Chimirique — Around Roque Nublo — Tejeda

From the foot of Roque Nublo towards Altavista

This time round, I and a few other people were let down by the local public transport system. Normally, it is reasonably reliable. Buses are occasionally late, of course, but so far I don’t remember the delays forcing me to change my plans. Well, there is always a first.

This time, the very infrequent bus number 18 which links Tejeda with Maspalomas was almost one hour late, so I had to change the plan. The route I did links Chimirique, a steep rock formation close to Juncal de Tejeda, to Roque Nublo, then going down to Tejeda. It is a classic ascent to Nublo, and forms a part of many possible routes around the centre of the island.

I still haven’t managed to get to the top of Chimirique massif. I am sure one day I will

The route is all ascent first couple of kilometres and all descent in the end, with a flat bit going around Roque Nublo. It’s very well signposted, but still may be confusing, because where several different paths lead you to a same place, each one gets its own distance marker, but not an indication of the difficulty. So you might be seduced by a shorter distance and find yourself facing a sharp ascent or a slippery descent. As a general rule, and if you are not in the mood for adventures, I suggest you follow short local paths, marked by yellow indicators.

View back from the beginning of the walk

Btw, there is a short, although steep, deviation from this path close to its beginning which brings you to Ventana del Bentayga rock arch. If you are not pressed for time, go ahead and check it out.

The rock tooth, Roque Elba, that sticks over the small reservoir Presa de Don Gregorio, currently completely dry

The branch that goes to Ventana del Bantayga starts close to the small reservoir Presa de Don Gregorio or Presa de Elba, which catches water coming down a short valley starting at the Roque Nublo plateau. There has been no considerable rain for almost a year now, so the reservoir was completely empty when I walked by.

Canary Pines

After the reservoir a small forest of Canary Pine trees starts on the right. They all look the same age and have a uniform conical Christmas Tree shape. They come from early reforestation efforts, and are still young by tree standards, a few decades at most. Old Canary Pines lose the uniformity, open up at the top and acquire personality and, occasionally, names.

Pine of Casandra, a print from a zinc etched plate

And here we have one of the examples of old pines, Pino de Casandra. There is a legend associated with it, a story of love, death, and dark magic, but let’s not get into it now. It is estimated to be about 385 years old and is 20 metres tall. And no, you wouldn’t see it on this particular walk, it’s growing close to one of the freshwater reservoirs, Presa de las Niñas, more to the south. But I just finished working on this particular plate and like the results, so wanted to show off.

Because of the way the landscape was lit, I noticed that there is another rock formation visible over a crest.
I think it is one of the less known and less visited rocks, Roque Palmes

Once the ascent is finished, a flat(ish) circular path that goes around Roque Nublo starts. That is to say, there are two possible ways to get to a little plateau on which Nublo sits — going clockwise or counterclockwise around it. It wasn’t in my plans to come up to Roque Nublo though, it looked quite crowded even from a distance, so I chose clockwise, the left branch of the path, as it has the best views.

Roque Nublo, appropriately for the name, got a little cloud drifting down from its top

I think at this point the distance marker to Tejeda was 7 km, and I sped up because I wanted to catch a three o’clock bus from Tejeda to San Mateo. As it later turned out I didn’t need to, as I was at the bus station at half past two already, but it did mean I didn’t do go on a side excursion to Fogalera. Once again, if not pressed for time, it’s worth checking it out, it gives you a somewhat different view into the Caldera de Tejeda.

Low winter light is so beautiful.

The distance between the bus stop in front of Chimirique, called “Degollada del Aserrador”, and the one in Tejeda was nine kilometres, which I covered in less than two hours, quite a reasonable speed in the mountains. The route, together with the side branches I didn’t do this time — Ventana del Bentayga and Fogalera, can be found here, the part in pale lilac.

I do hope next time the bus will be on time though.