Area: La Aldea, Gran Canaria
Limited time this morning, so I opted for the walk towards the famed Gui Gui cove from El Albercon, a village between La Aldea and the sea. This was a good choice - a shady valley. I had perfect views of the endemic Canarian Southern Grey Shrike (the koenigi subspecies) along with Sardinian warbler. My target was merely the pronounced col below Penon Bermejo, where I hoped to have a choice between the very striking Cedro (La Aldea's signature peak) or the consolation prize of the Penon. The route up the valley passed a few shacks and again reminded me of previous experiences in desert mountain areas in many parts of the world. After steep zigzags up an open gully, the walls of Cedro closing in, a traverse path led to the col and a breathtaking surprise view, the best of the trip (and that is up against some stiff competition). Below, rock walls plunged down to a deep rock valley down to the Atlantic. Above, the narrow ridge to Penon Bermejo and beyond. Left of this ridge, the deep blue Atlantic with Teide rising in perfect clarity from Tenerife. Behind, the sun rose over the shoulder of Cedro (which was clearly unfeasible in the time available). So, it was the consolation prize: I took the ridge north-west in an exhilarating position. This became quite narrow and scrambly, beautiful but slighly loose orange rock, and led to a small summit with stunning views. The next peak, Amurgar, was clearly dominant, but like yesterday it looked involved and was certainly unfeasible given my need to check out of the hotel. So I settled for Penon Bermejo, descended to the col, and went back the same way to El Albercon.
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