Hoya de la Sima, La Palma

Our final few days in the La Palma were marked with high winds, episodes of rain (really), and a lot of clouds.  Our first attempt at this hike had us turning around while still on the drive up to the parking lot, discouraged by thick fog, cool temps, and strong winds.

Luckily for us, a little luck had us instead find a tucked away little beach where the sun kept shining and the strong northerly winds were blocked.  Instead of walking in blustery fog, we spent the afternoon catching a day of sunshine and swimming on the black beach of Puerto Tazacorte.  It seems that regardless of the weather elsewhere on the island, this corner at the bottom of Taburiente Crater manages to be sunny most of the time. 

As we were driving back to our hotel from the beach, we saw that the clouds had thinned a little bit on the ridge, but it was too late in the day to go for a hike.   The next day, we planned a little better.  Rainshowers still fell on us on the eastern side of the island, so we drove west to Puerto Tazacorte again for some midday sun.  Then when the clouds thinned a little, we finally geared up for our last hike.  It took a bit of mental fortitude to dress in several layers (after being in swimming clothes on the beach!).  And getting out of the car in strong winds and dense fog was even harder.  In fact, it looked like a blizzard of fog blowing across the road.  But once we turned a corner on the trail and walked a little ways, we came out of the fog again and had a pleasant walk through thick pines along a mostly level fire road.   We also crossed one of the most recent lava flows, from 1949.  The lava trail seemed to be heading right for a small town, then inexplicably diverted around it.

The far point of our walk was our destination.  A deep hole in the ground known as Hoya de la Sima.   The bottom was invisible in the black, and surely there must be caves leading out from it as well.  There is quite a system of caves on La Palma, volcanic and otherwise.   But we left speculation and the hole behind, and enjoyed the walk back even more, getting a last day's sniff of pine scent and blue skies, with just a tad of warmth.

Distance: 6 miles, 2 hrs, and 500 feet of elevation gain (and loss).

Walk #14 from the Walking on La Palma Cicerone Guide