La Gomera Hike #3: Vallehermoso-Playa-Vallehermoso
Today’s hike is a circular route starting and ending from my hotel in Vallehermoso. From my hotel, I made my way to the main square in town and then walked through some small streets to finally reach the trailhead. Roque El Cano holding sentinel over the town and surrounding valley.
The first part of the hike is a continuous, demanding ascent through a plush valley of palm trees, bamboo, and wildflowers taller than my waist.
I hiked by this abandoned building in the most beautiful valley and just loved this framed window picture!
The culmination of the climb led me to the Santa Clara chapel at 750m/2,461ft which sits on a narrow ridge with spectacular views looking deep down into the valley on one side and out to the ocean on the other.
Crossing the ridge, I had a nice bit of flat hiking and amazing views of the coastline. The weather was just clear enough to give me my first views of La Palma, the neighboring island to the west. The vegetation became much sparser and drier, completely different from any other area I’ve hiked so far.
Once crossing the ridge, I began a very steep, relentless downhill on a narrow rocky path with super tight switchbacks…from 750m (2,461ft) all the way down to sea level, yes that’s 0m (0ft). Good grief!! It was a solid 1.5 hours of mindfulness practice requiring complete concentration, literally choosing every step with the utmost of care.
The entire way I could see the area of coastline I was hiking to, it was sooooo far away. I was unsure how I would ever reach the bottom. Of course, eventually if you keep hiking down, you will get there. I was singing the Dory song from Finding Nemo in my head but instead of “just keep swimming” I was singing “just keep walking, just keep walking!”
By the time I reached the Playa at Vallehermoso, my legs and my brain were both baked! It was a huge accomplishment and I was happy to take a moment and breath it all in with so much gratitude to my body and my mind for serving me so well. Cheers to me!
