Our time on Tenerife was drawing to a close and we were waiting for a clear day to go up to El Teide. After checking the weather forecasts for the top of the volcano, we saw that our opportunity to go up would be during the last week of our stay. There is one bus up and one back per day. We hustled over to the stop and got in line with all of the other hikers. The bus ride up revealed the damage the cyclone Xynthia had caused and why the road had been closed for over a week. Along side the road were piles of cut logs while workers continued to cut up more of the downed trees. Many trees had snapped off halfway and others were uprooted. The bus ride up the volcano wound back and forth beyond the tree line up into the most desolate landscape I had ever seen. Being national park land there were no houses or commercial buildings except for the funicular and the Parador. The bus makes two stops, one at the funicular that takes you to the top of the volcano and the other at the Parador, a hotel with a great view of the volcano. We got off at the funicular stop so we could walk to the Parador.
From the funicular we had to walk down the road for a bit to pick up the hiking trail.
Maybe next time we'll take the cable car to the top. This time we were more interesed in the walk.
The day was hazy, but not socked in with clouds. The vegetation was very sparse.
The rock formations were amazing.
The trail wound back and forth and the only way we could tell that we were making progress was watching the hills in the distance getting larger as we approached them.
Looks like I'm walking to the edge of a cliff.
The trail continues on and on.
This formation reminded us of a castle ruin.
And we're still walking.
And still walking. We stopped after about an hour and a half to eat the sandwiches we brought along. Once in a while we saw another group of hikers, but mostly we were on the trail by ourselves.
And the trail still continues...
and the rock formations got closer so we knew we were making progress. This isn't the place I would like to get lost.
It was amazing thinking that the wind helped shape these forms.
Even from a distance I thought this looked like the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter.
And then we came upon a climber. He wasn't making any sound, I think it was the movement that caught my eye. It took about 2 hours of walking before the Parador was in sight. Then another hour before we reached it. Besides a few humans, the only living creatures we saw were a couple of lizards sunning themselves on a rock.
Finally we reached our goal. After over 3 hours of walking we were at the entrance to the Parador! That's Teide (snow capped) over my shoulder.
Proof that we had reached our destination. We stopped at the cafeteria and had cake and coffee, sat and rested our weary legs for a bit and headed over to the bus stop to wait for transportation back to town. Good thing we got to the stop early, the bus picked up from the Parador first and then from the funicular. There were about 6 hikers that had to stand for the ride down to Puerto de la Cruz. I sure am glad it wasn't us!
From the funicular we had to walk down the road for a bit to pick up the hiking trail.
Maybe next time we'll take the cable car to the top. This time we were more interesed in the walk.
The day was hazy, but not socked in with clouds. The vegetation was very sparse.
The rock formations were amazing.
The trail wound back and forth and the only way we could tell that we were making progress was watching the hills in the distance getting larger as we approached them.
Looks like I'm walking to the edge of a cliff.
The trail continues on and on.
This formation reminded us of a castle ruin.
And we're still walking.
And still walking. We stopped after about an hour and a half to eat the sandwiches we brought along. Once in a while we saw another group of hikers, but mostly we were on the trail by ourselves.
And the trail still continues...
and the rock formations got closer so we knew we were making progress. This isn't the place I would like to get lost.
It was amazing thinking that the wind helped shape these forms.
Even from a distance I thought this looked like the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter.
And then we came upon a climber. He wasn't making any sound, I think it was the movement that caught my eye. It took about 2 hours of walking before the Parador was in sight. Then another hour before we reached it. Besides a few humans, the only living creatures we saw were a couple of lizards sunning themselves on a rock. 
Finally we reached our goal. After over 3 hours of walking we were at the entrance to the Parador! That's Teide (snow capped) over my shoulder.
Proof that we had reached our destination. We stopped at the cafeteria and had cake and coffee, sat and rested our weary legs for a bit and headed over to the bus stop to wait for transportation back to town. Good thing we got to the stop early, the bus picked up from the Parador first and then from the funicular. There were about 6 hikers that had to stand for the ride down to Puerto de la Cruz. I sure am glad it wasn't us!
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