Summiting Volcano El Teide, the highest point in Spain

The magnificent descent from Volcano Teide (3,718m) just after sunset 🌋

This is definitely one of the best hiking experiences I have ever had - and also one of the most challenging. A 10hr return trip, we started at 12:30 and returned to our cars at 10:30pm. Sometimes battling intense winds, and in the last 2hrs, walking through a snow storm guided by our head lamps. I hiked this with a guide and a very special group of people - we all met only that day but were so supportive of each other throughout the tough ascent. While I am comfortable hiking alone, climbing a peak like this can be dangerous (read: snow storm in the dark!) and safety is number one priority.

Sheltering behind rocks as we watched the sky turn pink above a sea of clouds, the stars emerged to reveal an insane night sky. Further down, out of the winds, we stopped in the Refuge to watch the stars and the lights of Tenerife below without our headlamps. So so special 🥹 This was one of the first times I have ever felt altitude sickness, but it was only very minor nausea for a few minutes while we stopped. A good sign for even higher peaks to come.

My hands were frozen solid most of this climb, so I ended up preferring taking photos on the little Olympus Mju point and shoot instead of the digital 🫠 I could barely grip my hiking poles at one point.