Villa de Arico to El Contador

This walk leaves Arico following the narrow road towards El Contador before turning right onto the signposted PR TF86 path. The route enters the Barranco de La Puente at Ortiz and follows it for around a kilometre. After climbing out, the path then ascends fairly steeply to the El Contador recreation zone. My return route followed the edge of the spectacular Barranco de Tamadaya before returning to Ortiz on another branch of the PR TF86. From Ortiz, I followed the road back to Arico, although if you prefer, you can simply retrace the earlier part of the walk, thereby avoiding much of the road walking.

NOTES:

1. There are one or two places in the Barranco de La Puente where progress appears to be blocked by boulders. I found on these occasions that there were ways around the obstacles by staying close to the right-hand wall of the barranco

2. On leaving the main path to descend alongside the Barranco de Tamadaya, the route downhill largely follows an old water channel. However, I kept over to the left of this to take in the stunning views of the barranco. There is no properly defined path.

3. Eventually, as the route veers away right from the edge of the barranco towards a large disused water tank that comes into view below, the terrain becomes very steep so care is needed as you head towards it.

4. After following a track from the water tank for a while, it eventually becomes overgrown and peters out. I gave up trying to find a path here and simply climbed to the top of a ridge on my right. I stayed on top of this until it descended towards a fallen pine. To the right of the pine, I picked up a very rough, rocky trail back to the PR TF86

5. The section of the walk alongside the Barranco de Tamadaya back to the PR TF86 will not suit everyone as it is very steep, rough underfoot and there is often no clearly defined path. An easier alternative to this is to simply return from El Contador via the same route. There is an alternative branch of the PR TF86 that can be followed back to Ortiz to add variety, this is a clearly signposted junction that is passed on the climb to El Contador. However, returning this way will mean that the views into the Barranco de Tamadaya are missed.