European mountains
La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain

Los Roques, Dec 30 2009 & Jan 1 2010

To the main Los Roques page (maps, route descriptions, other trip reports, etc.)

To the La Gomera introduction page.

 

Nov 4 2010: Today, I was informed by Estudio de Variables Ecológicas en el Parque Nacional de Garajonay that public access to the Los Roques is not permitted.

 

 

Roque Carmona, 1148m, Dec 30 2009

 

 

Los Roques

Los Roques
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This was our (Anne Rudsengen and me) third day on the island of La Gomera, and the fog that gave us zero views on Garajonay and Fortaleza the day before, was gone. We didn't have any explicit plans for the day, but drove up to the high country to get the famous Los Roques in view. We stopped at the main Los Roques viewpoint and could see Roque de Agando, Roque de la Zarcita and Roque de Ojila rise around us. Then there was this little, cool rock (Roque Carmona) which seemed like a much better viewpoint, and that's where we headed next.

After a short and easy scramble, we were on top of Roque Carmona and could see our car - completely blocked by tourist buses from Tenerife and San Sebastian.

 

The main Los Roques viewpoint, seen from Carmona

The main Los Roques viewpoint, seen from Carmona
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Roque Carmona was fun, but this was not a real mountain and we continued our journey to Montańa de Yerta, and later on point 1045m (which I will refer to as Las Toscas), before strolling up to the Tagamiche viewpoint - all covered in a separate trip report (soon), before returning to the Los Roques area where we discovered a  trail to Roque de la Zarcita.

 

Roque de la Zarcita, 1232m, Dec 30 2009

 

Roque de la Zarcita

Roque de la Zarcita
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[ information about the ascent has been removed ]

From the summit, we waved towards the tourists at one of the Los Roques viewpoints, and they waved back. Today, some of them got a Zarcita picture with two additional features...

 

On Roque de la Zarcita

On Roque de la Zarcita
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After descending Zarcita, we returned to Valle Gran Rey. The day after we visited the Tejeleche range in the northeast (separate trip report). But on the first day of 2010, the urge to explore Roque de Ojila had grown strong, and we returned to the Zarcita trailhead to see where the other path would take us.

 

 

Roque de Ojila, 1170m, Jan 1 2010

 

Roque de Ojila

Roque de Ojila
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[ information about the ascent has been removed ]

3pm - 70 minutes after leaving the trailhead, there was big joy on Roque de Ojila. What a great way to start the new year! 4155km southwest of my house, and far, far away from winter and snow. Awesome! We enjoyed the views for a while before we started to focus on the descent. I felt quite calm about the descent, having studied enough details on the way up to avoid a major navigational error upon descent.

Back in the forest, we were high on adrenaline. Not because of the scramble, but because we had been up there. Which seemed like a faint dream when we started to become familiar with the island 5 days earlier. We decided not to hike anymore that evening. Nothing could top this. 

 

On the way up Ojila

On the way up Ojila
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Next report: Las Toscas

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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Roque Carmona, Dec 30 2009

1. La Merica, visited 2 days earlier 2. Los Roques info 3. Roque de Agando 4. Los Roques viewpoint 5. Tourist buses 6. On the way up Carmona 7. On the way up Carmona 8. Ojila seen from Carmona 9. Roque de Ojila zoomed in 10. Zarcita seen from Carmona 11. Agando seen from Carmona 12. Me on Carmona 13. Anne on Carmona 14. Montăna de Yerta - our next stop 15. Teide seen from Carmona 16. Zarcita summit zoomed in 17. Anne on Roque de Carmona

Roque de la Zarcita, Dec 30 2009

18. National park info 19. Carmona and Ojila 20. Montăna de Yerta 21. Roque de Agando 22. Fire fighters memorial 23. On the way up Zarcita 24. Following the ridge in centre 25. Roque Carmona 26. Roque de Agando 27. Almost up 28. Agando and Carmona 29. Ojila 30. Our route to Ojila, 2 days later 31. On top of Zarcita 32. On top of Zarcita 33. On top of Zarcita 34. On top of Zarcita 35. Wide-angle view from Zarcita 36. Tagamiche - visited a few hours later 37. The route to Zarcita 38. Descending Zarcita 39. Descending Zarcita 40. The forest path 41. The Zarcita/Ojila trailhead 42. Parking just up the road

Roque de Ojila, Jan 1 2010

43. Zarcita 44. Los Roques viewpoint 45. The scramble begins 46. Bush and steep terrain 47. Carmona 48. Me, looking for a way up 49. Anne on exposed slab rock 50. Looking for clues 51. Careful.. 52. One more clue has been found 53. Another exposed point 54. Airy 55. We are on the right track 56. View up 57. The land of Giants 58. Zarcita 59. A pinnacle to remember 60. More bush 61. Almost up 62. On top of Ojila 63. On top of Ojila 64. Wide-angle view from Ojila 65. Wide-angle view from Ojila 66. La Laja 67. Roque de Agando 68. Agando and Carmona 69. Tagamiche 70. The ridge route 71. Back in the forest 72. Looking back on Ojila 73. A cool tree 74. On the forest path 75. Ojila 76. Ojila 77. Zarcita 78. Back to being tourists

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