Tuesday 3 February.
We were up early this morning for breakfast before getting ready for our trek to Masca. We seem to have the Internet reception sorted out and before leaving I got the 'Telegraph' downloaded and managed to post my blog. It was an easy stroll down to the bus stop having plenty of time to catch the bus to Santiago del Teide. Having experienced how cold it can get up at the top we both wore our fleeces and I even put on my tracksuit pants. The weather wasn't looking very good again today, overcast but not as cold as it has been. When we reached Santiago del Teide the cloud was low over the peaks and there was a touch of rain in the air. We decided to put on our rain jackets as we started out.
It was about a 10 minute walk along the road before turning left on to the track, the TF 51/56, that immediately began climbing. There was still a bit of a drizzle and there was a strong wind blowing that was blowing rain that had collected on the trees. As we climbed higher the wind grew stronger and reached gale force as the top got nearer. It was a steady climb over a normal rocky path, there weren't any of the sharp lava stones and boulders here. With the low cloud and the mist there weren't any views though it wasn't bad enough to prevent us seeing where we going. Looking back the houses of Santiago del Teide were still visible down at the bottom and we were surprised at the height we had quickly gained. The top was reached at Degollada de la Mesa 1247m (yet another Tenerife Munro? ), a col between the two ridges 'Big' and 'Little Gala'. The book recommended a walk up to Pico Verde on Little Gala at 1318m but under the conditions and lack of views we gave that a miss.
Going down the other side it was very easy and the wind had dropped after the col. The path was wide and fairly smooth as it made its way mostly along contour paths. When it did drop sharply it was was rocky but not too difficult though it tended to be slippery in places with the damp conditions and Moira came a cropper on one section and landed on her back; she was soon up and on her feet again, no serious damage done. We came to a wide clearing with a split in the trails, our guide book was confusing and we weren't sure which way to go, the names on the signpost didn't correspond to any of the places on the map in the guide and none of the arrows mentioned Masca. We settled on the TF51 route which the map showed was our path. It still continued to be mainly nice smooth paths with only small sections that were rough underfoot where it took a sharp drop. The book said there were a number of branches from the main path to observation points with magnificent panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and ridges and below Masca itself. Unfortunately there was nothing to see today because of the low cloud cover. This changed as we dropped further and at Cumbre del Carrizal a junction of trails where we were now under the cloud and the view was outstanding. We were surrounded by high peaks, sharp ridges and passes. Down to the right there was the houses of the village of Las Portelas but our track went to the left.
It was another easy walk round a contour path to reach the road at a view point, the Cruz de Hilda. It was another magnificent view; the mountains, the shear cliffs, the rocky outcrops with ragged ridges along the tops and down below in a hollow was the town of Masca. We could also see the route we were to take through the gorge to the sea. The road wound its way down the hill to Masca but our route zigzagged down the hillside to meet the road just before entering the town. On the way down the track it was my turn to have a fall, I landed on my back with the daypack saving me but not the thermos flask in the bag. The glass inside the flask was broken but we managed to strain some coffee out to drink with a mini chocolate bar. We dumped the flask in a bin when we reached the town.
There were bars and restaurants on the main road but the main village was on a ridge below. A paved track led down to the chapel then continued past more restaurants and souvenir shops. The road came to a stop at the end of the ridge and after asking directions we found the track we had missed, 100m back up the road, descending into the gorge, it was signposted Barranco (Ravine) de Masca. This ravine was on one side of the ridge with the old village, on the right side was another ravine, Barranco del Agua. The pathway at first was of flat stone and a stairway then changing to a rough path as it zigzagged down between cactus and palm trees to the small river bed. We met a few people coming up, they hadn't started at the bottom but were visiting the village by bus or car and had walked down a short distance before turning up again. When we reached the river it was crossed by a wooden bridge and a little later we found some flat rocks to sit and have lunch. We had to make do with water to wash down our sandwiches having broken the thermos. Above us as we sat towered the steep sides of the gorge and we could still make out the houses of Masca at the top.
When we got going again the trail became rocky and steep in places. We switched from one bank of the river to he other severals times as we boulder hopped across it. The gorge became narrower and the sheer cliffs on either side made us feel hemmed in. The river meandered through the gorge as the walls twisted with the flow. A few couples past is on the way down, one pair had the man carrying a small baby in a harness on his back. We both thought this was rather dangerous as the descent wasn't easy and one foot wrongly placed and you could have a nasty accident. I found this myself with another fall while crossing the river, I slipped on a wet rock and down I came, fortunately no bones broken and I was quickly up and on the go again.
The path was generally fairly distinct but in places there were several different options we could take and never sure of the best one. At least we couldn't get lost, just follow the river through the gorge and eventually we would reach the sea. About halfway down we began to meet people coming up who had either come by boat to the bay or walked down and were heading up again. One woman who was doing the 'out and back' told us we still had an hour and a half to go. Up to that point we had been making good time but a little later ran into lots of people. They were in guided tour parties, there must have been 3 different groups and about 20 in each one. This caused a slow down in our progress, some of the people were getting stuck in narrow drops that required some scrambling resulting in a long tail back. As we got further down the canyon walls got closer together, there were overhanging arches, holes in the rocks above and narrow chasms that the water flowed and we had to squeeze through. At one narrow point somebody's dog got stuck between the rock faces and I had to give it a prod with my hiking pole to get it moving.
Soon we could hear the sea and the cliff walls began to recede as we got nearer the beach. With the large parties on the walk I thought they would be heading for the 3:30 pm boat which we managed to make in time. When we reached the shore there was a woman at a desk and Moira showed her our ticket. She said we could get on the earlier boat that was just arriving at the jetty. As soon as it tied up we were aboard with a number of other people but none of the tour parties, I assumed they had special private boats for them. The water taxi didn't hang about and once everyone was seated it was speeding along the coast. The cliffs on one side towered above us and the white wake from the boat streamed out behind. It was only a matter of about 10 minutes and we were pulling into the harbour at Los Gigantes.
It took a minute or two to get our legs going again for the walk home after the relaxing few minutes on the boat. We took the shortest route back, up the long stairway to the road just down from Lidl and down the hill to our complex. It had been a lovely walk today and we covered the distance roughly as the guide book said; 3 hours to Masca and another 3 hours to the bay. It was amazing that we were in the flat in just over half an hour from finishing and boarding the water taxi.
We and a showers as soon as we got in then relaxed with a cup of coffee until dinner time. I watched the early evening quizzes then read for a short time after eating. Later I put a 'Lewis' detective mystery on, from the Freeview box, to watch. It was the very first in the series and they all looked very young. We probably had seen it before but too far back to remember, it was fairly good.
MASCA TREK PHOTO ALBUM.
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