Hike La Gomera Las Creces to Vallehermoso 4 July 2011

Caught the 0800 hrs line 1 bus from Vueltas and by 0845 hrs were close to Las Creces (1055 meters above sea level) in the Laurelsilva forest of the National Park, the start of our hike to Vallehermoso (186 m), part of route 24 in our Rother's Walking Guide.
Unfortunately we were in the cloud - fairly chilly, poor visibilty and drizzling - a great start. The walk took us downhill through the ancient forest of Laurels and Heather trees festooned with Spanish Moss.

After a while our descent brought us below the cloud level opening up views of the surrounding hills and valleys



Reached a split in the path


In the distance to the left of the photo, our destination Vallehermoso comes into view.




The terraces of Vallehermoso - most of them are still cultivated.


By 1200hrs we reached the centre of Vallehermoso

Originally we had planned to walk back up to Las Creses via Epina via Rother's route 38. However, this would have meant a very long day complicated by a not so convenient bus schedule.
So we chickened out and visited the small park which is dominated by some bizarre concret sculptures - somewhat incongruous in this small old country town
Had a picnic lunch between the "Mother & Father "figures while waiting for the 1400hrs Line 4 bus which would take us back to more or less where we started where we could catch the Line 1 bus back to Valle Gran Rey.
The plan nearly went wrong as we decided to walk towards Valle Gran Rey while waiting for the Line 1 bus. When the bus came, the bus nearly refused to stop as we were not at an "official " bus stop. Luckily the driver took pity on us ignorant tourists.

Bus stops on La Gomera are in general a weird concept - the buses in principle will only stop at an official stop - however, there are no bus stop signs to indicate where the stop is - one just has to know!

Hike La Gomera Chipude Fortaleza Garajonay 29 June 2011

Dinghied into the Vueltas harbour at 0745 hrs on 29 June to catch the 0800 Line 1 bus to Chipude. This is the first time we had taken the early bus and we were surprised that the bus was almost full.
From Chipude (1080 meters) we could clearly see our first objective (Rother's route nr 15), the Tabletop mountain of Fortaleza (1243 meters). This hill was once an important ritual site for the Guanches. It is only accessible via a steep scramble from the coll (to the left in the above picture).
The start of the steep scramble to the top

Once on top, we had superb views


By 11.00hrs we were at the bottom of the hill, and continued on Rother's route nr 16 to the small hamlet of Igualero.
The route is described as a "pleasant high ramble" - - this turned out to be the case
For the first hour or so we had superb views Fortaleza
and of the Barranco of Erque
The path was wide as it traversed the hillside just under the edge of the pine forests of the National Park.

Time for lunch
Reached the bus stop in the very small hamlet of Igualero (1330 meters)
From here the route was supposed to go through a pine forest - however recent logging had left only a few trees standing. The logging was probably part of a project to replace non indigenous with indigenous plant species.
By 13.30hrs we reached our second objective, the summit of Garajonay (1487 meters above sea level), the highest peak on the island.
We were very lucky to have fairly good visibility - although cloud prevented us from seeing the neighbouring islands of Tenerife, El Hierro and La Palma
The peak of Garajonay was a ritual site for the Guanches - a reconstruction of this has been made.
Fortaleza was clearly visible - hard to imagine we were on its summit just 1 hr 45 minutes previously.
Looking back at Garajonay on our way down - the peak does not look that impressive. To the right are communication towers on its secondary peak.
The route back to Chipude followed forestry tracks. At several intersections there was no indication which was the correct route. At one point , this vineyard owner called out to us that we had taken a wrong turning. However, what he really wanted to do was sell us some of his wine - after sampling at his "bar"
After discussing the route with him we found that the route we had been on was actually the correct one - he was proposing a quicker route but over the road. The route continued past many well kept terraces full of vines which where just starting to produce grapes.
Passed close to a bird of prey which could be a Falcon - not completely sure
The path became picturesquely overgrown
Had to ask our way through the hamlet of Los Manantiales - the route meandered through walkways between the houses
Over a low ridge, our start and end destination, Chipude came into view
Unfortunately, partly due to the vineyard stop, we just missed the 15.10 line 1 bus back to Valle Gran Rey. This meant we had a 4 hr wait for the next Line 1 bus at 19.12hrs.

Hike La Gomera Arure 18 June 2011

Caught the 1010hrs line 6 bus from Valle Gran Rey to Arure on Saturday 18 June and passed under the aquaduct at 1015hrs at the start of our circular hike (altitude 826 meters)Soon we reached the Ermita/ Mirador del Santo which was completed in 2008 and provides amazing views down to Taguluche.
Soon after the trail splits - our trail descends steeply to the village of Taguluche - the first part of hike 33 in Rother's Walking Guide.

Part of the descent is via rough stone steps


Traversing a narrow ledge
and then continuing the descent
Wonderful views all the way

Eventually reached the village of Taguluche (190 meters above sea level)
Arrived at restaurant Taguluche, the start of the next leg - route 34 around the western flank of Roque de Mona
The route first goes to the Ermita San Salvadore
where we used the facilities for our picnic lunch

The next part of the route proved to be very poorly marked
following vague goat tracks along the loose scree slopes of Roque Mona
Past some very impressive dikes ( volcanic intrusions into sometimes vertical cracks in the original rock. The softer surrounding rock erodes leaving these natural walls)


The track, dropped to the floor of a barranco, and then the cairns disappeared
We decided to follow the Barranco upwards, involving some scrambling
Occasionally we came across some stones in a group on top of larger rocks - a cairn or not a cairn?
At a certain point, a dry waterfall blocked our route so we were forced to do some serious scrambling to find a route upwards. This proved to be more exciting than desired when seemingly solid rock handholds came away as one pulled on them.
However, we eventually reached less steep slopes on top of the rock
and followed a convenient goat trail to the road above.

A short walk down the road brought us to the start of the third and final leg of the hike - the spectacular section of the GR132 - route nr 35 in Rother's Guide which would bring us back to Arure
Views of the village of Alojera
The route climbed eventually giving views of Taguluche and the Ermita San Salvador far below to the left of Roque de Mona
Time for a break

The well marked route led us up to the base of very impressive cliffs.





This section of the travers amazingly had palm trees growing alongside
The narrow traverse continues

The narrow traverse on a ledge below the cliffs hardly seems wide enough to use - and kept our adreneline levels up - especially as when the path was sloping and covered in loose stones


Some strange plants thrive on the rock faces
Climbing in steep zig-zags to a higher terrace



Finally arrived back at the Mirador and Aquaduct after a thoroughly memorable hike. We had just ordered refreshments at the restaurant by the bus stop in Arure when the line 6 bus arrived (30 minutes earlier than the driver had told us on the outward trip) to take us back to Valle Gran Rey.
Had a celebratory meal at restaurant in Vueltas - very pleased with ourselves.