In the heavens of La Palma
I scrambled sweating on the rock at the peak of the mountain, it could have been almost 2300 meters high, the sun was just setting into the clouds spilling over the peaks of the mountains trying to conquer the West part of the island. There was a small hut — a refugio — hanging on the rock of this peak, fire was happily humming with crackling sounds of wood, and water was bubbling in the pot. From behind I heard a chilled voice — “Welcome friend! Please, have a smoke! “ I spent a night in heaven!
So, I have a secret, PSSSST, don’t tell it anyone, there is a paradise on La Palma. You can get there, but remember, the path to heaven is never easy, you will have to walk.
I was never supposed to be at La Palma, instead I was supposed to be doing some space science at El Teide. But screwed up logistics gave me the best gift I could get — a week of free time at Canary islands. So, on suggestion of a friend (thanks Kristyna!), I hopped on one of these planes with propellers which take people between the islands and in 20 minutes I was in La Palma (seriously, it’s amazing).
There is this myth about La Palma, if there is an eruption big enough, the island will split in half and an unmeasurable amount of energy released into Atlantic ocean will cause huge tsunami on the east coast of USA. Yes, most likely bullshit; apparently one scientist ran a numeric model 30 years ago and wrote a paper about this. Meanwhile, many already discredited it. But one of the facts from the story about the island is correct: the island is the newest from all the Canary islands. In fact the South of the islands is much more recent than the north, last eruption happened ~50 years ago.
This hike is amazing because it takes you through both parts and you get to see diametrically different geological features, landscape, and fauna.
I hiked for four days sleeping out — starting from the very south Faro at the sea level along the GR131 through the highest peak Los Muchachos (2400 m high), and then down to the National Park Caldera de Taburiente. There is an amazing infrastructure for hikers, and surprisingly almost no hikers. Buses take you around the island for ridiculous prices (the highest was €2.10), nicely signed routes, good maps, on my route there was a free refugio and a free camp. The route will take you through the “hell” of Volcano route (the new southern part full of many craters) up the the “heaven” of Los Muchachos.
Prepare for loose soil, there are water sources on the way. But, careful, at the refugio and Los Muchachos, this is just collected rain water. I had to drink it without cleaning it and I was fine, BUT, better take a filter. I went light with 40 liter backpack and without tent — if the weather forecast is good in here there is no need to worry about rain.
