Ah – Roque Imoque – what a rock!
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | MAP |
| 21.12.23 | Roque del Conde | 1001m | 242m | Tenerife, Spain | MAP |
| 21.12.23 | Roque Imoque | 1102m | 115m | Tenerife, Spain | MAP |
| 21.12.23 | Roque de Los Brezos | 1109m | 102m | Tenerife, Spain | MAP |
Thursday: Another beautiful morning at Los Gigantes. During breakfast, we enjoyed a rainbow but without the rain.
Today, we wanted to do a round trip hike in the Arona region, across Roque de Conde, Roque Imoque and Roque de los Brezos (also known as Montaña de los Brezos). Based on what we could find of information, this was supposedly an round trip hike with elements of scrambling/climbing. What those elements actually were, was the exciting question mark for us.
Our hike began in Arona. We parked by a school (?) and found our way to the trailhead, further west.
The first task was to cross Barranco del Ancón.
The trail through the gorge and up the mountain was just excellent.
After a while, we had a mighty good view towards Tenerife’s south/southwest coastline.
We reached the top of Roque del Conde and were “dying” to find out what was ahead of us.
Maybe Roque Imoque would throw us a curveball, but time would show. It looked quite steep, but we saw some kind of path on the map, so how hard could it be?
After the usual photos, we started discussing where to go next. Anne said we should descend on the east side of the mountain – which looked hilariously steep. I suggested we should descend on the west side, but as our AllTrails map displayed a path on the east side, I gave in.
This route is not for the faint-hearted. The route to the north ridge has a couple of spooky sections if you don’t have a head for heights. Fortunately, that is not a problem for us, and we enjoyed the fairly easy scrambling this route had to offer.
Care is needed, though. A stumble in this type of terrain isn’t good. This route also had a “don’t look down” section.
But after that, the north ridge was easy enough and we reached the pass between Conde and Imoque.
We chatted briefly with an English couple that were also heading for Imoque and then we moved on.
The trail up to the pass between Imoque and Brezos was excellent.
But Imoque looked intimidating. On our AllTrails map, there was a marked path up the ridge, but what kind of trail was that?
I could have spent ALL day up here…
Eventually, we reached the pass and could focus on Imoque.
From a distance, this looked impossible. But the rule of thumb is never to give up until you’ve given it your very best.
Once we reached the cliffs below the summit, the terrain didn’t look all bad. Easy scrambling up steep cliffs, with the possibility of falling and dying on the spot. That was not the plan though, and I said to Anne that I could scout the route while she rested.
The route to the top turned out to be super-easy for people used to scrambling and within minutes I was back down and asked her to come along.
The scramble to the top consists of three parts. The lower cliffs are the most challenging part, and you can choose between several routes.
The 2nd pitch is very short and is basically just a short scramble without exposure.
The 3rd pitch is also an easy scramble once you’ve decided which handholds to trust. Remember – always, always check and double check any rock you choose to depend on! You want a handhold, not to hold the rock in your hand!
And then we were up! This was clearly the highlight of the day, although the hike was far from over.
The descent went fine, and we found another route down the lower cliffs. At the bottom, the English couple was waiting for their turn. This was not their first time up this mountain and we understood that they had a climbing history together.
Next, we returned to the Imoque – Brezos pass and had lunch.
I was eager to get going and eventually, we did…
Brezos was sort of a bonus top. The top was “right there” and it didn’t take us long to reach the top.
There we met a German guy and a Dutch couple. The Dutch couple talked us into coming over to the 1097m western top. But first, a picture on top.
The Ducthman told us he had been to Roque Imoque and that was the scariest moment of his life. Next, we headed for the western top.
On the western top, it was nice to see all the tops we had hiked.
We also had a good view towards the crags further west of Brezos.
After a while, we parted with our European hiking buddies and sat course for the Barranco del Ancón gorge. On the way down, we could see the German guy heading for Imoque. He was on the wrong path and we got him back on track before he went out of sight.
It wasn’t possible to follow the gorge and we had to get up on the other side.
Once across, we followed a gravel road/trail in the direction of Arona.
We soon caught up with the English couple and we chatted some more.
It’s always nice to walk down the valleys on Tenerife, as you get a close view towards the farms and their produce. Yesterday, it was bananas, today it was oranges.
Eventually, we returned to Arona and could call it a day.
It was very nice to get back to the hotel, enjoy a shower and a couple of beers while watching the sun go down. I’m not sure if I can remember having seen a more beautiful sunset. It was something about the sunrays…
Sunset also means dinner…
Trip statistics 12,7km, 975 vertical meters, 5h:40m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max/Samsung Galaxy 21S):
