On February 18th 2004 my wife Britt (49) and I climbed the vulcano Teide.
We started off from the usual parking area at the 40 kms mark on the Canadas road, hiking steadily upwards past the Huevos (Teide Eggs) to the Refugio Bellavista hut (closed for the season).
The weather was superb. We missed a bend on the not clearly laid-out path and ended scramling across fields of huge lava boulders. We kept the main direction (i.e. upwards) and ended up being reunited with the main path well before reaching the top of the cableway.
Thin air was clearly felt from 3000 metres upwards.
Having obtained permission in Santa Cruz a few days earlier we were permitted through the 'magic gate' and onto the path leading to the very summit. A breathtaking experience, literally spoken as well as in terms of quality.
We spent quite some time on the sunny peaks surrounding the crater and ended up taking the cable cabin back down.
The entire tour is highly recommendable and requires a reasonable amount of stamina, a passion for heights and definitely a fair portion of luck regarding weather conditions.