Montana de la Muda, Montana de Enmedio, Calderon Hondo, Morro de Piedras Caidas
Peaks visited:
| Peak | Height | PF | Municipality | Location |
| Montana de la Muda | 689m | 423m | Fuerteventura | GPX |
| Montana de Enmedio | 532m | 188m | Fuerteventura | |
| Calderon Hondo | 273m | 198m | Fuerteventura | GPX |
| Morro de Piedras Caidas | 175m | 93m | Fuerteventura | GPX |
Montana de la Muda
Our 4th day on Fuerteventura was about exploring the north side of the island. But Anne knows I’m a bit restless if I haven’t bagged a couple of new tops before lunch, so that had a certain priority…
Our first choice was Montana Tindaya (400m) – seemingly a popular mountain top located southwest of La Oliva. But when we got to the trailhead, a sign told us that the path was closed for maintenance. Sneaking up on this top from the back side was not an option, so we started looking for another top.
After checking the map, it seemed that Montana de la Muda (689m) was the highest top in the north, 2m higher than Cerro del Aceitunal – on the opposite side of the valley. A mountain road, servicing a military station below the summit started at La Matilla, and we decided to follow it.
As I had feared, the road was closed by a gate just below the military installation. So I decided to get to the summit via a path that would take me to the east ridge, and then off-trail up the east ridge. Anne didn’t have footwear for off-trail hiking and decided to turn around.
After a quick hike up the east ridge, I reached the summit 30 minutes after leaving the trailhead. I wasn’t quite sure if I had done anything illegal, but there were no signposts or fences implying that I had…
I descended quickly down the mountain and joined Anne, waiting in the car. Then we drove on to explore the north.
Pictures from the Montana de la Muda hike
Montana de Enmedio
We drove for 5 minutes and then I noticed Montana de Enmedio…
The map told us that there was a road between Montana de la Muda and Montana de Enmedio and the vertical gain up from the pass was only 200m. I just couldn’t let that one pass, and Anne understood completely. Bless her heart! Because of her bad knee, she decided to sit this one out.
It took me 20 minutes to get to the top of Enmedio and back to Anne. The time was now 11:30am, it was not even lunch time and I had two new peaks “in the bag”. Everything was just alright!
Pictures from the Montana de Enmedio hike
Calderon Hondo
We continued north to the town Lajares. Anne wanted to hike the volcano Calderon Hondo. And I didn’t mind at all.
We were not tempted to go on a camel tour at the trailhead, and instead followed the trail leading to the volcanoes southwest of Corralejo.
A well worn trail led us to the north side of the volcano, then a path led us up to the crater.
At the crater, I could see multiple small objects in rapid movement. It took a while before the first one stood still, and I could get a decent photo. Wildlife, but quite accustomed to humans…
From the crater, we hiked off-trail along the crater in a strong wind. Occasionally, Anne had to use her hands for support.
From the top, we had a good overview of the north side of the island, and I could see peaks on Lanzarote that we did a few years ago.
We then followed a sandy path down on the southwest side and passed Montana Colorada (the south ridge of the volcano) before we joined our ascent route.
I am not sure what things in life makes a camel happy, but I don’t think waiting for tourists is one of them…
Pictures from the Calderon Hondo hike
Playa del Pozo
We enjoyed lunch in Lajares. Again, we were reminded about the importance of goats on this island…
After lunch, we continued towards Corralejo. We didn’t go into the city, but drove to the east coast and the desert El Jable. We were wondering if the sand had blown in from the African continent.
We stopped near Playa del Pozo and went for a walk on a beach that was just out of this world. Surely paradise for any form of kiting…
Pictures from Playa del Pozo
Morro de Piedras Caidas
We decided to return to the Las Playitas Sports Resort where we were staying for the week. Near the outskirts of the beach town Gran Tarajal, Anne suggested that she could drop me off and that I could walk back to the hotel – across the ridge separating Gran Tarajal and Las Playitas.
I wanted to save the high point (187m) for Jan 1 2017 (I had an ambition of bagging at least 5 new tops on the first day in the new year) and just took this as a regular walk.
On my way across the ridge, I went over to the 2nd highest point – Morro de Piedras Caidas (175m), before continuing towards Las Playitas across La Atalayita.
As I approached the hotel complex, I was satisfied with the stay so far – with 13 new pf100 (primary factor >= 100m) tops in 4 days. But something was still missing. And that was Cardon (694m).
When Anne told me that she would be joining the training programs at the hotel the next day, I knew that day 5 on this island would be all about Cardon…
I enjoyed the evenings at Las Playitas – relaxing on the balcony with a cold beer before going down to dinner. This night, we went to a restaurant that was not part of the hotel complex, and we enjoyed ourselves to the fullest. Evenings to remember…
Pictures from the Morro de Piedras Caidas hike
