Route: Pico de la Nieve
Area: La Palma
Date of walk: 27th January 2017
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 6.5 miles
Weather: Sunny
Inspired by our recent walk to Roque Palermo we decided to revisit the spectacular crater ‘Caldera de Taburiente’ and walk along the opposite rim. Thanks and credit to the guidebook we’ve been using for our walks on the island – ‘Walk! La Palma‘, published by Discovery Walking Guides, which I’d highly recommend to anyone visiting the area
We repeated Tuesday’s interesting car journey up the Road of a Thousand Hairpins, taking care to drive round the rockfalls higher up, and parked in a small space below Pico de la Cruz – we were already over 7,000 feet above sea level. An added bonus to this walk was that we were above the clouds covering much of La Palma, which may have spoilt a lower level route
Pico de la Cruz must be one of the easiest mountains we’ve ever climbed. It took us less than 10 minutes to reach the top and it could easily be attained with hands in pockets. Anyone ‘bagging’ this mountain from our parking spot would feel a sense of guilt in doing so
The rest of the walk, to the summit of Pico de la Nieve, involved lots of ups and downs over rocky terrain but was made easier by a well waymarked footpath, and the steeper sections were ironed out by the ingenious use of more hairpin bends
The views along the way were awe inspiring, especially those of Mount Teide in distant Tenerife, surrounded by a sea of clouds. Having reached the summit of Pico de la Nieve (altitude 7322 feet) we had our picnic and then retraced our steps back to the start
It had been another spectacular walk on La Palma
Click on the icon below for the route map
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
The day before the walk was an enforced rest day thanks to poor weather, but we were treated to a good sunset from our rented villa Casa Capellana
Next day, a parking space above the clouds at the start of our walk
We follow the sign for Pico de la Cruz
It’s a short and easy climb to the summit
Our route is well waymarked by these painted signs
It will take a little more effort to reach the next summit
Next stop Pico de la Nieve
There are awesome views into the Caldera de Taburiente as we follow the path along the rim of the canyon
That’s close enough to the edge Gilly
Looking back along the path
Pico Bejenado in the clouds - we’ll be up there tomorrow
…and in the far distance, Mount Teide in Tenerife
Awesome rock architecture in the Caldera
Pico Bejenado again in the distance
Looking down on the agave sculpture
Tazacorte on the coast - we visited the port yesterday on our whale watching expedition
Mount Teide in Tenerife - Spain’s highest peak at over 12,000 feet…
We continue along the rim towards our destination, Pico de la Nieve
More views of Mount Teide in the distance…
Our goal is in sight
Looking across to the other side of the Caldera, where we’d walked the day before yesterday
No problems with navigation on this section
Approaching the summit
The opposite rim of the Caldera
The final push to the top
Made it! And danke schön to a friendly fellow German hiker for taking our photo
Pico Bejenado again in the distance
This translates into 7,345 feet
More summit views…
We retrace our steps from the summit back along the rim of the Caldera (cauldron - so named as clouds bubble up like steam)
There’s no point repeating the photos of the outward journey, but it had been a fantastic walk
Yet another wonderful sunset back at Casa Capellana…
