with the snow pole, I mean walking pole, which turned out to be an impressive 3 feet.   Luckily the actual path wasn't covered to such a depth.

After two hours we arrived at the Mirador de los Andenes.  Although this is a hugely impressive viewpoint and one that we have been to many times, it didn't seem quite as impressive any more.  Brilliant and fantastic, yes, but just not quite as good as the many views we had seen on the way.  However, on the other side of the road facing north where the land drops giddily away from the road and down into the pine forests below, the thick covering of snow made it look like a megga-scarey ski run.  I'm not going down there and that's final.

This was a good point to turn around and make our way back and, now with less photos to take, it was a general amble.  Not always easy though and still necessary to watch where we were walking, it is what the Rother Walking Guide on La Palma would describe as not 'for the nervous of disposition.'

On our return journey, we enjoyed trying to remember which observatory is which.  You can read all about them - and more on the wonderful island of La Palma - here.