My lazy legs had found their stride again, after a few months of neglecting the walking trails I dived back in with a mission to explore one of the newly promoted routes from Candelaria Ayuntamiento. It was so enjoyable I just kept on going along the east coast of Tenerife down to Guimar to make a nice long afternoon of it.

There’s a full report to come on the stretch from Candelaria basilica to Playa de La Viuda for blog.tenerife.co.uk , a 90 minute walk that revealed a little used route with plenty to offer. I bade farewell to the charming old fishing village and briefly took the road long the back of the industrial estate that contains the Mahou brewery, I’d tasted that a few months before covering a CD Tenerife promotional visit. Thoughts of beer had to be banished from my head on this scorching afternoon, my water ration was good for another few hours and El Socorro welcomed me back to the coast.

A popular bathing area, El Socorro beach was fairly busy with families and the small refreshment van under a tree was doing a steady trade. A few yards further marked the entrance to Malpais de Guimar (badlands of Guimar) a protected area of natural beauty, if you like volcanic cones and twisted lava flows this will knock you bandy. The last stretch of surfing waves was soon left behind and I was into the wide open landscape as I followed a loosely marked path. A few roughly thrown together shelters and shacks were the only signs of life as the dark, hard rock underfoot kept me alert.

I was quite shocked by the amount of rubbish left behind at the surfing zone, this gave way to natures own deposits with driftwood and discarded waste from boats driven onto the rocks by the strong tides. The wispy clouds hung quite low in the Guimar valley as the lava fields stretched up through the cones to the TF1 motorway. One of the cones, Montaña de la Mar, made a fine natural mirador to take in the view and the information on the thoughtfully provided board. This peak was formed 10,000 years ago, if that sounds a long time just consider that in terms of Tenerife’s geology this and it’s 277 metre inland neighbour, Montaña Grande, were formed in the most recent hour.

Just after this resting point I encountered a couple pushing their bicycles along the track, there was no way thy could ride them on this rough stretch, and the bad news was they would be unseated for well over another hour until they got to El Socorro. My eyes, and legs, were cheered to see an end to the lava coast as El Puertito loomed up in the distance. Another assorted collection of old fishing shacks and improvised shelters eased me onto a smoother pathway and into the very busy El Puertito. Families were packed along the quayside and the sea was a big lure for the hot and sweaty, I should have brought my swimming gear. Instead I made for a local bar, a cold beer, and a huge chocolate pastry as I reflected on another route to add to my collection.