In the northeast corner of Tenerife is a UNESCO biosphere reserve called the Anaga Rural Park. About 190 square miles in size, it is a hikers paradise with rugged mountains, pristine beaches and picturesque hamlets perched on hillsides. The north side is green, getting moisture from the trade winds, and the south side is barren. The hike we did today is on the north side, starting at Punta del Hidalgo and climbing about 7 miles and 2,800 ft to the small town of Las Carboneras, where we caught a bus to take us back to our car. Both Chris and I remarked that this was one of the most amazing and beautiful hikes we had ever done. The scenery is awe inspiring. Great hike!
The path is described as an old camino, and it’s great: well maintained and well marked. However, from our starting point the mountains look so steep and tall that we’re intimidated, but we just start off! The book says that the hike is about 3 1/2 hours long, and we’ve budgeted 6 hours to make sure that we get to Las Carboneras in time for the 4PM bus.
One of high points of this hike is this view point, and it’s breathtaking!
Lots of steps cut into the volcanic stone. Not sure when this trail was built, but it certainly took some time and labor. The trail was not crowded. We passed maybe 30 people along the way.
As we approached the hamlet of Chinameda, there are lots of cultivated terraces planted with what we think are potatoes. The houses here are cut into the rock cliffs, offering cool in the summer. The path sometimes walks right on top of people’s houses! There’s a viewpoint near Chinameda that we detour to see called Mirador Aguaide, and we eat our lunch up there.
From Chinameda, the hike follows a mostly shaded mountain path, through ferns and laurel woods. The path rises pretty steeply to cross a saddle and then descends to Las Carboneras, flanked by the Roque de Taborno, a volcanic plug dome. We passed a few of these along with way.
We had about an hour to wait for the bus, but found that cafés and restaurants are closed on Monday and Tuesday and so we were out of luck on refreshments. So, we took the 5 minutes it takes to tour the entire hamlet and then hung out in the square. Chris attempted to make friends with a number of cats. At the bus stop and the square, the theatre of small town life unfolded as we waited: the town crazy rambled on to anyone who would listen, the town busybody came and went multiple times loudly, advising everyone about the state of things, young women sat and adjusted each others’ hair, kids walked on narrow ledges to the concern of parents. And then the bus came and careened wildly on narrow roads to bring us out of Anaga. A great day!
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