Cruz del Carmen and the coastal hiking trail to Casa Hamilton - Tenerife, the diverse island - 10

TravelogueSpain

2 Mar

Tue., 14th Sept. - Cruz del Carmen and the coastal hiking trail to Casa Hamilton

We get up early and leave the hotel without having breakfast. It is still dark and, as expected, very cloudy.

We leave the highway at La Laguna and as we are getting higher the first raindrops of this vacation appear on the windshield. We reach the parking lot of Cruz del Carmen at 7:45 and today we are car number 3. O.k., it's a weekday and the weather is not so nice. Indeed the rain is getting harder and so we eat the stuff we bought yesterday inside the car. Weather is changing fast here and when we finished eating, the clouds are gone and we can see patches of blue sky above us.

Right across the visitor center is the trailhead for 3 hiking trails.
No. 1 is short and easy and should be doable for most handicapped people, as long as they are able to manage a few meter height difference. No. 2 is a moderately difficult trail and No. 3 is a longer trail. But the notice at the trailhead says that this trail gets pretty slippery when wet, so nothing for today.

The main focus today is photography and there are so many opportunities that you don't even get into a hiking mode. I brought my tripod and keep the camera mounted as I walk from one spot to the next.

Freya's knees are so-so today. Trail #1 is ok, but after a couple of meters downhill on trail #2, she decided to head back to the car. She has taken a book with her and will spend the time reading. I continue with the track I already walked on Sunday, but this time I don't turn around early but finish the track. Is it me or are the most interesting trees near to the trailhead? The further I go downhill, the less spectacular they are.

Back to the parking lot, it's 9:30 and the little cafe is just opening. We decide this is a good time for a coffee. Here, as in Los Silos, is a junk sculpture. A crab, on the wall.

By the way, the parking lot is full now and the people start to leave the cars on places that are reserved for busses or are completely restricted. I don't know if the rangers are checking, but this would be a place where they could make a lot of money.

After the coffee, we take a look at the trail that starts next to the restaurant across the street. And it's the same as this morning: You walk 2 meters and another motif appears. Freya stays with me for quite a while and when the trail starts to go steeper downhill, she returns to the car. This time I don't go much further. After 3 or 4 switchbacks, I decide that's enough for today.

We've been here for 3 hours. The weather was constantly changing from light rain to cloudy to bright sun. Only the fog I had hoped for was rather rare. The woods here are definitely my favorite place on the island and Freya, even though she can't walk much, was glad she crawled out of bed so early this morning.

For the afternoon, Freya decides to stay by the pool, listening to the sounds of the many collared parrots while I take a walk along the coast to Casa Hamilton. The idea was to leave the car near Loro Park, hoping there would be plenty of parking. But no, I have to continue until I am almost at the Maritim Hotel.

The first part of the trail from Puerto de la Cruz to Los Realejos is not really interesting because it does not follow the coastline, but is mainly there to gain altitude. The nice part starts at the other end of Los Realejos [↗]. It makes sense to leave the car there. Finding a parking place should not be more complicated than in Puerto de la Cruz. The walk from Los Realejos to Casa Hamilton is then a nice walk rather than a hike.

Casa Hamilton, or Las Ruinas de Gordejuela as it is also known, is a former pumping station that used the first steam engine on Tenerife to pump water from the Gordejuela springs to the banana plantations in the Orotava Valley. The steep path down to the ruins is no longer maintained and access is blocked by a barbed-wire fence.