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.  

Star walkers complete the GR130 route around La Palma

Our huge congratulations to Christine of Star Trex, Jen and Bill, who all completed the GR130 route right around La Palma on Saturday, 2nd October.

Jen, Bill, Christine and Dave

It is a fantastic and impressive achievement - approximately 155 km along forest trails and volcano fields, pretty country paths and coastal ways, cobbled streets and deserted wilderness, ridiculously steep country lanes and not forgetting the numerous deep and rugged ravines to be traversed - completed in just ten days, with two rest days included.  To add to the constantly changing conditions underfoot and the scenery surrounding them, they also had challenges from up above with rain on the first day, then hot sun virtually all of the rest of the route and some thankfully slightly cooler weather towards the end.
Back up was provided by Dave with whom they stayed in phone contact and if the team were not actually walking directly to or from their accommodation, Dave was there to drop them off or pick them up.  Bailey was the fifth member of the team who did nothing but wag his tail, run around looking happy, bark once and sleep.
Very well done team - you are all stars!
Really, it was a privilege to meet them all and be a small part of their great challenge. They stayed with us here in Franceses for four nights and I am glad they had time to enjoy some of the facilities including the 'party port.'  They certainly deserved a sit down!

If you think you would like to walk the GR130 route on La Palma, either self-guided or with Christine, just send me an email or if you would like to walk in Tenerife with Christine, do drop into her website.  Apart from being a qualified mountain leader plus having walked extensively in the UK and spent eight weeks trekking in the Himalayas, she is a great guide and an inspirational person.

An old path in Franceses gets a new look

The other day, whilst looking out of the kitchen window, we noticed a group of workers in their high-viz vests clearing the path below us.  The path is about a three minute walk away from our house and our most direct route to the GR130 and the road down to the old port village of La Fajana.
I remember walking it one time, years ago now, and we both took a sickle to clear the overgrown parts.  But eventually, we gave up the unequal struggle as it all grew back by the next time we walked it.  And anyway, the last part where it joins the road wasn't very good being steep with large loose stones so it was a case of hang on to your hat and hope!  It seems that over time, nobody else has walked it and the last time I tried, I couldn't even find the right way and ended up clambering over rocks and bushes before turning back.
However, we couldn't help but notice that this group of workers were cheating.  With four people, a heavy-duty strimmer, plus any other hand tools that we couldn't see from our vantage point and three days to throw at it, impressive results were guaranteed.
So once they seemed to have finished, we picked up our walking poles and set off to explore.

We were thrilled to discover that the path was impressively wide and very well cleared.  Bushes, long grass, encroaching cacti all cut back.  Along the first part, a ridge of solid stone (and a 450 metre drop-off) keeps you 'in' and on the other side, a line of cacti bushes keep you 'out.'  Further down, stones line the sides of the path making it impossible to lose the route. And at the bottom of the path, where it joins the road, a new set of sturdy steps have been made, all in stone.   Looking back inland towards the sun, it looked quite mystical.

Apart from being a short cut and a handy route in the old days for people living on our ridge, it also provides an amazing view.  Because it runs along the most westerly ridge in Franceses, from here you can look right down into the barranco of Los Hombres.  It is hard not to just stand and admire it.

From the path you get a very good look at the GR130 route as it zig-zags up to El Tablado which we can also see from our own house.  But the eagle's eye view as the land swoops almost vertically down into the barranco is simply awesome.  You look at it and think, 'If I had wings ... '

GR 130 - Los Canarios to Santa Cruz 27km

At last!  A chance to complete the GR130.
In eager anticipation of our walk from Los Canarios in the extreme south towards Santa Cruz in the mid-east, we were up and out of bed fifteen minutes before the alarm was even dreaming about ringing.  However, despite being on the road for 6 am, it was 9 am before we started walking.  Having driven to Mazo, left the car there, put our boots and rucksacks on and taken the bus to Los Canarios which waited at an intersection for another smaller bus some of whose occupants got off that bus and on to ours, a coffee seemed obligatory.
We headed up the steep path of the GR131 where we joined the GR130 around 25 minutes later. What a shame to have missed the sunrise - it must be beautiful from here!  Never mind, the view was still excellent and the track reasonably level so we adopted a recently-tried walking style - fast!  Well, it wasn't hot or difficult and we were interested to find out if we could walk all the way to Santa Cruz, so there was nothing to stop us.  Of course, it wasn't very fast, not compared to proper speed walkers, though I am sure we cut an odd couple of figures dashing along the pine-needle covered paths.

The signpost told us that it was 15.7 km to Montana de Las Toscas which, to be honest, we didn't know exactly where it was but didn't relish the thought of any type of 'mountain' anywhere.   In fact, the path was almost boring at the start being wide and used for vehicular access but soon it narrowed and we were really enjoying it. The kilometres quickly dropped away helped by the fact that I wasn't constantly stopping to take photos as our camera was in for repair.  We did however have a new mobile phone but I was going to limit myself to taking ten photos with it, well maybe fifteen or possibly twenty because we wanted to get on if there was to be any hope of getting to Santa Cruz in one go.

For the first hour, there were some sorry sights of burnt pine trees, a reminder of the fire from last summer.  And other signs of damage due to flash flooding but the beautiful scenery was by far the over-riding impression.  And I also discovered that taking photos with the phone was much less time-consuming than with the camera.

After quite a long and steep downhill section along a narrow path with large stones scattered over it, we were deposited at the road, which we crossed and walked along the other side of it for a while before it had us go through a tunnel under the road.  A little further along, this was repeated, ducking under the road and it all felt rather like a fun treasure hunt as we followed the excellent and frequent signs.

Not only were the signs impressively clear, possibly the best markings of the whole GR130 route, but the walking was very easy, certainly in this anti-clockwise direction.  We passed a couple of goat farms and a few crosses here and there, a roof where figs were laid out to dry and a few barrancos which were nothing more than dips.  Although we dodged on and off the road at times, a large bend was cut off where we had the benefit of a lovely stone path.

And the crosses as we started to approach Mazo ... don't even count the crosses!   And all of them managing to be quite different, some quite simple, others ornate.  Singles or a group of three.  One attached to the end of an old house and another with a painted landscape behind.

However, the nagging worry I had was this 'mountian.'  Surely, after we had been so spoilt with flatish walking, the route wouldn't take us up a mountain.  But once we got to a sign that told us that the 'mountain' was only 02 km away and I could actually see it did I feel safe, knowing that we wouldn't be going up it.  And gosh, it was beautiful!  A peak really with a good smattering of bushes growing on it and with bare rock showing through.  I must confess to having forgotten about the existence of such a wonderful piece of nature's architecture!  Unfortunately though, the phone camera was not going to do it any form of justice.

Now we were level with Mazo and a short detour meant that we could finish the walk here for the day and re-join our car, if we wanted.  But, feeling pretty pleased with ourselves at it having taken only four hours so far, we had a quick bite to eat at the park and sped on.  Only 7.1km to San Pedro!
And plenty to see - a 'quiet corner' for resting with a beautiful drago tree, cows at the side of the road, a second small mountain which thankfully we were not required to climb up either, a plaza for parties and pretty lanes to walk along.

Passing along what would normally (or sometimes be) a quiet back road of San Jose, they were in fine form with bunting up and a stage being erected.  And an ancient church. San Jose - we shall be back to inspect you more closely one day!  It was not long after this that we got lost and had to retrace our steps which obviously was back up the hill.  It was only by a process of elimination (which nearly included me being eliminated, courtesy of a speeding lorry) and by close scrutiny that we spotted the GR130 blaze.  Huh! So over a small rubbish tip then, how cunning!  Whilst we did appreciate the inventiveness of it, the lane at the side of it would have been easier. At least though, it brought us out onto a lovely cobbled path which took us into San Pedro.

Here, we knew the route would take us to the end of the small town but the signs were not easy to find, but find them we did and passing below the church we headed out of town on this last section of  4.7km to Santa Cruz.

We had been looking at Santa Cruz in the distance for some time now but for some strange reason, it didn't seem to want to come much closer.  We walked along a short section of new road on the pavement, passed Maroparque Zoo (another place we must visit) and then down, down, down the steep, steep road towards the sea.  Two things happened.  1.  The phone battery died - surely I had charged it .. I know I meant to ... and 2. my little toe was stinging and David's knees were twinging - the usual troublemakers.
But there was no stopping us as we suddenly found ourselves at the Town Hall in Santa Cruz, seven crazy hours from Los Canarios.  We had completed the walk - and the GR130.