Ireland day 1127. Tuesday 29 October 2024- Vallehermosa 2

Today’s summary	An out-and-back walk today, down the Valle Abajo to the coast, then straight up the hill to the Mirador de Acalá. Retraced our steps to return at the end, but stopped off at the beautiful piscina on the coast for a (free) swim before heading back up the valley. Refreshments at El Kiosco in Vallehermosa once we got back and then dinner at Hotel Rural Tamahuche in the evening
Today’s weather	A much better day today. Mostly sunny, dry and warm apart from a brief shower at the top. Moderate north easterly wind, dropping during the day. Appx 20c

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The orange line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Mirador Punta de Acala

Commentary

Today began in a much more conventional way – for the Canaries at least. A sunny daybreak, with a lighter wind than yesterday, and no rain. I had also slept much better, so was in an altogether much better frame of mind when I got up.

We were down for breakfast at 9 am and, amazingly, were pretty much ready to start our day’s adventures soon after 10 o’clock. Over dinner last night, we had planned today’s route and had decided that a an out-and-back walk featuring a decent mountain climb with views, a refreshing swimming pool, and a botanic garden would tick most of our boxes. So we chose a walk which took us down the Valle Abajo, north to the coast, then up a steep climb to the Mirador [viewpoint] on Montaña de Alcalá, with the swimming pool on the coast, and the botanic garden midway along the valley on the way back.

So we set off down the valley, which included the sound of running water in the stream-bed – something I’d never heard before in the Canaries, as it is usually so dry. We saw the botanic garden down in the bottom of the valley as we hiked past (both out and back) but in the end decided to forego a visit in the interests of conserving our energy. Once down at the end of the valley we had a look at the pool but decided to save the treat of a dip until after our mountain climb. So we headed a short way back up the valley then turned off right and shot straight up the rocky mountainside to the Mirador at the top.

The climb up was tough and rocky, with quite a lot of loose pebbles. But nothing too serious and we felt it certainly didn’t merit its terrifying vertiginous description in our guide book. Anyway, we successfully made it to the top, though I was definitely a bit on the sweaty side when I got there. The views were spectacular, of course, with two other Canary islands (La Palma and Tenerife) clearly visible as well as our own (La Gomera). There’s a nice picnic area on the very top, too, so we paused there for our packed lunches while we admired the scenery. Of course, the weather had to let itself down at this point, and it rained again. But fortunately only fleetingly, so we didn’t need to don waterproofs and barely got wet at all.

The hike back down to the valley floor was a bit tedious but perfectly straightforward, and we were at the piscina by about 3pm. We quickly pulled on our swimming gear and jumped in to the sparking clean but pretty cold salt-water pool before we had time for second thoughts. The perfect way to cool off after a sticky climb, and I have decided that from now on, all walks including a climb of more than 500m must also feature a pool at the end.

Once we had cooled off and enjoyed a few rays, we got back into our walking gear and made our way back up the valley – a bit of a sting in the tail I must say, as it involves a climb of more than 200m – but nevertheless were back in Vallehermosa town soon enough. I dropped into the Spar supermarket to get a drink, as by this time I was feeling extremely thirsty. A got something suitable and enjoyed the opportunity to chat in Spanish with the storekeeper. I was glad that he could understand me, though I have no idea what he said to me in reply.

A little further up, we came to El Kiosco (where we ate on Sunday night) and stopped in for suitable refreshments, which rounded off our walk nicely. Now it’s time to get showers and generally try to make ourselves look beautiful before heading back down to town again, to the Hotel Rural Tamahuche for dinner. ¡Hasta luego!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


*The climb up the slope to the Mirador* was rocky and steep, but not impossibly so..**	*..and the views were spectacular. From whatever angle you look at it, Roque Cano* is pretty impressive**

Looking smug and sweaty after successfully completing the climb to the Mirador Punta de Alcalá. The guidebook describes the route up as “highly vertiginous” but none of us were bothered by it at all	*Stunning vista north along La Gomera’s “Los Organos” cliffs, with Tenerife beyond*

*From the Mirador* looking west to the island of La Palma (you can just about make out its southern and northern slopes lurking in the clouds)**	*Looking north from the same point, towards the island of Tenerife. The 3,700m summit of El Teide* is poking through the clouds, towards the top of the picture**

In Vallehermosa town square, with Val diligently reading the instructions