My mountain photos of Gran Canaria were taken in April 2007 on two walks described by Gary Rosson on his Cyberhiker website, to whom I am very grateful. Click on the Cyberhiker banner to see his informative website.

This first set of pictures was taken walking from St Bartholome to the summit of Pozo de las Nieves (Well of the Snows) 6,292ft / 1,917m and back via Cruz Grande. The distance is about 10 miles and the ascent about 3,000 ft (914m). The walk is not overly strenuous. There are no difficult ascents although care is needed on the final very short climb to the top of the summit rock. The track along the whole route is well defined including a few signposts; it is cobbled in several places. Walking through the pine forests on top of the mountain range whilst heading north-east towards Pozo de las Nieves is very pleasant indeed due to the flickering shade from openly spaced pine trees. Any high views on this walk to the north, west or to the south-east are absolutely stunning as you will see from the photographs.

The second walk is an anticlockwise circular walk from Ayagaures around Montana Negra (3,521ft / 1,073m) and back to Ayagaures. The distance is 9 miles and the ascent about 2,500ft (761m). This route also is well defined including sign-posts and marker rocks. Waypoints mentioned in the photos are those denoted by Gary Rosson. As much of this walk is in canyons with high mountains on either side it is not as scenic or spectacular as Pozo de las Nieves. It does however give you a feel for the sort of arid scrubland typical of the island terrain. Some long stretches of the walk are on wide unsurfaced roads presumably for vehicular access. Whilst good time can be made here I found these sections less interesting than the rest of the route. There apparently is a track up the final elevation to the top of Montana Negra from the unsurfaced road to the east. I was unable to spot it and therefore didn't attempt the final climb. Several brick dams have been built in the vicinity which may have obscured the beginning of the path to the top or else it may have simplly become overgrown. The most pleasant sections are through lovely pine forests on the long climb from Ayagaures to Montana Negra and on the trail heading west towards La Cruz de la Umbria which lies to the north of Montana Negra.