Walking Forum
Regions - Trip reports, destination advice, recommended routes, etc. => International => Topic started by: gunwharfman on 18:18:08, 09/02/19
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Just back from a weeek hiking on Gran Canaria. I enjoyed it very much.
Day 1 - Flew out from Garwick. Caught a bus from Gran Canaria airport (4.75 Eoros) to Maspalomas. Stayed the night there via Airbnb for £10. A bar next door so visited in the evening for beer and first thing in the morning for coffee and cake. I saw a few workmen, just before getting onto the road have white coffee with a dash of Tia Maria in it. I couldn't face alcohol at that time in the morning. Within half a kilometre I was walking along a flattish rocky path (ankle breakers, you know the sort!) for about 5 km before the path started to climp up and up. Never saw anyone for about 3 hours. I walked all day before I finally reached the top, much steeper than I thought it would be. A very sunny and hot day, no breeze at all. Then I saw San Bartolome de Tirajana 5 km below me, so off I strode. I camped there the night in a olive tree orchard on grass. Not much of it about as far as I could tell.
<a href="https://postimg.cc/K3cpbCS9" target="_blank"><img src="https://i.postimg.cc/K3cpbCS9/Gran-Canaria-1.jpg" alt="Gran-Canaria-1"/></a>
Not sure if the photo will display so will stop and review what I have just done.
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Did that wrong, back to the drawing board!
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(http://i68.tinypic.com/aykold.jpg)
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Sorry about this, I'll now have another go. That's me a few hours into my first days hike, very hot!
Day 2 - set off on another long mostly up hill footpath. Volcanic landscapes, fir tree woods, walking on ridges, across small areas of farmland until I reached a bend in the road, Cruz de Tejeda. By now it was very, very cold, high piercing wind, mist and rain when I got there. Luckily met a Belgian Mum and her 22 year old daughter who were hiking together, they were going to a hostel 20 miutes down the hill. I ask if I could follow them, a short time latere all three of us booked into a hostel.
(http://i63.tinypic.com/dfzn2h.jpg)
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Sorry still not got the hang of it. Day 3. Very cold and very windy cold, so I decidfed to stay one more night in the hostel. It only served vegan meals, (we are all vegans now are we not!) cooked by a young bloke from Kent, it was great and the wine and beer were to. Took a circular walk for the day, Ended up in the village of Tejeda, a lovely place, having a festival! Loads of people, loads of real music, dancing and of course potatoes with Bozo saunce on them, 3 for 1 euro.
(http://i64.tinypic.com/4l0c9w.jpg)
Day 4 - Woke up (with a hangover) but a clear blue sky and a rising temperature. I was eventually walking in 28 degrees! Walked back up to Cruz de Tejeda, set off on my route only it wasn't! It took me an hour to discover I was walking around in a large windy circle, too me two hours to arrive back where I stated from. I knew then I did not have enough daylight for my planned route so set of to Teror. A great trail, up and down then mostly down through woods, steep paths, onto a road, off the road, saw running water (unusale I was told) then stayed inanother hostel. Visted the local 'pub' and slept well.Ill finish tomorrow, off to the pub now.
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Some fascinating and rugged scenery there. Enjoying the trip report, GWM, and looking forward to the next instalment. O0
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Day 5 - Had a morning walk around Teror then caught a bus to Galdor, had a walk around, had a meal then off to bed.
Day 6 - An early start, set off before daylight. My plan was to walk from Galdor to Cruz de Tejuda. By doping this I would complete my south coast to north coast route. I knew that much of my route was going to be more uphill than down but the weather was going to be good as well. In fact the day weather wise was perfect, not a loud in the sky, a little breeze and about 28 degrees. I wound my way out of galdo and then started to climb, this went on for some hours. I passed houses. banana plantations, barking dogs, a couple of small hamlets and then I was well into the countryside.
(http://i67.tinypic.com/10x92r6.jpg)
I really enjoyed this route, the landscape was varied, the views were spectacular and I had food and drink with me, which I used later in the day when I sat under a tree and had a picnic and then an hours sleep. Although I seemed to be continuosly climbing, I did get to one point where I really had to struggle. I had to clamber up a kilometer long straight foot path made up underfoot of volcanist small cinders and dust. Every time I placed a foot down on it the cinders moved, getting to the top proved to be so energy sapping, I slipped and slid so many times. I even had to go down on my knees at times, my boots alone could not hold a grip for very long at all.
(http://i63.tinypic.com/10fui4i.jpg)
My photo misses the steepness of this section of the hike but I can assure you it was very steep!
Eventually I arrived back to Cruz de Tejuda, happy now I had completed the hike the ran the length of the iland. I took a roundabout route but it was worth it! I then returned to the hostel 'down 'the hill' for a third nights stay and yet more Vegan food.
(http://i66.tinypic.com/2lw15pc.jpg)
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Day 7 - I had completed my hike and I had one free day so I decided to have a lark and travel around on the buses! I walked from the hostel, on a downhill to Tejuda, all quite now, the festival was over. I caught a bus from here to San Mateo. The route was miles uphill and miles downhill, with numerous very sharp bends along the whole route. The driver thundered around like he was flying a Spitfire, totally fearless! Accelerating to each bend, braking, tooting his hooter, accelerating again, he ducked and dived like this for the whole route. A wonderful way to see the island though. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived at San Mateo I was feeling totally travel sick, uuuugh!! I jumped off the bus and just managed to throw up in to a bin. I felt dreadful, the nearest thing to dying I think, so I just staggered over to a three seater bench and just 'slept it off!' About an hour later I felt much better so jumped on a bus to Telde, within five minutes of arrival I though, nah, not keen on this place at all, so jumped on another bus back to Maspalomas.
Upon arrival I sought out an Airbnb for the night, found one just up the coast for £15. I jumped on another bus but failed to study my map properly and had to get off and then walked 3.5 km along the seafront in the dark to my bed for the night. The next morning I had to walk back to the bus stop, go back to Maspalomas and then caught a bus to the airport.
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In conclusion - I underestimated how steep the paths were, in the heat it was easy to make the decision to rest and then have a sleep. My original plan was to get up to the north in three days and then catch a ferry to Tenerife. It just never happened, I got lost, I changed routes but did eventually finish my original plan, but the last section was walked north to south. It should have been south to north.
The route is called the 'Gran Canaria Camino de Satiago' and it starts at Maspalomas to Galdor. Its a 3-5 day hike, depends on how hard you want to push yourself. I used the app Wikiloc, the route is mapped out very well and its all I used to guide me. It even tells you if you leave the trail and when you get back to it. I camped, I used the Airbnb app and I used Hostelworld app for other overnight stays.
Looking back Gran Canaria offers a couple of choices for hikers, like me to concentrate on one long route, or to use the bus services to get you to the start and finish of each days walk. Either way Wikiloc is a good resource to use.
I'm glad that I did it, it was so cheap by Easyjet but I will not be going there again. I now have this 'been there, done that' attitude about the island and I look forward to thinking about new routes, this time I fancy walking and camping on lots of grass!
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Interesting report GWM and some nice photos too O0
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O0 Good report. Good pointers to those two apps.
The photos are good.
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Thanks, my last photo was interesting to me, because when I was there the view ahead looked as though the hillside was covered in a very large piece of green cloth, which had crumpled and folded as it cascaded down the hill. As I got closer this hill covered in grass, was a criss-cross of farm animal tracks and slippage of the hillside earth into folds.
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Enjoyed that Gunwharfman - I like your attitude to hiking, making sure there's a beer at the end of each day.
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Great report GWM O0 Interesting read and I'm pleased you enjoyed the vegan food :) Have you tried a Greggs vegan sausage roll yet?
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A fascinating account, gunwharfman, and some lovely photos.
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A very interesting trip report, GWM - I really enjoyed that. Another place for the list! :)
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Enjoyed reading the TR and seeing the pics. I was there a couple of weeks after your visit, sadly no walking as my left knee (medial collateral ligament problem) was a little unstable. Anyway, here's a photo of Cruz de Tejeda on a very hot Sunday afternoon - reminded me of Settle on a Bank Holiday weekend :-)
(https://scontent.fman1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/53347479_10217529447843380_8307326486952542208_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&_nc_ht=scontent.fman1-1.fna&oh=59eb3243fd54bd656aaad15fed591786&oe=5D1A4173)
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I sat for a while where the man in the hat is sitting. On the day I was there I was lucky, saw no more than about 6 people, about two cars passed and didn't see a motor bike at all. Nice place to sit and watch the world go by, have a beer or a meal, mooch along a row of little huts selling this and that and even having a snooze!
On my hikes motor bikers make me go Mmmm??? Especially on hot days when they stop in there full leather outfits. Mmmmm??? The panic to get them off before they steam is highly amusing!I used to commute back and forth to work by motorbike over a four year period, all year and in all weathers! I couldn't bear the thought of owning one for leisure and pleasure. What is the point?
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wow, looks like it was a great trip!
think im going to have to add GC on to my list of places to visit
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How did I miss this thread when it was started in February?
I have two opposite experiences of hiking in Gran Canaria.
One was of getting a bus to Palmitos Park, the zoo for the tourists to visit, from where I set off on a long circular route. It was nothing but bone dry ground, sand and dust, there were a few arid vistas but a major part of it was walking down a dry valley, I think they were called barrancas, where as I progressed huge dark lizards dropped out of bushes with startling crashes onto the dry leaves on the ground. Like Reg, I was glad of a few beers at the end of it, partly to wet my throat and partly to steady my nerves!
My next walk was intended to be in the green of the mountains, for which I boarded a bus in sunshine for the long ride. Now, they only get about three days rain a year on the island (well, that's what I was told) and that's what it chose to do that day. All I saw was thick black clouds, wetness and dense ragged mist through which there were brief glimpses of hillsides and little white villages. I didn't have any waterproofs of course, apart from which route finding would have been out of the question in those conditions. The bus dropped me off at a folorn and deserted village square, where I mooched about in the rain for a bit before catching the next bus back down to the sunlit coast.
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I obviously missed the zoo area. I had a short period of rain blobs on me but for two days it was windy and bitterly cold, the rest of my time was in hot sunshine. I too walked through some very dry areas, other areas covered in pine needles which can be very slippery if having to walk on them up and down on steep tracks. I walked through some very green areas as well.
I felt really lucky that I found the south to north route that I took. I discovered a couple of articles about it on the internet and found the actual mapped routes on my Wikiloc phone app.