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
(Click for larger image)
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
(Click for larger image)
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
(Click for larger image)
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
(Click for larger image)
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
(Click for larger image)
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
(Click for larger image)
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
(Click for larger image)
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
(Click for larger image)
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
(Click for larger image)
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
(Click for larger image)
Two next days: Roque de Ojila and
Lomo de Harinero |