La Gomera Hike #4: Vallehermoso to Hermigua
This morning I said goodbye to Vallehermoso, crossed through its valley for the last time and began the long climb up to and beyond Roque El Cano…the impressive basalt core of a volcano that is the symbol of the town of Vallehermoso.
Looking back down on the town, I’m always in awe at how quickly the ascent happens as the town just keeps getting smaller and farther away. Here I am standing next to Roque El Cano and pointing down to Vallehermoso. Yup…that’s where I started this morning.
Today is my longest day of hiking both in distance and in vertical climb at 24km (15mi) with ups and downs of 1100m (3600ft). Today was a day that pretty much covered the “all of all of it.” Some of the most beautiful trails and views I’ve had so far combined with stretches where I had to walk on roads and then there was a valley to cross with a tiny, narrow trail cut through the tall and overgrown bamboo.
After passing Roque El Cano, the path eased up a bit, flatter with less rocks.
The trail also led me past a random gate with a fist sticking out of the earth that clearly needed to be “bumped” in celebration of making it this far. I looked around and eventually found the gnome’s head…the good news is he looks happy.
The path continued to climb and ended up dumping out on a road on the other side of the mountain. According to my map, it looked like I would be hiking past an impressive size lake. Maps can be deceiving. It ended up being lovely but not too terribly impressive mostly due to the low water level I am sure.
After crossing up and over another ridge, I started the long, steep, rocky, and very beautiful decent.
Leaving the town of Agulo is when the track I was walking got all kinds of wonky. I trekked along the main road for a while, then down more and more stairs, crossing through banana plantations, down into a bamboo field and stream, up and up more stairs, eventually passing through the town of Lepe. Then I walked along a beach road to the town I thought was mine that was not mine at all.
The last bit of my walk uphill led me through a beautiful valley with farms and orchards and lots of banana fields. I had a moment of relief, thinking this all seemed worth it, when I ended up back down at sea level again near a black rock beach with a lovely town right on the water’s edge. That looks like a perfect place to spend the night. I just knew this had to be my town…finally…right?!?
Turns out not only was that NOT my destination for the night, I still had 3km (1.9mi) of walking up another 200m (656ft) with the last 60m (197ft) being a VERY VERY steep climb just to get to my hotel. Honestly, the very last bit was not my favorite part! Whew!!
My actual destination is the village of Hermigua which dates back to the 16th century. My hotel, Hotel Rural Ibo Alfaro, is a 150 year old manor house turned hotel. My room offered a lovely view to the Atlantic Ocean (which I would have happily given up to have a hotel at sea level-haha) and Hermigua Valley.
Successfully trudging all the way up hill, I found keys to access the hotel and my room taped to the front door of the manor with my name on them. No one was working there at the time of my arrival. This is not unusual for small local inns in villages in Europe. Unfortunately, this was also the exact time I discovered that there was no restaurant at the hotel or anywhere close to the hotel. If I wanted to eat dinner, and after 25km of hard hiking I absolutely did want to eat dinner, I had to make the long trek back down the hill into town AND then trek all the way back up again afterwards. UGH!!
Just to show I am not exaggerating…here is my lovely hotel, and down there…that is the location of the closest restaurant for dinner.
