Roque Nublo is often quoted as the natural symbol of Gran Canaria and is a peak that I wanted very much to hike to. I managed to organise the outing with www.gcactivetour..es, a small hiking company run by a Polish chap called Marek. There were 6 other members of the group, all Polish. After an 8-40 a.m. pick up at the Riu hotel, we headed north to the center of the island along Route GC-60 passing through Mundo Aborigen, Arteara, Fatagato Ayacata, where we turned off to the right and parked just above La Goleta on the GC-600.

The road up the barranco was steep and twisty and we had to stop several times as one group member was feeling queasy. We had magnificent views of Pico de las Nieves, 1,949 m, the highest peak on Gran Canaria. It came as a bit as a shock as we climbed out of the minivan at La Goleta, as the temperature had dropped to 5 degrees C, and mist was swirling in from the north of the island. At first I thought that we would be seeing very little of Roque Nublo, but fortunately it cleared and the temperature began to increase a bit as the morning progressed.