Bart Route: Tenerife and the resolve of mine

As you already know, I start traveling whenever there is love being involved. When the affection calls, it is time to pack. Tenerife was no different. Except it was totally different. May I tell you a story of why I went to Spain for Erasmus, how it was decided that I shall go to Vic for Erasmus and how did I end up in Tenerife, the farthest to south I have ever been, and on Pico del Teide, the highest I have ever went.

It all started at the switch between 2013 and 2014. I realized I fell in love with Magda I knew from my studies. After spending some time together, having lots of fun, watching some movies, we started dating. The thing was, she was going for Erasmus of her own to Valencia, in January. I stayed in Poland.

During that time, an opportunity presented itself to us. A new programme was launched, Erasmus+. It is similar to the previous Erasmus, except now you can go one time for the course of your studies, not once in a lifetime, as it was before. Since I went to Turkey before, I thought it would be great to go there with her. Magda was easily convinced. After looking up the universities to go for the exchange offered by our faculty, we settled for Vic in Spain.

Long distance relationship was not something I thought would be challenging. We skyped, talked, laughed, shared out days and ideas. It was going pretty smooth I might say. Hell, we planned a stay together. It was a plan quite far into the future.So I think we were doing really good. I even visited her in Valencia for couple of days.

But after I got back from Valencia, something started to change. I could really feel it in the air. It wasn't three weeks that I got back from Valencia when I was informed that... she met somebody. And that was it.

I am not proud or happy of how I reacted. Imagine a guy, whos heart is broken for the very first time, add to it some family problems he would experience at the time he heard about it, like grandfather being scheduled for Parkinsons diagnosis and. mother scheduled for a knee operation. Combined with being tired after working the whole week and going for a weekend training, it exhausted me. I did not want to hear that the woman I love met somebody. Not at all.

Then, questions popped. Should I go to Vic in that case? Will she go there as well, won't she? As you probably figured, I decided to go. And I made a resolution. I will get over it. Because I designed a plan.

When we were still together, we thought about getting the three highest mountain peaks of Spain. We both loved mountains, so it seemed like a good idea. But since we parted ways, I realized I need a new challenge. A challenge for me, myself and I. One to by myself. That is when I decided to get the highest peak on my own. And that would be Pico del Teide on Tenerife, 3718-metre high volcano.

The time has come. After coming from Sweden and Denmark, I washed some clothes, re-packed and I was on the plane once more on 1st of December.

Let the pictures tell the story, as they usually do, and I shall just add my bits and parts here and there.

Arrival at the Northern Airport was quite a surprise. It was raining. It was foggy. It was no Tenerife! You tourist propaganda-makers! You lied to me! I decided to get on the bus and maybe get somewhere closer to Teide. But I did not know which bus to take. So I got into the first one... and ended up on the other side of the island, to Costa Adeje. Great start. Definitely closer to my goal, but still quite far.

I took another bus. This time to San Isidros. Closer, but still not it. Another one. Grenadilla. Yep. Good enough. From there, I will walk to Vilaflor. But first I ate the best pizza in my life, made by some Italians. While I was waiting for it, I kept on reading Jo Nesbo's "Leopard" (original title "Panserhjerte", in Polish "Pancerne serce"), a book I enjoyed reading before, but reading it in English put some things into perspective and I ended up having even more fun with adventures of alcoholic, drug-abusing detective trying to catch a serial killer on the loose. Guess what! One of the Italians recognized the book and the author! We had a great conversation over pizza, beers and Nesbo's works.

If you go on your own to the mountains, first thing you should pack is a knife. Before I left, I bought one from them. And I was on my way.

This fog made me wonder. Maybe I should look for a place to stay for the night, before it will get darker? I started walking pretty late, the sun was already setting. I did the photos of the caverns and hut before, because I was considering staying in one them. Fortunately, I found some hut under construction. So I settled for it.

I spent the night on some carton and a carpet, wrapped in everything I brought for the Teide - warm pants, long socks, two sweaters, and covered with an emergency foil blanket that keeps you from cooling down, because I did not bring a sleeping bag with me. And you know what? It worked perfectly!

I did not know I ended up in Colorado. Is South Park somewhere close?

Finally. Vilaflor.

I stayed there for the night, and on the next day I went on.

Do you know this kind of feeling, when it is the first time you see what you were dreaming about?

A quick pitstop...

On my way from the bus-stop to where the trail starts...

... it almost ended here.

This is where I asked for where does the trail start (hint: there is map next to it I did not notice). In response, I found out that it is not recommended to go to Teide. Not only that, but also that the last part of the trail, from the Altavista Refuge, where I wanted to spend the night, and the peak itself is closed because of ice.

I was shocked. I felt devastated. Then I started thinking, instead of feeling. I prepared for this trip since April. I walked around in the Polish mountains, when I injured my knee in May, but I recovered from it by September. I passed my exams in June and July so that I can go to Spain. I bought the equipment I needed for higher altitudes in August. I kept my diet and excersized, so I will be in shape. I tried myself out in Andora in October, when I decided that I need to quit smoking if I want to do it. I prepared my mind for half a year.

No.

I will do it. Not in a stupid way. I will find out, how the conditions really are. For now, I will make to Altavista.

I realized that I won't be needing so much stuff in my backpack. Even I left maybe one kilogram of things, the centre of gravity switched, so it became much easier to walk upwards. It was the best decision I could make.