We’ve been using a Rother Walking Guide to select many of our hikes. It’s been super-useful, as it contains 80 hikes on the island with generally good descriptions and directions. This hike is one of fourteen labeled “Top Hikes” and I’ve been wanting to hike it since reading about it, but had some concerns about our ability to complete it: it’s about 9+ miles and climbs about 3,100 ft on a sometimes precipitous path. The trail starts in the dramatic setting of the town of Taganana, on the north side of the Anaga Rural Park, and goes steeply up from the very start.
The hike can be divided into three parts: the hike up to the saddle from Taganana in dense vegetation, a long downhill to the beach, and then a traverse along a headland back to town. The second section is the most varied, with dramatic peaks, remote hamlets, and lovely gardens set in challenging locations. This hike is simply stunning in all its parts! We chat with some other hikers along the way, variously from Romania, Italy, and Germany.
At the end of section two there’s a beach too, although not exactly a white sand sunbathing beach…more a remote black rock beach that is beautiful nonetheless. The path climbs steeply up and down along a canyon, paralleling a stream with some waterfalls and pools.
From the beach, the trail again climbs steeply to get some elevation on the traverse, giving spectacular views of the beach and some islands, and then zigzags along the cliff with some significant ups and downs to bring us towards Taganana.
And of course…cats along the way. They get their own gallery! There’s a lot of them on this hike and so Chris tries to coax them all out for a snuggle, with varied success.
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