On Monday we started quite late, after we did a load of laundry in the morning and a couple of other things. We drove towards West through lovely pine forests...
...to mirador near Portillo. Rocks and bushes around parking were full of these little dragons, and they were not very shy.
We started the hike around the volcano named Alto de Guamaso. It is at about 2000m, just where the pine trees get very few. We could see the forests below...
...but at our height it was mostly rocks. While we were driving through low clouds on our way up, where it was not very warm, once above the clouds the sky was clear blue and the sun scorching. For some reason we forgot to bring our caps with us. Already after ten minutes of walk it was getting too hot and we could feel the sun burning our ears and necks. So we had to improvise - captain made an elaborate cap from a shopping bag made of fabric for himself...
...and I tied a long sleeved T-shirt around my neck. Soon I tied it over my head, sun was burning the skin between my hair as well. But for aesthetic reasons there are no photos of that.
The path was good and hike easy and not too long.
When we came around the volcano there was Teide again...
...and some more pine forests below us. Through these forests there was a path on which the goat herds were brought from the North to the South of the island. That's why the crossroads is called Portillo, the little door, and the planes below Teide Canadas, the herds path.
Only few pines managed to grow at our height.
On our way back we took many photos of rocks along the road from driving car - so you may see some car parts in photos and some might be a bit blurry. But the road is narrow and fenced in and you can not stop where you would like to, but only in miradors. We were really fascinated by the colours...
...and shapes...
...and colours again.
For this one we were able to stop, there is one mirador at each side of it, so we took more photos.
In mirador where we stopped, there was also the board with explanation of why the low clouds appear and we learned something new again.
We drove to the South towards Guimar, again through some pretty forests. I love this soft mountain grass.
The pine trees produce so many dry pine needles...
...that the locals collect them in large piles and then transport them with trucks. They are using them in agriculture as fertiliser and animal bedding.
Another place, where the dry pine needles were collected, below there was a parking of a sort.
Driving further down we came to the low cloud.
We discovered something new again - poppy plants in bloom, we just saw them in this part of the island.
It was a lovely day with even more lovely evening - we were invited to our friend's boat for delicious shrimps. Yum.
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