DAY 6 Great Walk Lanzarote - La Graciosa: Máguez - Ecohouse (Corona Volcano Natural Monument)
10h (6h in movement) 24,2 km +1.120m/-1.150m
After discovering the spectacular ravines of Lanzarote the day before, see Hiking Route Lanzarote – La Graciosa: Day 5, let’s start our day 6!
We leave Máguez around 8:00 am, amid tit birds singing and we go to look for the Gayo path, a paved track with explanatory panels on the geology and volcanism of the area. It reminds us of the interpretive itinerary, of Corona Blanca, although this is much easier and in fact vehicles can circulate.
Gayo Road Sign
Advancing down the path of Gayo
Advancing down the path of Gayo
Due to the increased humidity and availability of water in this area, crops can grow out of season here, something that does not happen in the rest of the island, with the help of ‘rofe‘, a technique of cultivation with volcanic stones.
Explanation of the arts to farm with rofe
We go up until we reach a plateau where the track is no longer paved and becomes dirt. We continue along the track and suddenly we are surprised by the beautiful views of La Graciosa and the other islands of the Chinigo Archipelago. Every step we have them closer!
Views of the Chinijo Archipelago (left) and Monte Corona (right)
We leave the Gayo track here to take a path on the left that heads towards the crest of the Famara cliff. And what contrasts! Now the ravines open over the craggy Risco, while the presence of human activities continues below.
Start of the path along the crest of the cliff
We pass a small bivouac-lookout point and the path continues climbing until it reaches the top of the ridge easily. And suddenly all white boom! The fog that had lowered a moment ago, has been entering and suddenly it covers everything so that we only see white.
The fog is entering the cliff
With a now humid environment we continue to advance looking for a path that goes to the Guinate viewpoint without having to go down to the town of Guinate, and we found it! And how beautiful it is!
This humid environment is really beautiful and with the fog it seems that the lichens have awakened; now we see them green, orange, yellow … all open full of life, how spectacular to see all this moss hooked on the rocks, it is like moving through a fairy tale.
Ambiente humedo, avanzando por la niebla entre líquenes
Just before reaching the viewpoint, the road enters a little towards the Risco and it is spectacular, to see these cuts in the rock, the cliff at our feet, the island of La Graciosa, the El Risco beach and the Salinas del Río below between the fog…
Views of Playa del Risco, with La Graciosa island just in front
We continue along the path and arrive at the Guinate viewpoint at around 10 am. Although with this fog we see absolutely nothing, all white. So nothing, we rest and take the opportunity to eat a little sitting here.
‘Let yourself go …’ From the Guinate viewpoint
Now we take the asphalt track that goes towards Guinate, passing through vineyards and green fields and before arriving we turn left onto a dirt road. From here we can already see the Corona Volcano very close, a possible objective for this afternoon if the weather is good.
We continue up this path with the Corona behind us. Here we are suddenly enveloped in a thick fog again. We do not see anything, but we are going down following the gps. In brief we take a path where we pass a house and some crops and we are already at the beginning of the path of the Gracioseros.
Start of the Gracioseros path
We go down this path, at first there are many stone stairs and then the path goes down easily, with a bit of a slope and over stones, to the Risco beach (about 30 minutes down).
Risco beach
We arrive at the Risco natural beach and we are surprised by both the environment and the landscape, it is very beautiful, just in front of the island of La Graciosa. We leave things on some rocks and go to the water to do some snorkeling.
Just at the beginning to the left, in the rocky area we see many schools of fish, some of them drifting with the waves. We also see salemas, parrot fish, damselfish and breams among others. Visibility is good but when we get away it decreases due to the waves so we stay close in the rocky area. We are about 1 hour, and we enjoy it a lot!
We go out, eat and then go to see the Salinas (salt lake) del Rio that are a little further on. It is a place with reddish lagoons, some dry and others with water. We see many birds such as seagulls, northern shoveler, ruddy shelduck and other ducks that we had not seen yet. We take photos, and we see them very well with binoculars.
Salinas del Rio
Waterfowl in the Salinas del Rio
We stay awhile and we then return the way we have come, through the Gracioseros path, going up! And from here to the town of Ye, where we arrive around 3:30 p.m. We stopped at a supermarket / cafeteria to rest and have a coffee. The day continues with fog and very windy and now the temperature has dropped a lot.
At 4:00 p.m., we take the path that goes up to the crater of Monte Corona and now we can see it well, although the sky is very gray and it is windy. Despite the clouds and fog the landscape is magnificent, with the green lichens covering the volcanic rocks, it is beautiful.
Start of the way to the crater of Monte Corona
Detail of the greens and moss on the stones, on the way to Monte Corona
We continue easily climbing this beautiful path with volcanic stone walls and lichens until we reach the base of the Corona volcano’s crater. Waww how big and round it is! It is spectacular.
Detail of the crater of the Monte Corona volcano
Monte Corona crater
It’s very windy up here, but we try to climb a little more to the right to try to go around the crater counterclockwise.
The path goes up a bit steep and exposed. The wind blows stronger and stronger and the fog begins to enter again so we do not see anything. So we give up to continue for our own safety. We turn around and go back to the base of the crater. Here we turn E direction, and we go down through a loose rofe path between crops, the green landscape continues to be spectacular.
Going down the other side of the Monte Corona volcano, among crops and volcanic stones
Going down the other side of the Monte Corona volcano, among crops and volcanic stones
After the descent between crops (which takes us about 30 minutes) we take a dirt track. From time to time we have to stop to remove the stones from our boots.
It’s very windy! We turn around and the crown is completely cloaked by mist and as if it were lava, literally going out from the volvano crater. Waw it is awesome! and luckily we are not up there!
Spectacular Monte Corona, amid a sea of fog
Soon we take the LZ-201 road, 1km until we take another track that takes us to the house where we will stay today; a white house, typical of Lanzarote, isolated, in the middle of an incredible rural landscape of recent lava flows, overlooking the sea and just below Monte Corona.
We are wrapped in these ‘mosaics’ of moss and black stone walls so typical here. Only the wind breaks the silence. It is idyllic.
Maroa EcoHouse at Monte Corona base
As we already have the key (see the logistics in the Lanzarote and La Graciosa Travel Guide), we entered the house and settled in. We make a washing machine, we rest on the sofa with these wonderful views.
Maroa EcoHouse at Monte Corona base
Finally we have just spend the day in this comfortable little house, watching a magnificent sunset at the base of the majestic Monte Corona. 😊
Beautiful sunset from Maroa EcoHouse at the base of Monte Corona
Our message in the guestbook of Maroa EcoHouse
Tomorrow if everything goes well, we will finish the journey in Lanzarote and start hiking on the island of La Graciosa. Read our next day on Hiking Route Lanzarote – La Graciosa: Day 7 (1st part)
