European mountains
Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

Montaña  del Humo, Morro de la Hierbo Huerta and Las Dunas, Dec 29 2010


All reports from the Gran Canaria trip:

 

  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 (THIS REPORT)
  Pico Moriscos, Monte Constantino, Pico de Bandama, Dec 30 2010
  Montaña de Arinaga + New Year's Eve, Dec 31 2010
 

Montaña del Humo (1489m), Dec 29 2010

 

 

Montaña del Humo

Montaña del Humo
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The main goal for day 4 on Gran Canaria was Montaña de Sandara (1583m). We took the GC1 southbound from Las Palmas and the GC65 westbound via Sardina, Santa Lucia de Tirajana and San Bartolomé de Tirajana. As we reached the Degollada de Aserrador pass, the mountains were hidden in fog. We drove the GC661 down to El Juncal de Abajo where we lost our spirit...

The GC661 was marked as yellow (paved) on the map, but was narrow and in a bad shape. We were now supposed to follow a forest road (marked as white - poor standard) for 6-7km, and it started very steep and very narrow. I consulted Anne, and she didn't have a strong desire to continue this way. As we also expected rain, we agreed to look for an easier target.

Montaña del Humo is located just above Degollada de Aserrador and it definitely qualified as "an easier target". The walking distance was 750 meters and the vertical gain just above 100 meters. It took us 17 minutes to reach the top and although it hike was a stroll, it is a proper mountain top, with a primary factor exceeding 100 meters. The view towards the distinct Roque Bentayga is excellent from here.
 

Anne on Montaña del Humo

Anne on Montaña del Humo
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Morro de la Hierbo Huerta (1315m), Dec 29 2010

From the top of Montaña del Humo, we identified our next goal - Morro de la Huerbo Huerta - exactly 7km to the south. We returned to our car and drove GC604 down to lake Embalsa de Chira and parked by the dam. Our guide book (Turguide til Gran Canaria) described the route in detail; follow the mountain service road all the way to the top...

 

Morro de la Hierbo Huerta

Morro de la Hierbo Huerta
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On our way up the service road, we could see the results of the 2007 forest fire. The rest of the walk was quite unentertaining,  and then it started to rain. After a 5,1km hike, we reached the summit and the fire lookout cabin on top. It was a pity that the surrounding mountains were fogged in, because the view is probably quite good from this top.

 

On Morro de la Hierbo Huerta

On Morro de la Hierbo Huerta
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Before leaving Norway, Anne stated that she wanted to visit Las Dunas de Maspalomas. These sand dunes marks the southernmost area on Gran Canaria, and we could see them from the summit. We concluded that there was  enough daylight left to go there next.

The guide book also described a mountain path that made the descent significantly shorter than the ascent. In addition, we found a vague path along the pipeline and were back at the trailhead in "no time"...

 

Las Dunas de Maspalomas, Dec 29 2010

 

Las Dunas de Maspalomas

Las Dunas de Maspalomas
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We drove GC60 south to Maspalomas, spent some time trying to locate the dunes, then spent even more time to find a place to park. We ended up in a parking garage, and I hoped that the Spanish payment systems weren't much more different than the ones back home. We were now in the heart of the tourist area and I felt the stress level emerging. But when I started to think about the Norwegian coastal winter storms in December, it was quite OK to be here...

But once we found the dunes, walking around was nice. My mind wandered back to Colorado in June 2000, when Bjørn and me visited the Great Sand Dunes and High Dune (2649m!). How about that for an elevation difference...

 

The Great Sand Dunes in Colorado

The Great Sand Dunes in Colorado
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I'm not really a beach-type-of-guy, but Anne was very happy about being here. In retrospect I regret not spending more time creating scenes for photography. There was certainly potential. That said, I was a bit worried about the camera, as the sand was constantly blowing along the ground.

 

Anne, enjoying the sand

Anne, enjoying the sand
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After a 3,3km walk around part of the dunes area, we called it a day, successfully retrieved the car from the garage and returned to Las Palmas. And even if we had bagged two proper mountains earlier in the day, the dunes were certainly the high point of the day....

 

Las Dunas

Las Dunas
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Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 550D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6

 
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Montaña  del Humo

1. Along GC65 2. Along GC65 3. La Fortaleza de Ansite 4. Rugged terrain 5. Roque Bentayga 6. Rugged terrain 7. Rugged terrain 8. Montaña  del Humo 9. Montaña  Altavista 10. The trailhead 11. Rugged terrain 12. A nearby ridge 13. A nearby village 14. The trailhead 15. Roque Bentayga 16. Amazing villages 17. Wide-angle view from Montaña  del Humo 18. Anne on the summit 19. Roque Bentayga 20. Morro de la Hierbo Huerta

Morro de la Hierbo Huerta

21. Morro de la Hierbo Huerta 22. Morro de la Hierbo Huerta 23. View up the mountain 24. Along the service road 25. A nearby canyon 26. Along the service road 27. Trail info 28. Along the service road 29. Roque Nublo 30. Rock face 31. Waterworks 32. Embalse de Chira 33. Approaching the summit 34. The dam 35. Las Dunas 36. The fire lookout cabin 37. The northeast ridge 38. Me, on the summit 39. Wide-angle view from Morro de la Hierbo Huerta 40. Anne, on the summit 41. Las Dunas 42. The fire lookout cabin 43. The summit plateau 44. The lake 45. The service road 46. Descending along a path 47. Descending along a path 48. Joining the service road 49. Short-cut back to the trailhead

Las Dunas

50. To Maspalomas 51. To Maspalomas 52. Unknown 53. Unknown 54. Entering the dunes 55. Fish 56. A busy place 57. Tourist land 58. Laguna 59. Visitors 60. The dunes area 61. Dunes panorama 62. Self portrait 63. Nice patterns 64. Leave nothing but footprints... 65. Anything to photograph? 66. Sand can be quite OK 67. A soft landing 68. Fly, fly 69. Shade 70. Desert storm 71. More shade 72. People all over the place 73. At the beach 74. At the beach 75. Anne 76. The dunes area 77. Creativity 78. The lighthouse

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