European Mountains - Route Descriptions - Montañón Negro, Pico Moriscos, Monte Constantino, Montaña Cabreja and Pico de Bandama, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

		Gran Canaria main page; facts, maps, routes, etc. (SOON)
		Pico de las Nieves, Pico del Campanario, Roque Nublo, Dec 26 2010
		Montaña de Tamadaba, Montaña Altavista, Dec 27 2010
		Pico de Gáldar, Montaña de Almagro, Roque de Las Nieves, Dec 28 2010
		Montaña del Humo, Morro de la Hierbo Huerta, Las Dunas, Dec 29 2010
		Pico Moriscos, Monte Constantino, Pico de Bandama, Dec 30 2010 (THIS REPORT)
		Montaña de Arinaga + New Year's Eve, Dec 31 2010

Montañón Negro (1669m), Dec 30 2010

The main goal for day 5 on Gran Canaria was Pico Moriscos (1773m) - one of the highest independent peaks on the island. The secondary goal was to set a new record for number of new mountain tops in one year. 154 from 2006 was a tough number to beat, but with 151 and two days left of hiking in 2010, I stood a fair chance...

After yet another long drive up from Las Palmas, we were approaching our Pico Moriscos trailhead along GC150. But first we wanted to stop by the volcanic cone Montañón Negro - created from the most recent eruption on the island. Anne and me found this mountain top quite cool - with a nice profile and a hen comb ridge.

The walk was indeed short; 550 meters and 50 vertical meters, but we got a nice view towards the island's northern coastline, as well as Pico Moriscos to the south. A visit to one of the Canary islands natural monuments was a good start of the day.

Pico Moriscos (1773m), Dec 30 2010

After returning from Montañón Negro, we drove 280 meters (!) and parked at the Pico Moriscos trailhead. This would also be a short hike - 1,8km and 160 vertical meters. A forest road took us up to the summit, where we found an meteorological radar station and a fire lookout tower.

Because of trees, the view from the top was not so good - even if Pico Moriscos is one of the highest peaks on Gran Canaria. But we had a clear view towards our next stop - Monte Constantino. It was tempting to follow the ridge (the distance was only 2km), but after two easy walks we had turned lazy (a well-known trap...). We took a short-cut down the forest and returned to the car.

Monte Constantino (1711m), Dec 30 2010

We followed the GC150 to Degollada de las Palomas - the pass between Pico Moriscos and Monte Constantino and parked there. We got on the trail to Tejeda, but as this trail passed below Monte Constantino, we soon left the trail and followed the ridge to the top. This was yet another short hike - 0,6km and 100 vertical meters. It was almost embarrassing, but after thinking back on all the vertical and horizontal meters I had done during the year, a few easy hikes was something I could live with. Easily...

The view from the top was simply great. We could see all of the prominent tops and roques on the island, and even Pico Moriscos looked impressive from up here. And this is possibly one of the best viewpoints towards Roque Nublo and Roque Bentayga - two of the most amazing rock features on Gran Canaria.

The descent (quick as it was) mainly involved competing about taking the best picture of a falcon. We never got as close as we hoped for, but still it was a memorable moment. We don't get to see too many falcons in Norway. When we returned to the trailhead, a salesman had set up a booth. Anne took the opportunity to practice her Spanish, and felt obligated to buy some (hopefully) local merchandise in the process.

Morro del Armonía (1662m), Dec 30 2010

We drove to Cruz de Tejeda where we had planned to have lunch. But first, we agreed to do a short (!) hike up to Morro del Armonía. We chose the trailhead south of the mountain top and followed the trail towards Cruz de Tejeda. To our disappointment, Morro del Armonía was completely fenced in (barbed wire), and we had a strong feeling that ignoring the signpost warnings was a crime of the gravest sort...

We gave up on this top, and returned to Cruz de Tejeda. While waiting for lunch to be served, we were told that Morro del Armonia was temporaily closed due to the hunting season. We decided not to wait for it to open and enjoyed the main tourist attraction of the town instead...

Montaña Cabreja (1012m), Dec 30 2010

It was time to return to Las Palmas. We followed the GC15 in the direction of Vega de San Mateo and Santa Brigida. Just before Vega de San Mateo, we drove up to the summit of Montaña Cabreja and had a good view towards the town. This was clearly not one of the island's biggest tourist attractions. The only sign of activity was two electricians working with the installation on the summit building.

Pico de Bandama (575m), Dec 30 2010

East of Santa Brigida, we drove up to the top of Pico de Bandama - one of Gran Canaria's 10-12 volcanoes. Pico de Bandama was much closer to a tourist attraction than Montaña Cabreja. A man was making money of letting tourists take photographs of his two (incredibly huge) dogs and half a dozen puppies. What a dog life! But if that's what is needed to bring food on the plate, then ok...

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Dec 30 2010

Back in Las Palmas, it was time for something good to eat and drink. I was in a real good mood and allowed myself to log 4 new tops (stretching my own criterion some...), and the 2010 new top tally was now 155. In other words - a new record. A small celebration was in order. After dinner we went down to the beach - mentally preparing for the main event that would take place in 24 hours - 2011!