Saturday 28 March.
We caught the bus at 8:30 am this morning over the pass to Erjos. The weather wasn't bad when we left but as usual on the other side it was cloudy and a low mist covered the tops. I had the iPad with me again and read the newspaper on the bus and managed a few clues in the prize crossword.
At Erjos we picked up the TF52 marked trail. This was the route we came along, in the other direction, when we walked up from Los Silos a few weeks ago. It was a lovely flat wide forest track for 4 km to the junction where we had come up from Los Silos. The track had a few people out early, a couple of large parties walking and lots of joggers using the route for training. The views weren't very good because of the mist and all we could basically see was the path through the trees in front of us. There were plenty of wild flowers to admire and the main one was a bush with yellow flowers that resembles dandelions. When we reached the junction to Los Silos we carried straight, still on the TF52, for another 7 km to Las Portelas. The track remained wide and flat so we were making excellent time, about 5km/hr pace. When we neared Las Portelas the trees thinned and cleared giving good views of the ridge to Teno and down the valley to El Palmar and Buenavista on the coast. When we reached Las Portelas it was at the junction with the route up from Buenavista, another route we had come up a few weeks ago. At this point there was a picnic area where we had a stop for a cup of coffee and a Magdalena cake.
At this junction one route the TF51 went up the hillside to the junction that went down to Masca, this was the way we went when coming up from Buenavista. This time we went on the TF56 which reached the ridge by another route and came out at the junction with the threshing circle over the hill from Santiago del Teide. It was only 4 km but it was up and up and up. We began climbing on the tar lane right from the start and it was steep. We passed an albergue, the Bolico, but it wasn't the type we were used to on the Caminos, it looked posh and a lot more expensive. Once the signposts pointed us away from the tarred lane it wasn't so steep but still climbing. It was still misty but we got a few good views of the mountain ridge when it cleared at times. Our pace now dropped from the earlier 5kph to a much slower 3kph. When we got to the threshing circle it was lunchtime and we sat on the rocks there for our sandwiches and coffee.
We were now on familiar territory as we made our way along the TF51 to the col between the peaks of Cruz de Gala and Pico Verde. As we have become used to, the mist cleared as we neared the col and now got magnificent views of the peaks and ridges, and the gorge running all the way down to Masca. Also El Teide was beautifully clear with a large splattering of snow on the sides of its cone. There were a couple of large walking groups coming down as we made our way up, the first were very friendly and we got 'Holas' from them all, whereas the second lot went by without a word and grumpy faces. From the col it was a short distance to the junction with the path down to Santiago del Teide. It was now the third time we had descended by this route and although it was getting easier it still took the normal 30 minutes. Near the bottom we met a German couple who were here for a short holiday and looking for walks, we told them about the best ones in the area. They were staying in Icod and the weather there had been disappointing for them and they found it much better on their visit to this side of the ridge.
We had been wearing our fleeces all day as it hadn't been particularly warm, but now with a clear sky and the sun shining it was time to strip off as we walked along the road into Santiago del Teide. It was 2:30 pm and we had nearly 2 hours to wait for our bus. We spent most of the time in the pub and had a couple of drinks. I got the iPad out and worked on the crossword managing a few more clues. We headed for the bus stop just before 4 pm and had 15 minutes more to wait. There was a couple from Wales also waiting they were who here for just a week and staying in Los Gigantes. They asked at their hotel for walks but didn't get much information from them. They came up by bus but couldn't find any of the routes, we told them where to go for the one down the hill to Puerto Santiago and the other good ones about here. I didn't think we have any special talent but we seem to be able to find out things to do and where to go without a great deal of difficulty.
The bus was more or less on time and we got back to the flat just before 5 pm. I put the TV on for the football results but they weren't on, the top leagues are not playing due to Internationals taking place this week. Morton was playing but they don't warrant a programme to tell us the result. I checked on the web and they beat Dunfermline 4-0. It was a good win but didn't help them much as their main rivals Stranraer and Forfar both won.
After dinner we watched a 'Dad's Army' that surprisingly we hadn't seen before. It was very good. After that there wasn't anything on we wanted to watch so I checked out the Freeview recorder. There was a new version of the film 'Little Women' that I had recorded and it was very good.
FLOWERS ALONG TODAY'S ROUTE
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