La Gomera (28 miles and 8,000 ft elevation gain) with my new friend Caitie - a expat from Maryland traveling the world - for her longest trek and my 5/7 Canary Island along the GR131 trail. From Vallehermoso beach to St Sebastian, we traversed cloud forests, volcanic remnants, fields, farms and sleepy Spanish towns. History is written on the landscape here with mountain steppes, stone irrigation pools, and falling stone houses built hundreds of years ago. We saw lots of sheep, three fringed orchids, and lots of birds including Eurasian blackbird, African blue tit, and Eurasian robin.
