Two Passports, Two Packs/ Poles and A Purpose: Jnauary 23, 2018: Walking with a Virgin

Every year, on each of the Canary Islands, there is a procession in which honored parishoners confiscate the Virgin Mary from a chapel on a mountain post and relocate her to the beach or main cities for the end of summer. I'm not exactly sure how this tradition started, nor was Bert, our firmly agnostic hiking guide, but I figure if going to the beach at the end of summer is good enough for the faithful, why not take the blessed Mother along?

St Ermita mountain chapel near El Paso

Today, our hike started at the mountain chapel that houses the Mary that makes a trek annually to Santa Cruz de la Palma over ancient pathways first trod by the local Berber tribes. The people who carry this virgin must be tough stuff, because after an ascent 1500 feet, most of it straight up, I was plumb wore out. Even without the weight of the virgin mother.

This little lady, who doesn't likely feel little on an uphill 13 mile march to the sea on the OTHER side of the island, likes to have a bit of summer holiday it seems.

So up, up and away we went, sans a beautiful balloon (which my hips and thigh screamed would be so, so lovely) through the Canarian fir tree forest. These trees are HUGE and beautiful and perfectly adapted for life above the rainfall.

Tall and thin with most of the vegetation at the top, this tree has developed spikes to absorb moisture from the clouds which pass through it. You couldn't literally shower behind the tree, but when the wind blew, water would sprinkle on you from the tree.

Walking through the trees was TOUGH hiking, but so beautiful and every stop along the way, we were treated with amazing views of mountain and ocean.

When we finally reached the top, we were able to see Mt Teide on the island of Tenerife and....looked DOWN on clouds.

Mt Teide on Tenerife, like us, bobbing above the clouds.

But lest there be any rest for the weary, after a brief sojourn at the top----Blood, Sweat and Tears said it best--- what goes up, must come down. So we began a long downward slog to the capital city.

The long slog to the capital city.

We had a nice and welcome lunch stop where everyone took off the weight of packs (probably not nearly as much as blessed virgin!) and relished the sunshine and rest.

Can we stay at lunch forever, ask Mary, Clive, Dave and Tony?

Emma and Ruth, whose birthday it was, enjoy their lunch up on the hill.

Paul's hiking accoutrements amongst the needles.

The descent on this trek was relentless but punctuated by forest, views and eventually colorful houses and a local nun cloister as we drew closer to Santa Cruz de la Palma.

Passing by the nunnery

After about nine of descent, randoming cursing about steepness and many moans and groans, we started to say we were "walking for beer." The bar we intended to stop at was under construction so we ended up in Santa Cruz near the cathedral in Plaza de Espana with our prize.

Look Ma, I made it! Dos cerveza por favor.

We were lucky to get served in this bar, however, not due to age restrictions but due to mental health requirements!

Uh oh! We might be in trouble.

After a brief walkabout town, we were treated to a beautiful dinner all together at a restaurant called La Placeta. If anyone comes here, GO THERE!

We felt like we were the celebrants carrying the Virgin. They really did it up beautifully for 16 Euros each!

Incredible fresh salad...always my favorite. Don't worry, Jenny Ritter, we won't gain weight on this especially after a 13 mile walk.

All in all, it was a very tiring but incredible day with views many people wait a lifetime and never see. We are feeling very weary only outweighed by feeling fortunate!

Here's a map of our walk. We started at EL PASO in the left side and ended up in Santa Cruz de la Palma on the right. It was over the spinous mountain dividing the island.

The brown bits are the mountains. We walked to the sea.

I felt like I channeled John Muir today...except I'm pretty sure he was in better shape than me.

Paul's Ponderings: What an incredible day out. A pretty strenuous hike up then an even longer STEEP one down to Santa Cruz. We had it all weather-wise, except rain thankfully (although we did see an incredible sight of a tree in a cloud forest generating its own rain).....chill, wind, sun, heat, etc.

This was the first real hard hike of the trip and everyone did pretty well. Most of it was in heavy forest, but we finally ended up on city streets. The day closed with a great meal and great local wine to boot.

This island has almost no "fringe" like the two large islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife, with everything being built "up" from the waters edge. That said, it's quite scenic with HUGE ravines and up and down from/to same.

More great hiking to come....see bonus photos below...