European mountains
Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
Montaña de Arinaga and New Year's Eve, Dec 31 2010
All reports from the Gran Canaria trip:
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Gran Canaria main page; facts, maps, routes, etc. (SOON) | |
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Pico de las Nieves, Pico del Campanario, Roque Nublo, Dec 26 2010 |
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Montaña de Tamadaba, Montaña Altavista, Dec 27 2010 | |
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Pico de Gáldar, Montaña de Almagro, Roque de Las Nieves, Dec 28 2010 | |
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Montaña del Humo, Morro de la Hierbo Huerta, Las Dunas, Dec 29 2010 | |
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Pico Moriscos, Monte Constantino, Pico de Bandama, Dec 30 2010 | |
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Montaña de Arinaga, Dec 31 2010 (THIS REPORT) |
Montaña de Arinaga (199m), Dec 31 2010
Montaña de Arinaga
(Click for larger image)
It was day 6 (and our last) on Gran Canaria. We had been around and seen a lot of the island. I had already met my personal goal of setting a new record in new peaks in one year (155), and we were happy to the let the last day of the year be a lazy one.
A "lazy day" meant a visit to Montaña de Arinaga - a small volcano just south of the airport. After a little fumbling around, we found our way into the town of Playa del Arinaga and located the trailhead near the Faro de Arinaga lighthouse.
From our position,
we didn't see any paths, so headed (off-trail) towards the northeast ridge. The
rock was loose and the hillside a bit steep, but we eventually made it to the
ridge where we could see directly into the crater. It was quite cool to be above
the incoming flights below us! We continued up the ridge and reached the summit
22 minutes
after heading out from the parking. The coastal view was excellent...
North view up the coastline
(Click for larger image)
On the way down from the summit, we found a mountain service road that we decided to follow. Everything is easier when seen from above, and soon we saw a route that would take us straight back to the starting point near the lighthouse. We returned to our car 55 minutes after heading out.
The lighthouse Faro de Arinaga
(Click for larger image)
Before returning to Las Palmas, we took a walk down by the beach front in Playa de Arinaga. A most clean and tidy town! Realizing that we had just done our last hike on Gran Canaria on this trip (and perhaps ever!) resulted in mixed feelings. I couldn't quite decide if I wanted to stay for one for week or be happy about returning to Norway the following day.
Arinaga sightseeing
(Click for larger image)
New Year's Eve 2010
During our stay in Las Palmas, we had stayed at (the quite fashionable) Hotel Reina Isabel. The hotel was throwing a New Year's Eve party, but as the entry fee was close to 100 EUR, Anne and me settled for trying our luck at some restaurant in town. But as most restaurants seemed to be either closed or fully booked in the evening, we were forced to have our New Year's Eve dinner in the afternoon...
As we had to drive to the airport in the middle of the night, our celebration had to be moderate. I really wouldn't mind calling it a day quite early in the evening, but we agreed to stay awake and welcome 2011 down on the beach. On our way to the beach, we could see that the dress code at the hotel party was way above anything we had brought.
A couple of minutes before midnight, there was hardly anyone to see on the beach. When the calendar showed 2011, we could see some modest fireworks. 10 minutes later, Las Palmas was "on fire", and there was people all over the place.
After watching the fireworks for half an hour, we returned to the hotel for a couple of hours sleep. The trip back to Norway went fine, but we were not in the mood for hiking/skiing in the afternoon. But on the morning of Jan 2, we skied Rjåhornet (600m). Quite a contrast to our recent vacation just west of of the African continent!
2011!
(Click for larger image)
