Vol.42
Quick Facts
Fun meter: Okay, but a bit boring
Location: La Palma
Adventure: Hike
Type: Mountain / Volcano
Time: 1 hour
Level of difficulty: medium
Good for what ages: 5+
Cost: free
Hint: Go to the bathroom before, there is not one there, also get there early, the parking gets filled up.
Overview
Above the clouds, the air was fresh and the views were incredible. The Roque de los Muchachos was a short hike along the rim of a volcano. It is so high they have the observatories to look at stars, but we didn’t get to go in because of Covid. Most of the trails were closed due to Covid as well, which I don’t understand. Why bother? It is the highest point of the island. The hike is cool for older kids, but not really littles kids. The trail is steep and tricky. Go there with a packed lunch, as there are no restaurants. I ended up pretty car sick from the drive, which made me grumpy, and the hike was hard to enjoy.
How to Get There
Just google map it. Lots of options, all curvy and slow. We were coming from the west coast and it took about an hour and a half. There were lots of one lane roads, and it was quite steep on the way up, so give yourself plenty of time. Bring ginger chews for everyone in the back.
The Hike
We got to the top of the mountain early and scored a parking spot. The views from the parking lot are amazing and even if you can’t hike, it’s pretty cool. There was a flock of ravens, or a “rave”, “treachery”, “unkindness” and “conspiracy”. What did ravens ever do to get such a bad reputation? So weird. Well they were pretty interested in our food and liked to pose for photos.
We started off on the only path which was available at that moment. Most of the main trails were closed because of Covid. I really don’t understand why they would close the trail, but maybe they didn’t have enough park rangers?
We started down the dirt trail along the edge of the volcano. Almost the entire time I had to go to the bathroom, so make sure you go before you get there. The trail runs along a ridge, so there really isn’t anywhere you can sneak off in private to pee. It was a pretty small hike because so much of the trail was closed. My parents loved it.
The trail runs along the tippy top of the mountain cliffs. It had all of these zig-zag paths that are pretty steep, so watch your step. It is a long, long way down. Sojourn seemed to be able to scramble through these just fine with dad’s help, but I don’t think a little kid or great grandpa could do it. After about 30 minutes, we stopped at the end viewpoint and had the picnic. You could see clouds flowing across the landscape. While we were eating, all of these lizards kept trying to steal our food. That was fun, there were so many lizards. This specific trail has almost no plants and no shade. It got warm and a hat and sunscreen was a must.
Traveling With Serenity 