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!

From Pines to Paddling

If you like to walk and are interested in walking on La Palma, then how about joining one of the walking groups on the island?
 For example, this Sunday, 17th July, there is a walk from Dos Pinos to Tazacorte.  It's a fairly easy walk, well easy for La Palma, so should be suitable for most levels of walker.  It will take around 5 hours and the meet up time is 8 a.m. at the Dos Pinos supermarket carpark located just off the main road between Los Llanos and El Paso. 
If you haven't registered with them previously then you will need to tag on at the back.  Ideally, you need to be part of the walking group and that way the organisor will ring you each week giving you advance notice of the walk.  They are a great group, lots of fun and it's a good way to meet new (Palmeran) friends. 
So, for this week's walk, don't forget that it ends at the beach so better bring your bathers! And you might even decide to take advantage of one of the fantastic fish restaurants at Tazacorte while you're there.  Enjoy!

Club walks this weekend.

Here is notice of a couple of walks for you.
Tomorrow, Saturday the 21st May, the Atajo Walking Group are doing a section of the GR130 from Fuencaliente to Los Llanos.  We did this walk ourselves last year, although in the opposite direction, and really enjoyed it.  You can expect lots of contrasts from the pine forests above Fuencaliente, walking over lava fields, country lanes and finally into the city of Los Llanos via cute little cottages.  I can highly recommend it.  

On Sunday the 22nd May the Brena Alta Walking Group are heading off from Las Tricias, then Lomanda Grande and back to Las Tricas whch they estimate will take 6 hours.  I can't say we have done this particular route although have walked around the area of Las Tricias quite a few times as it is roughly in our home area.
Although the time to officially join in with these walks has passed, you are more than welcome to contact me to find out more details of these La Palma walking routes.
Happy walking!

GR131 - The Volcano Route

Ever fancied treking over a whole route of volcanoes?  Well, La Palma's your place!  Although it doesn't always seem like 'proper' volcanoes, I mean, where's the gushing black smoke, leaping flames and molten lava?  Mm, probably just as well there were not too many erruptions on the day of our walk.  But there is still penty to see along the way.
The Volcano Route is in fact one of the most famous walking routes on La Palma.  It forms around one third of the GR131 and runs between El Pilar (south of the centre of the island) and Los Canarios in the far south.  The great thing about the walk is that, given a clear day, you can get amazing views of both the east and west sides of the island with just a turn of the head. 
However ... there is some planning required with the logistics as it is a linear route.  We chose to start from El Pilar which sits at 1,500m above sea level thus walking more or less down hill.   And because we wanted an early start, we decided to camp the previous night.  Ouch, it was a little chilly at that height, but fresh and exhilerating and it is nothing that a camp fire at one of the purpose-built bbq cabins can't fix.  And of course I am crazy for camping! 

The next morning, after a breakfast in the gentle sun, we were off.
At the start, we were surrounded by pine trees and it was hard not to scramble to the edge of the route for some early peeks at the view.  Unfortunately, scudding clouds were blocking what would have been a stunning spectacle.  Darn!  Looks like we shall be doing this walk again - so that got me smiling.

 

Not long after, we felt we were on the way proper as we followed the ridge which is so symbolic of the route and of course we were still hoping for a better view.  At least though there was no wind which is an important consideration as it is extremely high and exposed here. 

Ah, and not a zig or a zag in sight - not at all like the squiggling ascents and descents of the barrancos typical of the north.

As we walked onwards over what is quite frankly a bizarre terrain, the skies started to clear and when we looked back we realised there really was a great view over Los Llanos. 

And now we were facing forward and looking over the south west with its acres of pine trees.  La Palma looked rather a large island from this perspective!

Gradually though we were entering into a landscape that was bereft of the towering pine trees.  These trees were a bright green and young looking.   And yes, it did feel as if we were on the moon - the silence, the lack of birds, trudging through the lunar landscape.

And oh dear, I knew it would happen, it was only a matter of time.  David breaks into song, 'On the trail of the Lonesome Pine ...  '

Just above Los Canarios, the GR130 Camino Real crosses the GR131. The GR130 is an 8-day walk along the coastal path of the island. Perhaps we won't do that today (Editor's note: we walked the GR130 in its entirety in 2010 and many sections again since then).

Walking down into the small town of Los Canarios, we headed to a bar for a coffe.  Perfect timing to get the bus up to Los Llanos, then a bus to El Paso and finally a taxi back up to El Pilar and the waiting tent and Landy.  Yey!  Another night of camping!
We shall definitely be walking this route again!

GR130 - Tijarafe to Los Llanos 14.6 km

This report didn't get published after we walked this section of the GR130 earlier this year (10th April,2010)  - so here we are!
We parked the car at the southern end of Tijarafe, opposite the bus stop where we had last finished walking from Puntagorda.  Having climbed into our walking uniform of boots and rucksacks, we grabbed our poles and set off along the pavement with a spring in our step and hopefully looking like real explorers.  Approximately thirty seconds later where the pavement ended, we were lost.  Did the trail follow the main road or did it go down the side road to our right?  The side road looked the most appealing and on walking down there we quickly found that it ended at a few large houses.  Maybe there was a secret path hidden behind the houses?  An elderly and jolly-looking lady had just come out of the front door of one of the houses and was coming down the path.  She was holding, high in the air, a large fish by its tail and I took the opportunity to ask her if this was the Camino Real, the GR130.  She grinned and nodded her head enthusiastically and said that she had no idea.  She would ask her daughter who was bound to know and so lady and fish returned to the house to find daughter.  When all three emerged again, the daughter kindly explained that we should return to the main road and follow it until we came to the 'grey' house (for which read 'breeze block') and we would see a sign indicating the route.
With such a interesting start, we set off again in great spirits.  And it was true, once we had walked fifty metres along the road, we spotted the sign along with our first cross of the day.

Passing behind the 'grey' house, we started to ascend along a little path which brought us to a narrow road where there were three bench seats named (presumably) after family members.  We crossed the lane with the sun shining above and glinting on the green grass underfoot.  Now we found ourselves above the road, walking along a little path and eventually on a gentle slope down into our first barranco.  Ah - unless things were about to change - this was lovely, easy going.  And surprise, surprise it didn't change.  This was the easiest barranco we have encountered so far and extremely pretty, lined with pine trees and the path covered in pine needles.  I would have liked to stay a little longer.

Climbing up the other side of the barranco, we had a lovely view back to Tijarafe and eventually we popped up at a little plaza.  I could imagine this would be a fun place but today, all was quiet and we disappeared down the far side of the plaza onto a small path.  On surfacing back at the road again a short time later, we were once again confused.  It looked as if there had been a rockfall on to the road and no signs were visible.  However, we took a chance (actually, there was no other option) and crossed the road into a small park to search for the signs.  Great  - we hadn't been here before!  Here we could picnic or bbq.  There were even toilets and - they were open.  Whatever next!

Now we were back on little paths and intriguingly passing right by people's front doors.  It was a wonderful insight in the lives of some Palmeros.  Sweet smelling washing hung out to dry, kids bikes, tree trunks for seats, and one little notice written in German which said (more or less), 'This tap is our tap on our patio.  Don't even think about it.'  Of course, I had walked on the patio to read what the notice said so had to beat a hasty retreat!   Down an even quieter lane, the residents had long gone.

Eventually, we arrived at something like civilization at La Punta.  Here there was a Spar and the sign told us we had walked 8.km from Tijarafe and still had 6.6km to go.  That seemed strange as we felt so near!  Never mind, onward. Over the road and then rising high above it on a steep little path which then flattened out and gave us a great view over the banana plantations and sea.

After 1 km of easy walking, the path came to a junction where it intersected the GR131.  The sign post here was almost comical with such an array of choices.  If we were at all unsure of directions and distances, then we only had to glance at the nearby new-style GR130 and GR131 signs which confirmed that it was 3.5km to Tazacorte and 14.4km to Roque de Muchachos and informed us that it was another 5.6 km to Los Llanos.  In fact, the old GR130 route used to take you into Tazacorte and we wondered for a moment if we should go down to Tazacorte but, no, we would continue to Los Llanos as planned.

Just the other side of this intersection we found the perfect place to eat.  In a delve in the rock there was a wooden bench and we sat down to eat our bocadillos and bananas, which the lizards shared, all with a wonderful view over Los Llanos. What a shame there was cloud cover which meant it was not the best photo (see website and scroll to section 7) - although it was still plenty hot enough, even with the clouds.

 Now began the descent down into the barranco de Las Angustias practically to sea level.  Oh - this was going to feel like a long way down on our little path!

barranco came ever more into sight and we could see that it was flowing with water.  This was extremely exciting as we haven't seen it flowing many times and it looked as if it could be quite deep.  We had to bide our time a little longer though as, just as we were considering if we dare take two bananas that were on the floor of the plantation just near the track, a man appeared.  'Take some bananas,' he called to us, in Spanish.  He must have read our minds.  We said that was very kind of him and how wonderful his plantation was and how much work it must be.  Oh yes, and for no money, or very little we were assured.  He then proceeded to lug half a trunk of bananas over to us.  We hurriedly explained that we didn't have the car with us, we were walking.  He looked at us as if we were mad.  He hadn't asked about a car, what was a car to do with him?  After several exchanges, we still hadn't managed to convince him that not being Palmeran weightlifters, we would need a car to transport around thirty kilos of bananas.  Whimps!  In the end, we managed to talk him down to about twenty bananas although of course he didn't want any money, whatever the case.
It was just after this that we completely lost the route and had to follow the road for about five minutes before we picked the sign up again.  The road is definitely not recommended for walkers as, despite being only just wide enough for two vehicles to pass and with many hairpin bends, it is a veritable mini Monte Carlo rally.  As a consequence, we walked very quickly!
Eventually, the path brought us to the lowest part of the road which ran alongside the barranco and we crossed the little footbridge over the flowing waters to the other side.

Now this was impressive stuff, although I am sure many people have seen the water much higher.  Anyway, we now only had 2.6km to go before Los Llanos.  But what was this - dangerous talk of swimming?  Mm, well there was somebody further up the ravine who was swimming in a natural pool of the flowing water and if I wasn't mistaken, he was starting to look a little alarmed at the thought of us joining him.  In the end we settled for a paddle where we were.

Maybe it was the fact that we stopped for quite a long time or maybe it was because our calf muscles were immersed in cold water or maybe ... well, whatever it was, that final ascent up to Los Llanos was hard going.  And of course the heat ... it felt like sitting right next to a 3 bar electric fire.  Yes, my head was undoubtedly alight and could probably have been seen from space.
Actually, I think it felt tougher than it should have been because the path doesn't zigzag.  This means that the sun zapped just one side of the body, without getting the chance to turn and get char grilled the other side. And there is no place to go for shade so the only alternative is to forge on.
Arriving in Los Llanos and passing along the curious side streets lined by little old low houses, all was forgiven.  Especially when we emerged into the leafy shade of the plaza as heroes.