European mountains
La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain

Tejeleche (618m), Roque de Mona (542m), Dec 31 2009


To the main Tejeleche/Roque de Mona page (maps, route descriptions, other trip reports, etc.)

To the La Gomera introduction page.

 

Tejeleche range

 

 

The Tejeleche tops

The Tejeleche tops
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This was our (Anne Rudsengen and me) fifth day on the island of La Gomera, and today we would explore more of the west coast. More precisely - approx 4km north of the La Merica massif that we visited on our first day of hiking. Prior to the travel to the Canary Islands, I had been studying the Tejeleche peaks and Roque de Mona on Google Earth, only to conclude that these peaks looked wild - and that bids for the summits could be futile. But there is no way of knowing until one has tried...

Our rental car brought us safely down the narrow road towards Taguluche, and thanks to the Google Earth studies, the trailhead wasn't hard to find. In fact, it was quite obvious. The Tejeleche range looked like a fortress that couldn't be penetrated, but the maps were unanimous; there were paths!

After a partly steep descent from the road, we found the path that took us north of Punta de Tejeleche (the top closest to the road) and onto the mountain massif. Without knowing if any of the other tops could be ascended, it was only natural to visit this summit - resembling a guarding animal of some kind...

 

Punta de Tejeleche

Punta de Tejeleche
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We moved on towards the main Tejeleche tops, and agreed that the twin-topped point 595m should not be attempted. Mainly because everywhere we went, the fragile lava rock crumbled in our hands. We proceeded towards point 599m - which didn't seem like much (at first) from our position, but when seen from a different angle - Anne expressed some thoughts about having stood on top...

 

Point 599m

Point 599m
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The main goal was of course the main summit, and when seen from point 599m - no route stood out as easy. Then we walked around the summit block until we discovered a doable route up the south ridge (YDS 2+). Because of the fragile lava, we had to be careful to avoid rockfall. From the top, the coastal view was awesome, and while Anne settled for a big smile, I celebrated our success in a traditional, Norwegian way...

 

On Tejeleche main summit

On Tejeleche main summit
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The walk so far had been fairly short, and we didn't want to turn around just yet. The next top (point 589m) also looked interesting. More precisely - it looked difficult. The top resembled a troll with a silly grin, saying "Hi hi - you can't climb me". 

But the troll had a weak side - namely the back side. We reached the top after yet another easy scramble and concluded that 4 out of 5 tops was well beyond our expectations.

 

Point 589m

Point 589m
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On the way down from point 589m, we noticed a cool pinnacle, overhanging the steep face below. We both agreed that this was a "Hell, NO!" rock, as it seemed it could break by just applying some weight to it. But upon closer inspection, it no longer seemed so intimidating. Yet, Anne proposed we shouldn't climb it, but if I absolutely had to, she would take pictures. It could have been the picture of the year - the free falling Norwegian, surfing on a broken pinnacle...

And now that I was in the business of doing stupid things, she decided to join in...

 

The pinnacle

The pinnacle
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We continued towards point 588m, which marked the end of the the main ridge. We could have continued towards the Galión part of the range, but if we had some energy left for hiking, we wanted to spend it on Roque de Mona instead. Point 588m was a cool mini-sombrero, and required a climbing move in order to get up. I had a near-accident as a tore out a huge piece of lava rock in the middle of my move, but the drama was of the moderate kind. We enjoyed the view towards the beautiful Galión section before turning back.

The hike across the Tejeleche range took 3 hours.

Turnaround point

Turnaround point
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Roque de Mona

 

Back at the Tejeleche trailhead, we drove in the direction of Roque de Mona, hoping to spot a doable route to the top. One route stood out as a potential one, but it was impossible to say if there were any challenging points. In one way, we were quite content about the day so far (and the week as a whole) and didn't have any strong urge to do yet another peak. But Roque de Mona was intriguing, and both of us wanted to find out if the peak would welcome us or not.

 

Roque de Mona

Roque de Mona
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After a rocky descent from the road, we followed a ridge over to the point where the (ugly-looking) peak rose steeply into the air. A small jump brought us onto the mountain proper, and then we headed towards the distinct couloir that we had seen from the road.

Being two persons on this fragile mountain called for caution, and we moved upwards well co-ordinated. And just when we thought that the couloir would become too steep, we noticed a convenient passage up to our right. This passage brought us to the summit ridge, and a few minutes later, we were on top of Roque de Mona! Just 30-35 minutes after leaving the road.

 

Anne escaping the couloir

Anne escaping the couloir
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What a fun day this had been! And what a nice way to end the year. Now it was time to return to our hotel in Valle Gran Rey and welcome 2010 a few hours later... 

 

The final hours of 2009

The final hours of 2009
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Two next days: Roque de Ojila and Lomo de Harinero

Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6

 
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To Punta de Tejeleche

1. The Tejeleche tops 2. Punta de Tejeleche 3. Evil mountain? 4. On the path, below the peaks 5. Alojera 6. Alojera 7. Anne on the path 8. Fine tops above 9. To Punta de Tejeleche 10. Punta de Tejeleche 11. Punta de Tejeleche 12. The trailhead 13. Anne on Punta de Tejeleche 14. The Tejeleche top 15. The Tejeleche tops 16. Roque de Mona

To Tejeleche

17. Below the Tejeleche tops 18. Alojera 19. On the way to Tejeleche 20. Point 595m 21. Insect 22. Up to point 599m 23. Anne on point 599m 24. Tejeleche 25. Point 595m 26. Scrambling up Tejeleche 27. Anne on Tejeleche 28. Me on Tejeleche 29. The route ahead 30. The way we came 31. Point 599m 32. Point 595m 33. View from Tejeleche 34. Coastline vie 35. Cool pinnacle 36. The trailhead

To Points 589m,558m

37. Point 589m 38. Scrambling point 589m 39. Border walk... 40. Point 599m 41. Point 599m 42. View from point 589m 43. Tejeleche 44. Tejeleche 45. Point 599m 46. Descending 589m 47. Coastal view 48. Anne on the pinnacle 49. Me on the pinnacle 50. Me on the pinnacle 51. Point 589m 52. Turnaround point 53. Coastline view 54. The Tejeleche tops 55. La Merica

Roque de Mona

56. Pinnacle near the trailhead 57. Roque de Mona 58. Roque de Mona 59. Roque de Mona 60. Roque de Mona 61. Tejeleche 62. Tejeleche 63. On the way to Roque de Mona 64. Roque de Mona ahead 65. Rugged terrain ahead 66. On the -inside- 67. On the way to the couloir 68. Cemetery 69. Cemetery 70. Scrambling up from the couloir 71. Taguluche 72. Anne on Roque de Mona 73. Me on Roque de Mona 74. Galion seen from Roque de Mona 75. View from Roque de Mona 76. Tejeleche tops 77. View from Roque de Mona 78. La Merica 79. The trailhead 80. Descent 81. Rock features 82. Scrambling upon descent 83. Looking back

Playa del Valle Gran Rey (Post-hike)

84. Surfers having fun 85. Waiting for the big one 86. Rocky beach 87. Take a long breath.. 88. Muddy waves 89. Beach life 90. Hold on - or run! 91. Man vs. nature

Waiting for 2010

92. Our local bay 93. Playa del Valle Gran Rey 94. Our local street 95. Our hotel 96. The swimming pool 97. Counting down at the local bar

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