Pico Duarte

The past weekend I climbed Pico Duarte, which is the highest peak in the Caribbean. While "highest peak in such and such area" usually refers to some snow and ice covered mountain above 20,000 feet, this is the Caribbean after all, so we are only talking about 10,000 feet. What that means is that it wasn't really what you would call mountain climbing, but more of a really, really long hike. That doesn't mean it was a cake walk though, either.

Friday morning a group of nine of us met our guide, Rich, and headed off on the 4 hour ride to Parque Armando Bermudez, which contains Pico Duarte. Pico Duarte, set in the middle of the island, is named for the father of Dominican independence, Juan Pablo Duarte. You may remember that name from a brief mention of Duarte Day earlier this year. Anyhow, we got to the park entrance Friday afternoon and set off on a 4km hike to our first camp. Each of us had a small pack to carry during the hiking portions, but we had all our other gear and food transported by mules. We even had a couple mules available to ride in case anyone wanted a break during the hikes.

At the base

Our first camp was located on the banks of a river, amidst the rolling hills and many pine trees. There was a basic wooden cabin which we utilized, as that was easier than getting our tents out. We each had a small pad and a sleeping bag which turned out to be pretty comfortable. Before turning in, though, we had some snacks, drinks, and a nice dinner of chambre, which is a sort of Dominican vegetarian stew.

River at the first camp

Happy Hour at the first camp

Up at the crack of dawn the next morning, we had a quick breakfast, visited the outhouse (as it would be the last one we would see until the evening) and set out for a long day on the trail. We had planned to put in 13km on Saturday, which would take us to our second camp. Along the way we stopped a few times for breaks and to fill up our water bottles at locations along the river (after a certain point, it was safe to drink the water). We had a lunch stop planned, but we decided we would push on through to our camp before lunch because we were making such good time.

Taking a break on the way up

Our second camp was very similar to the first. It contained a big wooden cabin, outhouses, and a lot of mule crap. For some reason the mules were not considerate enough to use the outhouses, or at least go off in the bushes somewhere. But I digress. After lunch it was only about 2:30, so the group decided to head to the summit that day, as opposed to getting up at 4am the next morning to do it. Another 4km up and up brought us to the roof of the Caribbean. The amount of elevation change we went through that day was quite severe. At the summit we encountered temperatures of about 40 degrees farenheit and some not so pleasant rain. I had a fleece, hat, and rain jacket, but was still pretty cold up there. Also less than ideal was the view, or lack of it. We were basically in the middle of a cloud and couldn't see much for most of the time I was up there. Fortunately, it cleared up some after about an hour and we could see some of the surrounding scenery. Not the greatest view on earth as it was quite similar to everything we saw on the way up, but nice none the less. It was more about the experience anyway.

Camp two

At the summit

Highest point in the Caribbean

Not much of a view until it cleared up

We got back down to camp in time for some cocktails and then tacos for dinner. We sat around the campfire for a while after that, enjoying the warmth of the fire, and satisfaction of already making it to the top. The next day would be a bit easier than when it was planned.

We got up Sunday with the knowledge that we had to make it all the way down to the base. It would've been nice to have a helicopter come and air lift us out, but that wasn't in the cards. After initially going up for a good hour (the camp was actually in a valley, so we had to go up and then down), we had a long descent before us. Going down can be rough on the knees, but I found that by working with gravity and sort of jogging at times was a lot easier and faster than fighting the hill and walking slowly. It was even fun at times barreling down the shoots like a bobsled run.

Lunch time on the way down

We got back to the base Sunday afternoon and had a nice soak in the river (no showers since Friday morning) and celebratory beer. After that, it was a long trip back to Cabarete, and a lot of sore legs today.