TENERIFE: The completion of last Monday's walk on TENERIFE.

Saturday 28 February.

It was back into the hills and to try to finish off the walk we had to abandon on Monday when the weather deteriorated. Instead of walking all the way round again from Santiago del Teide we planned to take the bus to near Erjos and start from there. To make the outing longer we intended to walk all the way back by the path down the pass from Santiago del Teide.

The bus was slightly later, 8:35 am, at the week-end and we headed down to the stop after breakfast, in plenty of time in case it arrived early. The weather was perfect yet again as the bus wound its way up the zigzag roads, we were hoping it wouldn't change again as we went over the top. The hills and ridge were very clear this morning and we could see what looked like a distinct path that went round the end of the mountain that overlooked Los Gigantes. We decided when we descended that way later this afternoon we would investigate the track and see were it headed.

We didn't take the bus as far as Erjos but got off at a restaurant one stop before the village. This was where the track from the wetland ponds came up and met the main road before continuing on the other side. Moira had copied the instruction from her iPad to a sheet of paper and it made it easy for us to follow the route. We started by taking a side road, TF 373, that went eventually to San Jose de Los Lanos. Not far along this road we turned onto a concrete path that started at the side of a house. It was flat and easy going at first but the began to climb and get steeper and steeper as it headed to a col between two hills. The weather was still clear but we could see thick cloud over the sea to the north and it seemed to be heading our way. There was also a strong wind blowing and it was cold, with the wind chill factor it wasn't very pleasant; Moira put her rain jacket on top of her fleece but I just endured it.

When we reached the col the track rejoined the TF373 road again and we were on it for about 100m before picking up another track. There were actually 2 tracks, one was an officially waymarked route the TF 43.2 and went to the Chinyero volcano; our track wasn't waymarked but was well defined and very easy to follow. It was good underfoot and fairly flat as it followed the contours round the hills above the Valle de Ariba. There were a few turns we had to take at t-junctions and our instructions were very good and easy to follow. We had magnificent views of the hills on the other side of the valley with the rugged tops above Masca and the coast and the start of the ridge that runs down to the coast at Los Gigantes. As we progressed along the route we got views of El Teide from another angle, the snow on its upper slopes seemed to be melting and getting thinner. Eventually after a very beautiful walk round the tops we reached a tarred minor road that dropped down a twisting route through the valley to the village of Ariba and then on to Santiago del Teide. The clouds we had seen earlier over the sea had now drifted in and were over the tops of the mountains and mist was covering the pass, Puerto de Erjos, but was burnt off by the sun before reaching the other side.

In Santiago del Teide we stopped at the church where there were benches outside to sit on for a cup of coffee from the flask and a biscuit. We had a look inside the church before starting off again. It was small with some statues but no nice windows so nothing special. It was now very warm and we were both down to just shorts and t-shirts. It's certainly strange how quickly the weather improves here as you drop in altitude. We picked up the track down at the other end of town and were now on familiar territory. We made quite good time descending and this route is really enjoyable and the surrounding mountains are magnificent and invariably offer us something new to look at. We stopped at the farmhouse just after Tamaimo where we had a break on a wall for coffee once before. The goats weren't there this time we had seen them further up the hill in a pen and the farmer was now in the field below loading feed in his truck to take to them. We had our sandwiches and coffee and a welcomed rest before carrying on.

Near the bottom when we reached the banana plantation we went to investigate the track that we had seen, going round the hillside, from the bus. We discovered it was a concrete irrigation channel and unfortunately not a walking route. We had to just carry on home, it had been a good long walk anyway, about 16 km and we were now both tired and still had the long drag down the road to do. We stopped at Lidl on the way and Moira bought some strawberries and iced cream for our dessert tonight. It was 3pm when we got in and we and been walking for about 5.5 hours, not a bad outing.

We sat out on the veranda with a drink, it was very warm here and the pool area was busy with people sunbathing and a lot more in swimming. I worked on the prize crossword in the 'Telegraph' until it was time to come in for the football results. Morton beat Peterhead 2-1 but Stranraer also won today so Morton stay in second place in the league. I wasn't feeling very well after dinner, Moira said she thought I might have got dehydrated during the walk and wasn't drinking enough. I relaxed on the sofa and watched TV after dinner. There was rugby on, the second half of France v Wales, Wales won 20-13. Later there was a programme about a guy travelling through the south of America researching the music of the areas. This week it was through Alabama and Georgia. It wasn't bad but there was too much talking and not enough of the music played. It was after 10pm when we got to bed, I've started a new book from the library; Alistair Darling's account of his time as Chancellor of the Exchequer and the banking crisis. I've read the first chapter and its interesting.

PHOTOS of TODAY'S WALK.