In May, I crossed another item off my bucket-list, climbing Spain’s tallest peak, Mount Teide. I traveled to Tenerife for my friend, Miles’, birthday, and while we had a group of 4 who signed up to climb the peak, only the two of us (bday boy and I), were staring at the summit that sunny Friday morning. Respectfully, everyone backed out…and I don’t blame them.

I’ve never claimed to be a “hiker”, but I do enjoy being out in nature, and the views always make the trek worth it. Climbing Teide was a goal I’ve had since 2020, when I lived in Spain’s Canary Islands, and I was lucky enough to have a friend (who is an avid hiker) to go with me.

I guess I just didn’t expect the difficulty. Teide is… well… large. In 6ish hours, we conquered that volcano… or maybe it conquered us.

First of all, I was sick. I had a pretty nasty cold the night before Teide, but I woke up feeling a lot better in the morning, and I thought, ‘ All right…I can do this.’ We were staying in El Pris, so we had to drive to get to Teide, and honestly, even if you’re not climbing the mountain, that drive is just *chefs kiss*. We parked the car at the bottom of the funicular, and we had to walk about 30 minutes along the highway (eek!) to get to the Montaña Blanca starting point. In hindsight, this was a very good idea because our tired legs didn’t have to go very far once we were done on the mountain.

About an hour into the hike I was feeling great! Vibes were HIGH. And then, we got to La Rambleta. This is when things got hard, and I really thought Miles was going to have to leave me on that mountain. But, I knew quitting was not an option, so little by little I made moves. I felt so ill. We finally made it to the Altavista Mountain Hut, which was a nice place to have a snack and regroup. I felt much better at this point, and I was confident about making it to the summit within our allotted ticket times. My confidence did not last long.

The last stretch to the top of Mount Teide was GRUELING. We were walking in a pattern of… step….step….pause…hold onto rock….try not to vomit… step… pause…step…step. At one point Miles insisted I walk ahead of him to ensure that I did not topple off of the mountain side. We FINALLY made it to the top after an hour. The people working on the mountain told us that last stretch should only take about 20 minutes…YEAH RIGHT. The view from the top was pretty impressive, but I wish I could say it took my breath away. I think that was just the altitude. To be honest, I’ve hiked in Park Anaga in Tenerife, and the Hawaii-like ecosystem is much more beautiful than Teide’s rocky desert landscape in my opinion.

Will I ever do this hike again? Hell no. Am I proud of myself? Hell yeah. I stood on the top of motherf***ing Spain!

I guess my advice to you all would just be to know what you are in for and prepare adequately even if you think you are in good shape. Drink lots of water the night before, and don’t try to climb this mountain when you are already feeling sick. That altitude will get you! We started our day at sea-level in El Pris and reached an elevation of over 12,000 feet. It was an experience for sure. I won’t say what kind.

Un abrazo fuerte,

Mags