El Teide is the highest peak in Spain — 3,715 metres, a volcanic summit rising out of Tenerife. To hike it properly you need a permit for the final section, and the permits are limited. People plan for this weeks in advance.
I got mine almost by accident. I had been in Tenerife for a few weeks, exploring by bike, getting lost in the Anaga forest at midnight — a separate story — when I met F through a ridesharing post I put up in a travellers group. We spent time together, and it turned out he had come to Tenerife specifically for this hike. He had a permit. I checked on impulse. There was one available, same day, same hour.
Everything aligned.
Starting in the dark
We began at night. The idea is to time the ascent so you reach the summit at sunrise. In practice, this means hiking in the dark through a volcanic landscape that feels like it belongs to another planet — black rock, sparse vegetation, silence except for the wind.
As we climbed, the wind grew stronger. At a certain altitude it stops being background and becomes physical — something that pushes against you, that you have to lean into just to move forward.
In the last three or four kilometres, it became difficult to progress. I was grateful to be with someone. F gave me his windshield jacket at some point, and even with it, the cold and the force of the wind were constant work.
That is not an exaggeration. The wind at the summit is not the wind you experience at sea level. It has a different weight to it. Standing upright felt unstable. Getting on all fours was the only way to keep moving without being thrown sideways.
So we crawled.
The summit
We got up there.
The sunrise from 3,715 metres is something that doesn't translate into description. The horizon curves slightly. The clouds are below you. The light arrives in layers — first deep orange, then gold, then the full morning, spreading across everything.
After the cold, the effort, the darkness, and the crawling — that light felt earned in a way that very few things do.
We stayed for a while without saying much. There wasn't much to say.
A note on permits and planning
You need a permit to hike above the Telesforo Bravo refuge (3,260m) — the final section to the actual summit. Permits are free but must be booked in advance at the official Teide National Park website. They release permits periodically and they go quickly. Check availability repeatedly if you don't find one on first look — cancellations happen.
Start the ascent at night if you want the sunrise. Bring more layers than you think you'll need. The temperature at the summit is completely different from Tenerife at sea level — it can be near freezing even when the island is warm below. And bring something windproof. Not just warm. Windproof.
The descent felt very long. My legs were already spent from the night hike, and going back down a mountain on a volcanic path after no sleep requires a specific kind of patience.
It was worth every step of it.
