Tag: #backpacking
Grand Canyon NP (All the way to the bottom)

Grand Canyon NP (All the way to the bottom)

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All the Way to the Bottom

It is a place that needs no introduction! It is a world-famous natural wonder that truly earns all the rave reviews about its majestic and grandeur landscape. It is the Grand Canyon!! This stunning place is perhaps the most recognized landmark of the Wild Wild West. Even if you are not an adventurous person, you have to visit this out-of-the-world place at least once in your lifetime, and it will take your breath away.

I first visited the Grand Canyon NP, in my younger days, in 2008. At the time, I wasn’t the experienced hiker/adventure that I’m today and it didn’t even cross my mind that I can hike down the canyon, all the way to the mighty Colorado river. During that trip, I did a self-driving day trip to witness this stunning place with my own eyes, and it didn’t disappoint. In that trip, I planned a road trip along the south rim’s all viewpoints and had the time of my life, without really doing any adventurous stuff; so that is why I urge you to go visit this place even if you don’t fancy hiking down the canyon.

Fast forward 7 years, and in 2015 after a lot of hiking adventures around the World, I decided that I’m ready to tackle this seemingly impossible feat and hike all the way to the bottom of the canyon and, of course, hike back up:).

When attempting such a difficult hike, preparation, both physically and logistically, is the key to its success, as any mistake might lead to serious injury or even death. So, before getting into the hikes themselves (up & down), I’ll first go through the major planning items that you need to consider before you decide to go down and you can do all On Your Own!

The first thing you need to plan is when to do this hike? There are two options here: summer, which is more popular, and winter. Although the summer heat is the number one killer when hiking up from the river, there are some advantages that come with hiking in the summer. First, there are water sources along the major trails, up and down the canyon, which means that you don’t need to carry all your water from the beginning and can be a lifesaver. Second, the weather at night is warm so no need to carry a heavy sleeping bag or even a tent as you can sleep under the stars. Yet, you have to be aware of the heat, its no joke, and time your hike up perfectly to avoid the hottest hours of the day. On the other hand, in the winter, obviously, heat becomes less of a problem and the hike becomes a bit easier. Also, as it is less popular, it’ll be easier to get the permit to spend the night down. However, there won’t be any water sources along the trails as the supply is shut down, so you have to carry all your water for 2 days with you from the beginning! Also, you’ll need a tent and a heavy sleeping bag as it gets cold at night and this adds to the weight that you are carrying. So, assess your abilities and decide which season is better for you…we did winter:)

After deciding on when to hike, now its time to get your permit. You can’t hike all the way to the Colorado river and back in the same day, its not allowed and rangers along the trails will send you back up. You can’t also camp anywhere along the river as this is a fragile environment and the number of campers allowed per night is limited and controlled by the NP. Hence, you have to get a permit which comes with a camping spot reservation. The process of getting the permit is straightforward, but its in high demand, even in the off-season. Also, you can get this permit neither online nor in advance, so you have to go to the park’s backcountry office the day before your planned hike and get your permit. The permit system is based on first come first served, so you have to go very early to be one of the first people there when the office opens at 8am.

Got your permit! Now its time to plan your supplies. This is a very strenuous and long hike up, so you’ll need plenty of food, water, and drinks to give you energy along the way i.e. both salty and sweet snacks. But remember! You’ll have to carry all this stuff on your back, so, don’t overdo it and pack food that doesn’t take much space. Fruits are also important as they are highly nutritious and gives you a much-needed psychological boost when you are tired. You can find the detailed list of my packing items here (click to request info).     

Hopefully, by now you’ve planned everything and ready for this adventure of a lifetime…so lets start:)

There are a number of trails that go all the way to the bottom of the canyon from the South Rim, so study all the trails (their length & slope) and chose yours carefully. Since I did this hike in the winter, the water sources were not a factor in my decision, and I chose to hike down via the South Kaibab Trail and up via the Bright Angel Trail.

I decided to hike down via the South Kaibab Trail as it is the shortest trail which means it is the steepest and will be tough going up; yet, going down, it is an adventurous trail as in many places you’ll be hiking around cliffs with amazing views of the river. The trail is 7 miles with an elevation difference of -1,457m and takes around 4-6 hours to reach the river. On the day of our adventure down, we took the hikers’ express shuttle from the backcountry office at 9am (latest) to the South Kaibab Trailhead. This is a dedicated shuttle bus for backcountry hikers and you’ve to show your permit before you board. Now we are at the trailhead and the adventure will begin…any last thoughts about going through with the hike have to be dealt with here:) Ready!! Take a souvenir pic & go:) 

The first part of the trail will take you in a zigzag section through some steps and you’ll lose elevation quickly.

I’ve to admit that with every step, fear starts to creep into you as, unlike mountain hikes, after a certain point, you just can’t turn back and abandon the hike! As you venture deeper into the canyon, more and more amazing views of this stunning landscape unveil themselves to you.

The trail will get steeper and windier after about an hour of hiking, so, be careful with every step you take and always take your time while hiking down.

At this point, you start to realize the grandeur of this canyon and that you are now deep into this wilderness with no people around and you’ll stop thinking about any doubts you previously had as your adrenaline will be pumping and all you care about is reaching the mighty Colorado river. Yet, at this point, you still didn’t see the river! However, the first sight of this mighty river will give you goosebumps and a feeling that can’t be described.

Here, conflicting feelings will creep into you… you are getting closer to your goal, yet you are getting further from your final destination! But keep going…you’re born for this.

Now the trail will get flatter and you’ll keep getting amazing views of the river as you go further down…so, enjoy and abandon your fears.

 

Finally, you’ll reach the river and the bottom of the Grand Canyon…it is a very surreal feeling and the degree of humbleness that you’ll feel in this grand landscape is beyond belief. When you reach the river, go to your campground and pitch your tent. Now its time to relax and enjoy.

When night falls, you’ll start realizing the extent of the task ahead of you tomorrow to get out of this canyon…its scary, and like it is written on the signs along the trail “going down is optional, up is mandatory!” My advice to you, distract yourself from these thoughts by keeping yourself entertained and have trust in your abilities and planning skills…So have a good night’s sleep and get yourself ready for the big day.

Hopefully, you’ll wake up refreshed, have a good breakfast, and pack your camping gear and get yourself ready. As I mentioned earlier, I took the Bright Angel Trail up as, although it is longer, its less steep and easier to hike up. Also, this is a popular trail for day hikers who hike down to a certain point and back, which means that near the end of the trail, when you are tired, there will be people around and help will be quicker in case you needed it. So, lets start getting out of this wilderness and my advice to you….Take Your Time…and don’t over exhaust yourself at the beginning by being too eager to go up.

The first steps on your way up, the adrenaline will be pumping as you’ll be scared of what lies ahead, but this part is easy and goes along the river.

Then, the trail will turn left, away from the river, and you’ll start your long way up. From this point, its all Up:) but not so steep. Also, this trail has some vegetation around it which is a welcome sight from the desolate desert landscape.

I know in this part, tiredness and doubt will creep into you, but keep going and always keep hydrated and charge your energy by whatever trail mix you packed with you. In the middle of all of this, don’t forget to look back as this is where the amazing views of the canyon are.

Continue going up and take as many rests as you need, but be wary of your timing as you don’t want to hike up in the dark. Also, it will help if you kept your spirits high by singing or doing whatever cheers you:)

Over the last mile, you’ll start meeting the day hikers and they will look at you in awe which will make you realize the extent of the achievement that you just did.

The last part of the trail is a zigzag section and it can be grueling especially that by now you’ll be completely drained. However, at this point, you’ll start seeing the rim above you and the end of this adventure, which will be enough to give the last needed boost to keep going. You are almost there and when you reach the final step up, savor this precious moment, enjoy, and treat yourself to a nice meal:)

  
Plitvice Lakes NP

Plitvice Lakes NP

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Plitvice Lakes NP

Away from the famous touristy Adriatic coast of Croatia, and in the heart of the country, lies one of the most stunning places in the entire Balkans region; and that is Plitvice Lakes NP. This NP has an extensive network of lakes and rivers connected together by majestic waterfalls of all sizes that will take your breath away! To truly enjoy this park, you’ve to hike around its different waterfalls and lakes to gain an appreciation of the entire network of waterbodies, so get your hiking boots ready:) However, as this NP is very popular with the locals and is easily accessible from different parts of the country, its famous hiking trails becomes very popular and crowded in the summer which can take away from the beauty of the place. Yet, don’t get discouraged because, in this blog, in addition to these famous trails, I’ll take you on a journey on one of the off-the-beaten-path trails in the park, in its lesser known part, that is truly stunning; albeit, a little bit strenuous…so lets start!

It is easy to plan your entire day at this stunning NP On Your Own and here I’ll give you some hints of how to do so. Our plan to visit Plitvice Lakes NP included going by bus from Zagreb and then head out of the park to Zadar (click to request info); hence, we faced a little logistical problem…where do we store our luggage while hiking in the park?

I did my research and found a place close to the park’s entrance where you can store you luggage for a fee (click to request info), and it was a life-saver; otherwise, I would have had to change my plans! Having this problem sorted out, we took an early bus from Zagreb to beat the crowds and it took nearly 2:30 hrs to arrive at entrance 1 of the NP. The park has a network of trails as you can see in the map.

Our initial plan was to start from entrance 2 of the park, hike trail “E” and them do a mountain trail that will take us to an amazing viewpoint. Unfortunately, the weather was bad that morning, rainy & foggy, so we changed our plans and decided to start from entrance 1 and hike the easy trail “A” (highlighted in the map), hoping that the weather will clear later during the day.

Trail “A” starts at entrance 1; its an easy and popular trail which makes it very crowded and it feels like walking more than hiking. The trail immediately takes you to the lower lakes in the park and you cross several bridges as you zigzag your way around these lakes.

Towards the halfway mark of the trail, you reach two small waterfalls which are nice, yet not that impressive especially in such kind of weather.

The trail takes around 2 hrs to complete and, by the time we finished, the weather cleared a bit and we decided to head to entrance 2 to start our true hiking adventure…the Medvedak hiking trail!

As you can see from this map, this trail is on the other side of the park, which is the off-the-beaten-path one, and its an 8km long trail (if taken all the way from entrance 2 to 1) and rises to an elevation of 889m. The trailhead (point 1) lies in a secluded area of the forest by the lakes.

From here, it’s a 3.85km uphill to point “3” which will take you approximately and hour to complete. From this point, you’ll start appreciating the stunning bird-eye views of the park and the waterfalls panorama that will unfold ahead of you! 

At this point, there is a detour of 1km uphill to reach Medvedak Osti, the highest point on the trail, to witness a stunning panoramic view of the entire park, so take this detour and you won’t regret it:) 

Unbelievable view…isn’t it!! So take your time, rest and have a picnic, and admire this beauty for as long as you want!

When you take the tough decision to head down, you’ll walk back to point “3” from which you’ll hike 2.5km to point “4”. At this point, you can either return to entrance 2 via the trail to points “2” and “1”, or continue for 2km to point “5” and entrance 1, which we did. Unfortunately, again, by the time we were halfway between points “3” and “4”, it started to rain again so had to hurry down before the trail gets slippery and couldn’t enjoy that part of the hike much.

It took around 3 hours to hike the entirety of this amazing trail and we reached entrance 1 on time for our bus to Zadar.

All in all, the scenery in this NP are out of this world, but it gets very crowded in the summer and to truly appreciate it, you have to head off-the-beaten-path to the less-explored part of the park and hike its trails…so enjoy:)
Split

Split

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Split

Split is another Croatian town that isn’t as touristy as Dubrovnik, yet it is a worth a visit for its lovely old town and the adventure opportunities its surrounding area offers, the latter being the main reason I passed by this town as I planed a rock climbing adventure in the surrounding mountains! So this blog post will be divided into two main sections: the first will take you on a tour around Split’s old town with its major attractions which you can do On Your Own and the second will be about the tough and challenging rock climbing adventure, so lets start:) 

I arrived at Split via a bus, which has frequent services from around the country (click to request info). I arrived from Dubrovnik and the trip was comfy and took around 4:30 hrs, but remember the border trick I mentioned in Dubrovnik’s post, you’ll have to go through the entire process again on your way back! The bus station in Split is just outside the old town walls; I arrived late at night, so went directly to my accommodation for a much-needed sleep before the tough day ahead.

I woke up early to beat the summer heat, had a nice breakfast at one of the restaurants by the port, which is the area known locally as “Riva” and it’s the perfect spot to start your day.

After finishing my breakfast, I started my walking tour inside the old town

till I reached St. Dominich church. Throughout the way, you’ll get the feeling of an authentic Croatian town surrounding you as you keep meeting friendly locals. Arriving at the St. Dominich church, you’ll have to admire its impressive structure and you can climb up its bell tower to have an amazing view of the town; unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to allow me to climb up:(

The next stop in this self-walking tour was the center and the highlight of the old town, which is Diocletia Palace. This palace has an open courtyard where you can sit and enjoy watching different groups of tourists come and go, and at certain times there will be a nice and small changing of the guards’ ceremony.

By the time I explored this palace, it was almost noon and the heat was scorching, so it is time to rest and enjoy the authentic atmosphere inside the courtyard. The last stop in this tour was the town’s Pzar, which is housed under the palace. It is a nice place to shop for souvenirs and escape the summer heat:) 

After finishing this self-walking tour, it was time for the main adventure of this visit. I organized this rock climbing adventure with a local adventure company (click to request info) and everything was well-planned; albeit, our guide was not the nicest guy and didn’t show much interest in helping us navigate the rock walls…Man we are not professional climbers! Anyways, we booked our adventure at 4pm and it was a 2 hour one. Everything was on time and we were guaranteed 2 climbs each (party of 2) at least.   

The first climb was a massive vertical wall which looked extremely daunting at the beginning! This didn’t deter me and I got roped up and did a safety check for a couple of steps up (always recommended to make sure that you are well supported) and all was good.

I started my way up slowly as I was getting used to the rock surface

and I made it to the halfway up.

It is an amazing feeling being able to almost walk on a vertical wall:) I took a quick rest while enjoying this feeling and off I continued. With every step up, it was getting harder and harder and to pull yourself and challenging to find a place to stick your feet into! Despite of its toughness, the adrenaline that was pumping in my veins kept me going till I reached the top!! 

The next climb wasn’t as vertical as the first one, but it was more rugged and technically challenging.

It was hard to find the best path up as in some places the rock face is bulging to the outside and you have to be careful while navigating it.

During this climb, I got stuck halfway to the top and couldn’t find my way up and, by this time, all my muscles were aching as the long hot day was starting to take its toll on me, so I decided to stop and head down.

After this climb, we did another small one to an old structure carved into the rocks. Overall, the feeling of walking on a vertical wall and the adrenaline rush that you experience while rock climbing is something that can only be felt, not described! This adventure is tough mentally and physically, so when you reach the top, it feels that you conquered the world…so enjoy:)

This marked the end of my visit to split and it was time to take the train back to Zagreb (click to request info).
Zadar

Zadar

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Zadar

Although this blog is about a town visit, unlike my normal adventurous ones, but I honestly fell in love with this town and I felt that I’ve to write a blog about it:) I can even admit this, and if you know me then you’ll know it’s a big deal…after a few hours of being in this cute town, I decided to abandon a hike that I planned in the area in order to have more time to enjoy this marvelous town!! What also makes Zadar special is that its off the radar for the typical tourists, mainly only locals visit this town, so it will allow you to enjoy the closest experience you’ll get of the authentic Croatian culture.

I arrived Zadar by bus, the bus station is located just outside the walled part of the town and its just a 10 min walk till you reach the old town gates and start your amazing adventure in this cute little town.

Similar to other old towns across Croatia, the old town of Zadar is pedestrian only and upon entering the old city from Kopnena vrata Land Gate, you arrive at Kapetanova kula, or the captain’s tower.

From here you will start walking the maze of the old town streets and get immersed in the true Croatian culture, so I recommend that you abandon your map and allow yourself to get lost in the city’s small streets and alleys. From Kapetanova kula, you can start your tour from the city’s main street, which is very narrow by the way:) and visit its beautiful squares and churches.

But the beauty of this town is in its small side streets and their curbside cafes and shops. These streets are so narrow and buzzing with local life that instantly lift your mood and make you cheerful…no wonder I decided to abandon my hiking plans:)

The town is so laid back that you can even sit on the curb and order stuff from a nearby café and enjoy the local environment around you

There is even a small local beach here that you can use to cool off from the heat of the sun during the day

At night, the town is lively and buzzing and locals tend to go out till late. There are a number of cute bars in the old town, especially by the sea, and some more local ones in the new part of the town (outside the city walls), but beware of your surroundings when you venture out there.

I bet you can sense my enthusiasm in my tone here:) I truly fell in love with this town and hope that you’ll too…so enjoy:)
Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik

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Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is a world-famous tourist destination and it is on the itinerary of every visitor to Croatia…and for good reason. So even if you are a backpacker or an adventurer on a budget, and you decided to visit Croatia, then you’ve to visit this amazing city. However, despite all the touristy stuff that you can do in the city, there are also some adventures that are off-the-beaten-path that very few visitors to this city know about, and they are not for the faint-hearted!

The first adventure in visiting this city is the way to get there! Dubrovnik is in the far south of the country, so normally people fly or sail there, yet if you are a backpacker on a budget, like me, then the best option is to take a long bus trip. I took the bus from Zadar, which takes around 6 hours, it was very comfortable, and the roads are in very good shape, but the strangest thing I ever experienced happened on this trip! In this trip, you are supposed to be taking a bus between two Croatian cities, but I didn’t know that when traveling by land, you’ve to pass into and out of Bosnia & Herzegovina to reach Dubrovnik…strange, isn’t it!! And since your crossing international borders, then this is accompanied by all the passport control formalities that you experience at an airport, but twice:)

When arriving in Dubrovnik, it is time to take care of your accommodation. The touristy and interesting part of Dubrovnik is the old walled city, but to stay there, you’ll have to break your budget big time. So, I recommend that you stay in the residential part of the city, outside the city walls. Although it’s a modern and not so special area, you can find cheap and comfortable airbnbs there. The only drawback is that you’ll have to take the bus to reach the old city. To do so, you’ve two options: an overpriced touristy bus, or the local one (click to request info), guess which one I took:)

Having taken care of your accommodation, now its time for the fun part!

As I mentioned earlier, Dubrovnik is a very touristy city, so you better visit early in the morning to avoid the tour bus crowds and guarantee an authentic experience. I’ll not talk in this blog about the magnificent squares and churches in this city as you’ll find these in every travel guide, but they are a must to explore when you visit Dubrovnik, just be sure that you are armed with a good city map to optimize your visiting time (click to request info).

 

I won’t also talk about all the GOT sites in the city that you can visit as these two are in every guide to Dubrovnik, and if you are a GOT fan like me, then it will be fun to check them out and pose for pictures:).

Instead, I’ll focus here on two adventurous activities that are unique to this city and each is considered a once in a lifetime experience. The first adventure is walking the walls of the old city. These walls resemble a small version of the Great Wall of China and very few tourists walk the entirety of its length. With a map that points out the major sites in the city, start your walk at the Pile gate and walk clockwise. The entire walk is about 2km, so take your time, and in the summer, start early to avoid the scorching heat. You’ll have amazing and stunning bird-eye views of the city,

as well as panoramic views of the open sea.

The second adventure and the highlight of the trip is something you won’t expect to find in this tourist hotspot!! Its an activity that very few know about it or dare to do it, in the first place…its cliff jumping into the sea!! I’ve to warn you though, this is a completely unsupervised activity and you are On Your Own, so be careful and do it at your own risk! I’ll not reveal the location of the spot from where you can cliff jump into the sea here to allow your adventurous soul to discover it on its own, but of course, if you need any help, just contact me (click to request info). When reaching the location, you’ll first be scared of the scale of the jumps, but there are multi spots from which you can jump, so take your time, assess them all, gather your courage and do it! Its an amazing feeling:) I did two jumps: the first wasn’t too high, but you’ll have to run & jump!!

It is a bit scary, so take your time and let yourself flyyyyy:) the adrenaline rush I felt afterward is like nothing I experienced before; and if you were reluctant, your fellow adventurers will keep encouraging you:)

The next jump I did was higher, but doesn’t require running which makes a little bit easier, at least for me! So again, gather your courage and let fly:) My advice is that don’t think about the jumps too much, just think of the amazing feeling and let yourself free and you won’t regret it…its an experience of a lifetime!!
Anaga Mountains

Anaga Mountains

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Anaga Mountains

The forgotten part of Tenerife, yet a place of extreme beauty and serenity. The Anaga mountains are located at the far northern corner of the island, a world away from the bustling cities and beach resorts. It is a landscape that you won’t find something similar in the entirety of the Canary Islands. Unlike the volcanic nature of these islands, the Anaga mountains are lush green mountains up in the clouds with forests and wild beaches dotting the entire region. In this region, you’ll truly experience the local life of these islands with small villages nestled up in the mountains and shepherds and herds of sheep roaming freely on its slopes. Venturing into this region will satisfy your adventurous soul and is well worth the effort to at least do a day hike in this off-the-beaten path region.

Although there is an extensive network of trails in these mountains, it is really hard to get a good map of the entire trail network. However, the website of the natural preserve has detailed maps and descriptions of each individual trail and it is up to you to combine these trails together to enjoy a magnificent day hike On Your Own in this serene region (click to request info).

I did a day hike in the Anaga mountains totally independently through using public buses to connect to and from the start and ending points of my planned hike. I combined a number of trails together to enjoy an amazing hiking day of approximately 17 kms which took around 5-6 hours to complete, passing through several local and stunningly beautiful mountain villages and wild beaches…So lets start the adventure!

This is a rough sketch of my hiking tour in the Anaga mountains and in the following sections, I’ll take you through a detailed journey on each of these trails.

I started my hike at the Mirrador Cruz del Carmen which I reached using a public bus from Santa Cruz (click to request info). I got off the bus and hit the ground running from the excitement. The first trail I hiked on was a 3.7km hike from Cruz del Carmen till Las Carboneras via trails #10 and 10.1. The entire trail is a downhill, so it’ll be a nice warmup for the day. The trail starts from the bus stop at Cruz del Carmen and immediately you’ll enter into the lush green forest and you’ll be forgiven if you forgot that you are in the Canary Islands:)

This trail is so surreal and after around 2.5km on trail #10, you’ll reach a junction with trail #10.1 on which you’ll continue hiking for around 1.2km. This trail should take you around an hour to complete, but don’t be in a hurry and just enjoy the sounds of the forest:)

When reaching the village of Las Carboneras, its now time to switch to another trail. The next trail you’ll hike on will be the longest section of the day (6km). This leg will take you from Las Carboneras to the village of Afor via trail #9. The first section of this trail is mostly downhill again that will take you around a small mountain gorge. One tip here, look back while hiking for magnificent views of Las Carboneras.

The landscape here gets wilder as you are now in the middle of towering mountains and surrounded by forests from all angles…Stunning!

The next section of this trail is one of two uphill sections in the entire day; and although, it is only 1km in length, it is moderately tough and would require some effort to tackle it. Reaching this high point stunning views will start to unveil in all directions. So take a rest and enjoy the views as now you’ll start feeling the true Anaga experience.

From this point the trail will almost be flat for 1.5km, allowing you to soak in the views while hiking and you’ll start passing some local houses with domestic animals playing around:). The next 2km will be a steep downhill to the village of Afor…Facing the ocean while hiking this section, you can’t ask for better views and you’ll reach Afor after almost 1.5 hours on this trail.

Afor is at the mouth of river running from the mountains to the ocean, so the next trail will be hiking along the river till you reach the wild beach of Playa de Tamadite on trail #8. This trail is 2.5km in length, but it is an easy trail and should take you around 30-45 minutes to complete. Along the way you’ll pass several small bridges that cross the river and hiking this trail will feel like you are in a playground:) and it is your own playground as from now on, you’ll hardly meet anyone till you finish this day hike.

Playa de Tamadite is a very wild beach with high waves smashing into the rocks, you can swim there, but it is not easy, so be careful…I personally didn’t:)

Have a good rest here as you’ll start the next big uphill section after this point. The next trail is trail #8 that will take you all the way to the village of Taganana. It is a 4.5km wild hike up the cliffs above the ocean with no one around you…and its amazing! First, you’ll have to navigate the 0.7km uphill section till you reach the top of the trail…its tough but well worth it! At this point, the views are unbelievable… it is beautiful, wild and very surreal. From here to Taganana, you’ll hike on almost a flat trail with the ocean to your left, the mountains to your right, and the beautiful horizon in front of you.

It is a narrow trail that hugs the edge of the cliff which will keep your adrenaline pumping all the way. With every turn, stunning views and rock formations will unveil in front of you…so enjoy:)

Finally, you’ll reach the top of the village of Taganana and you’ll hike down between its white houses till you reach the main square and the bus stop from which you’ll catch your bus back to Santa Cruz. One final tip, Taganana is famous for its locally produced wine, so treat yourself with a glass of tasty wine before you head back and enjoy a magnificent sunset:)
El-Teide

El-Teide

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El-Teide

The mighty El-Teide, the dominant volcano that rises in the middle of Tenerife. This is an active volcano that rises proudly above the clouds and you are going to hike it all the way to the top; but before we start, there are some logistical stuff that you need to take care of first.

Yes, there is a cable car that takes you up the mountain, but it does not reach the summit, as it is no place for tourists… and that is what you are aiming for! Being an active volcano, the summit of El-Teide is a protected area and there is a limit on the number of people who can go up at any given time, so you got two options to be able to hike all the way to the top of this majestic volcano. First, if you want to hike up and down in one day, no camping allowed up there, then you’ll need to get a free permit for your planned day (click to request info) and chose from the multiple trails that reaches the top, but be aware…this will be a very long and demanding hiking day. I personally don’t recommend this option as it does not allow you to enjoy the full experience of being up this mighty volcano, and you’ll know why when you see the other option. The second option is the true El-Teide experience, it is a 2-day hike with a sunrise ascent to the summit, and believe me…there is nothing that beats the views that you’ll see:)

So where to spend the night when no camping is allowed?! No worries, there is a mountain refuge at an elevation of +3,260m called Altavista Refuge. This is a mountain hut type of refuge with shared dorms and fully equipped kitchen that you need to book in advance via their website (click to request info) as it gets full quickly.

The next logistical issue that you need to take care of is to plan your hiking route and chose the hiking trails that you want to hike up and down. So, armed with the hiking trails’ map of Parque Nacional Del Teide, you have two options to chose from when going up.

First, you can park your car at El-Portillo and hike all the way up to the refuge via trails # 6 & 7. If you have enough time, I recommend this trail as it traverses a lesser known part of the national park and not as steep as the other trails, although its much longer. The other option, the one I did, is to park your car at Montana Blanca car park and hike up via the Montana Blanca trail # 7 till you reach the refuge. This is a shorter, yet steeper trail, but an equally beautiful one that will take you to the refuge in less time. This will be your first day hike, then the next day you’ll do the sunrise hike to the top of El-Teide from the refuge.

So what about going down? You’ll find that most hikers who spent the night at the refuge will opt to go down via the cable car. Yes, you’ll be tired and beaten, but I strongly don’t recommend this option unless you are in a hurry or have other plans in the island. Honestly, it’s a shame to come up all this way and not to explore the other beauties of the national park; and believe me, the adrenaline will be pumping in your body from your earlier summit achievement and you’ll want to continue your hiking adventure. So, what I did, is I took trail # 12 from the cable car station to Pico Viejo, another perfect conically-shaped volcano that is further downhill at an elevation of +3,134, and then go down to El Parador car park via the long trail # 23. Obviously, the only way to do this hiking trip is to park at one of the car parks at Montana Balance or El Parador and hitch a ride to the other, which is perfectly doable. All set…enough with the logistics and lets start the real fun:)

The first day hike starts at Montana Balance parking; however, the drive to this parking lot is itself an amazing experience as you get closer and closer to this mighty volcano and you’ll say to yourself “no way that this is the mountain that I’m going to hike up”…but…it is:) The trail up to the refuge is 6.5km in length, with an elevation gain of +912m. The first 4km of this trail are not so steep and the trail is easy to follow. You’ll be hiking in a landscape that resembles Mars more than the earth, a total contrast from the lush green beaches that are allover the island. I can’t describe the views and the landscape enough, but they are simply stunning, beautiful, and wild.

After these 4km, you’ll reach a junction with trail #6 and the real ascent will begin. This last 2.5km are a series of switchbacks that go steeply up…forever. So, take your time in this part as you are now close to +3,000m of elevation and your breathing will get more difficult.

Drink lots of water and take as many breaks as you want and soon you’ll be at the refuge, and the feeling when you catch the first sight of the refuge will be one of total relief:) 

At this point, you’ll be done with day one after around 3:30 hours of tough hiking, so simply relax and enjoy the stunning views from up there.

At the refuge itself, they’ll assign you a bed in a 15-20 bed dorm room and there is a fully-equipped kitchen and wifi, so prepare your dinner, relax, and go to be d early to get ready for the big day. P.S. there is no drinking water at the refuge so take your water with you or better…(click to request info) 

It’s the big day now!! you’ll reach the very top of the mighty El-Teide at +3,718m high for a magnificent and an unforgettable sunrise. It will take you around 2 hours to reach the top from the refuge, so time your sleep accordingly to give yourself time to have a good breakfast and a cup of coffee because you’ll need every bit of energy on this day, and DON’T FORGET your headlamp and warm clothing:)

During these 2 hours, you’ll hike in complete darkness, but this adventure has very surreal feelings! Take a picture before you start hiking to commemorate this exciting moment.

The first part of the hike is as steep as the switchbacks from the previous day, but you can do it! With every step, El-Teide will start revealing itself to you in its full force and you’ll think that it is impossible to go up that mighty volcano, but keep believing in yourself:) After this part, there is a part that is half a kilometer away from the cable car station that is almost flat which is a nice reprieve. From the cable car station, the big uphill starts!! This part is around 0.7km, but they are grueling and the trail will start getting exposed as, by now, you are above anything that exists on this island. And as the dawn starts cracking the views and the feelings are simply unbelievable.

 You did it!! You are now at the top, you’ll be ecstatic, awed, and proud of yourself. I can’t describe how is it up this mighty volcano and how stunning this sunrise is, I’ll leave you with this collection of pictures and they’ll do the talking…BTW, these are the clouds, not the ocean:) 

After watching this magnificent sunrise, its time to head back down to the cable car station. Take a good rest here, have a picnic and recharge, as the day didn’t end yet:)

From here, take trail # 12 to Pico Viejo, which is a downhill, and well-marked trail. While on this trail, you’ll have Pico Viejo in front of you and El-Teide in your background…what more to ask for:)

The trail till the view point of Pico Viejo is easy and finally downhill:) then from this point it’ll get tougher as you’ll hike on a lava field till you reach Pico Viejo after around 1:30 hours. 

Have a good rest and lunch as from here you’ll almost be alone till you reach El Parador. It is a 5km hike, all on tough lava field and it’ll be very tiring after this long amazing day. Take your time admiring the magnificent views around you, you are almost there:) 

It will take around 2:30 hours till you reach the parking lot and along the way you’ll pass by the rock formations of Roques de Garcia with lots of tourists around you…what a different world:)
Canary Islands

Canary Islands

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Canary Islands

When most people think about the canary islands, they think of beaches and a relaxing vacation unaware that these islands boosts some of the best hiking that you’ll ever find.

Being volcanic islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, there are no shortage of wild and breathtaking hikes here that will satisfy the adventurer in you, but you need to fight the temptation of laying on the beach first:)

I did a trip to two of these beautiful islands, Tenerife and La Gomera, and combined both adventurous hikes and wild beach adventures that truly satisfied the adventurous spirit in me. In the next blog posts, I’ll take you through a journey to three hikes in these two magnificent islands that will blow your mind away and test your physical ability to the limit; as well as, venturing to some of the most wild, beautiful and off-the-beaten path beaches in Tenerife, that you can visit them all On Your Own…so lets begin:)

Tenerife:

Hike 1: El-Teide

Hike 2: Anaga Mountains

Hike 3: Wild Beaches

La Gomera:

Hike 1: Vallehermoso – Las Rosas

Otter Trail (Day 5)

Otter Trail (Day 5)

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[Andre Hut → Nature Valley] (10.8 km)

The final day of this amazing adventure; the day you’ll be back in civilization:) Depending on your transport arrangements and timing, plan your start for this day bearing in mind that this is an easy short day that will take you only 3 hours to finish, with stops.

The first section will be along the pebble beach you spent the previous night on and it’ll involve some challenging boulder hopping.

Then the final uphill of this entire trail will start immediately after you hike along the beach for less than a kilometer. The uphill will be inside the forest and by now you’ll be expert in this terrain so it won’t be tough for you.

After this last uphill you’ll reach the top of the plateau with amazing final views of the towering cliffs above the ocean. You’ll continue hiking on the top and will have this amazing feeling that you almost finished this thrilling adventure.

It is all flat from here, so take your time, enjoy, take your last pictures, and keep going till you reach the metal gate marking the end of the trail!! CONGRATULATIONS YOU DID IT

From this point you’ll have an amazing view of Nature Valley beach 

and the trail will take you down all the way to the beach and civilization.

Now you’ll start meeting people: day trippers and beach goers and they’ll all congratulate you:) so enjoy your glory moment and don’t forget to stop by the rest camp to sign-out from the trail and collect your Otter Trail Certificate…YOU ARE OFFICIALLY AN ADVENTURER!!

 
Otter Trail (Day 4)

Otter Trail (Day 4)

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[Oakhurst Hut → Andre Hut] (13.8 km)

This is the longest, toughest, and most dangerous day of the entire trail! But don’t be discouraged as, since you reached this point already, then you are fit enough to do it, and the rewards along the entire trail are stunning!    

This is the day when the tidal chart you got at the reception on day 1 becomes very very important. Check the low tide and try to plan to reach the Balkrans river half an hour before that for the easiest of crossings, yet you’ll be able to cross at other times but it’ll be more difficult!

The river, itself, is after 10 km from the hut you slept in and 4 km from your next hut, so accordingly plan to start your day which might, sometimes, be at dawn. However, the trail is well-marked and has km markers every 1 km so it’ll be easy to follow even in the dark. Done with all the planning, then let’s start the adventure:)

The first part of the trail will be along the ocean with stunning views and nice sea breeze. This section is fairly easy, so you should be able to hike at a faster pace.

After km 6, the trail will get wilder and tougher. From km 6 to 8, it will be the toughest section before the crossing. In addition to rock scrambling and boulder hopping, it will involve lots of uphills and downhills and you’ll be amazed by the mere fact that such a trail was even built!

The trail will continue inside the forest, and if the weather is hot, beware of where you put your feet because there might be snakes on the trail!

At this point you have done almost 3 hours of hiking today, so take a break and recharge. The final part before the crossing is fairly easy inside the forest and should take you around 1 hour (you’ll be tired by now, so you’ll hike at a much slower pace).

Then the mighty Balkrans river will come into view!!! This is, maybe, the moment you mostly anticipated when you decided to hike the Otter trail…so take a deep breath and enjoy the view.

When you arrive at the river mouth there will be a map showing the crossing routes based on the tide situation. Since we reached the river at low tide, we chose route “A” which is the easiest, yet the longest in which you’ll have to walk in the water.

If you timed it right and had time before the low tide, then this will be an ideal spot for lunch before you cross. In our case, we arrived an hour before the low tide, so we rested, swam and enjoyed the stunning views around us.

Again since we had time, I put on my aqua shoes and decided to test the crossing without the bags and it was really easy as the water was waist level at max.

So when the time came, we decided to cross with our bags on our backs with the rain covers on as we didn’t need neither survival bags nor ropes (didn’t have them anyways since we knew we are going to cross at low tide and had the much cheaper alternative…garbage bags and small dry bags for our valuables… in case we needed them). We crossed 15 minutes before low tide and only the bottom of our bags got a bit wet…nothing more!

The feeling that you crossed and passed the most dangerous part is very refreshing, and since we had time, we celebrated by swimming again; but it is also advisable to relax a bit because the next 4 kilometers are the toughest in terms of hiking.

Immediately after the crossing, you will walk on a very narrow ledge which can be a bit scary, but there are fixed ropes to hold on to if you needed

In this section the adrenaline will be pumping in your veins and you’ll feel like a conqueror who was able to conquer the famous Otter trail, almost:)

After this ledge-walking section, you’ll reach a pebble beach which is very wild and remote.

Then, the first of the two big uphills will start. It wasn’t as bad as previously thought, but after all your effort, the trail will take you down again to another pebble beach:) so take a break here because the next uphill is really grueling. It is the toughest uphill in the entire 5-day trek, so take it slowly and keep going as you know you are almost there.

Finally, you’ll reach the top of the plateau with stunning views and it’ll be all flat and downhills from here to the huts:) 

These last 2 kilometers are really fun and the final steep downhill will take you right to Andre huts which are located on a wild pebble beach 

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