Last week we had some time off from school, so I decided to fly down to the Canary Islands, which although technically a part of Spain are actually located way south, off the coast of Morocco. When I got there, there was a mild Calima, and the air was filled with sand carried over from the Sahara desert. This made the first few days very hot, however I ended up going straight to the beach to find some deep water soloing! The water was a salty slap in the face, although warm and a beautiful torquise color. I climbed high above the swells, on an archway of black volcanic rock with the waves crashing below me. I then jumped off the cliff and swam around in the caves, and there was even a little whole in the rock you could dive through. How exhilarating!
Deep water soloing spot.
After this I had a harrowing day of taking buses and hitchhiking up to Arico where the hostel and sport climbing was located. The island of Tenerife has very unique topography which attracted me. The whole island is one giant volcano. At 12,188 feet it is techically the tallest mountain in Spain while not actually on the Iberian peninsula. It splits the island into many different climates. The south being more desert like, with giant cactuses sprouting everywhere, while the north has beautiful forests and tropical hills that run straight in into the sea with black sand beaches far below.
Beautiful views off the north coast. We drove all the way around the Island this day about 2 hours to drive around the whole thing. Amazing bright purple flowers in bloom! Also many banana plantations down there. The papayas and bananas had a magical quality of flavor to them there.
Los Gigantes 200+ meter cliffs straight into the water.
Me being a very predictable person, spent most of my time this week, sport climbing in the barrancos, or ravines that are sprinkled throughout the Island. These barranco systems run for miles throughout the island from Mt. Teide in the center, the basalt rock is a unique quality and bright orange color, offering many varied styles from blocky, to beautifully manicured sharp crimps. Elena and Erik the hostel host came climbing with us one day and we got to help develop a new route at the discovery crag, which wasn't even in the guidebook! Erik spent hours up there drilling bolts, cleaning, and chucking rocks off. The crag was situated in a huge ravine about 800 feet deep which made the climbing feel very exposed!
Ingeborg on a classic 6b+ at Planeta Zarza
Erik high up trundling rocks off of a new route, proposed grade of 7a, at discovery, preparing for first ascent.
Typical barranco in Arico. Rock is a bit chossy at the bottom so rope ladders are used to access routes.
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