GR131 Canary Islands, Day 20 – Sunday, Feb 1, 2026
I finished the hike across Tenerife on Friday, two days ago. My body was exhausted, and for once, a rest day yesterday felt both well-earned and necessary.
This morning at 7:19 AM, we took the bus from Playa San Juan, where we were staying, to Los Cristianos to catch the ferry to San Sebastián on La Gomera. This time, we didn’t go with Fred Olsen, but opted for Naviera Armas instead. Their ferry left at 9:00 AM, while Fred Olsen’s was a half-hour later. To make the most of our day, we caught the earlier boat. The crossing took about 50 minutes.
We’ve planned to spend two and a half to three days hiking across this island. The first stage is 27 km (16.8 miles) long, with nearly 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) of elevation gain. Most of that climbing happens within the first 15 km (9.3 miles).
Inger’s back has been bothering her a bit on the inclines, and we got a late start on this first leg.
Because of that, we decided on a solution we haven’t used yet on this trip: we’re going «slackpacking,» as they say in the hiking world. This means we’re only carrying one pack with day-trip essentials. I’m the one carrying the pack so that Inger can hike without any weight on her back.
We booked the last available hotel room in San Sebastián for tonight. We’re starting the hike this morning with light packs and will stop at a point with a bus connection to head back to San Sebastián for the night. Tomorrow morning, we’ll take the bus—with our full gear—back to where we left off today. We’ll just have to see where that ends up being.
On our way to Hotel Colombina, we picked up some food and drinks for the trail. It was too early to check in, but we were able to repack our bags and leave most of our gear there. This left us with just one pack containing food, water, and necessary clothing.
By 10:45 AM, we were on the trail. It was unseasonably warm in the valley and on the mountainside near San Sebastián. We haven’t felt this hot or sweated this much the entire trip as we did during those first 300 meters (985 feet) of climbing.
Believe me, I was glad I only had a daypack.
There wasn’t a breath of wind at the start—a total contrast to Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. The sun made it extra intense, and there was no shade to be found.
As we gained altitude, things improved. We got a few light breezes, but more importantly, the air temperature dropped, making it much more comfortable.
After about 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) of climbing, we entered the forest. The route offered stunning views of the steep, beautiful valleys to both the north and south. To the east, we could see Tenerife and Mount Teide. Today, there was almost no fog on the south and west sides of the island.
Parts of the woods felt like a prehistoric rainforest, with green moss clinging to the trunks and branches. I saw something similar in New Zealand a year ago.
The trail ran almost parallel to the GM-2 road, and we crossed it several times. Since it’s Sunday, the bus schedule is very limited. We were aiming for Line 1 (Valle Gran Rey to San Sebastián), which departed Valle Gran Rey at 4:30 PM. The line only lists the departure time from the starting point. We reached the Cruce de Pajarito stop half an hour later, only to find out the bus was running an hour later than I thought. It was pretty frustrating—that’s a long time to wait.
I suggested to Inger that we try to hitchhike instead.
Mostly tourists drive these roads, and in my experience, they aren’t always keen on picking up hikers. However, after about 20 minutes, a car actually stopped. It was Carola, originally from Germany but now living on La Gomera. She was headed to San Sebastián to catch the ferry to Tenerife, so it was a perfect match. We had a lovely drive back to town with her.
Today’s leg ended up being 18 km (11.2 miles) with 1,620 meters (5,315 feet) of elevation gain. I can tell you one thing: tackling that kind of climb with a daypack is a completely different world compared to carrying a full expedition pack.