A Very Cold Week in July

After my family left from an amazing visit, I had about 36 hours to prepare for my next trip (I’ve only got a month of “summer” vacation from my school in Bogotá, so I have to make the most of it!).  On July 17, I took a night bus to Güicán, Boyacá where my trip in the Sierra Nevada of El Cocuy would begin.  I’m now a huge fan of the night bus!  It’s comfortable, safe (ok, my friends tell me that our bus hit a few things aka cars along the way…but I was sleeping, so it’s as if it never happened), and it prevents you from losing a day due to travel.  AWESOME.

The trip was only 6 nights/7 days but I’m finding it overwhelming to write a blog on all that we did.  So here’s my best attempt at covering the basics.  Obviously, if you want more details you can always e-mail me.

Pacho at Kanwara

My travel buddies:

Francisco aka Pacho, Princessa, Old Man Fran, Franny

Pacho and I are friends from work.  I’ve written about him in another post – he’s a great friend and planned this entire trip.  Thank goodness for him.

Mafe in her element

María Fernanda aka Mafe, Mountain Mama

Mafe is a friend of Pacho’s and was a great travel buddy.  She is a biologist but her focus is on plants – still she knew SO much about the plants and animals of the area and her love for nature is inspiring.  I call her Mountain Mama because she seemed to naturally belong in the mountains.

Accommodations:

Nights 1 – 3: Kanwara Kabañas

View from the Kanwara Kabañas

Great place!  The owner and all the folks that work here were so friendly and so accommodating.  The food was DELICIOUS and the service was excellent.  Huge breakfasts: papaya, caldo, eggs, bread, cheese, jam, hot chocolate and coffee (if you ask).  Side note:  I loathe papaya.  It is one of maybe 3 foods that I have a hard time actually swallowing – I mean I can’t even fake it.  EVERY day, however, in Kanwara we were served papaya or papaya juice.  I’ve learned that the juice can be delicious.  The fruit?  Still not a fan. Yuck.  Dinner was always large as well – which is needed after a long hike – and always began with a delicious soup.  The cabañas have several rooms.  Pacho, Mafe, and I shared one.  There is one bathroom in each cabaña with “hot” water.  The heating system is electric and so the water pressure must remain verrrrry low in order to heat the water.  Still, it was better than nothing, I suppose.  Each cabaña also has a fireplace that we had going in the afternoons and after dinner until we went to bed.  This was important as the temperatures were very low at night…well, always, but more so at night.  Costs:  $35,000 COP/night/person; breakfast: $10,000 COP; dinner: $15,000 COP; guide: $45,000 COP; horse: $45,000 COP

Nights 4 – 6: El Hostal Mirador el Cocuy

I liked the rooms here more than those at Kanwara but the bathroom/shower situation was less convenient.  The shower was outside…on the top of a mountain.  I tried to shower once and thought I would pass out from the cold.  The breakfast was the same as at Kanwara and dinner was good – maybe too many carbs but after a long hike that didn’t seem so bad.   Also, this place was less expensive.  $30,000 COP/ night/ person; breakast: $8,000 COP  dinner: $10,000 COP; guide: $70,000 COP; horse: $40,000 COP

Hikes:

1.     Laguna de San Pablino (4 hours)

Hike to one of the San Pablino lakes

When we arrived to Kanwara, we settled into our room and then headed out to see our new surroundings.  It was cloudy but still gorgeous.  This walk took us through the farms of some of the locals – sheep, cows, horses, and lot of barking (but harmless) dogs.  Was the perfect hike to get acclimated to the altitude.

2.     Rita K’wa Blanco (7 hours)

Frailejones along the river

This hike is not for the faint of heart.  Our goal was simply to reach the snowline – we did not have the gear to actually summit the mountain…maybe another trip. We had a guide and a horse (good thing because Pacho hurt his knee and couldn’t hike).  The guides are incredible – having grown up in the area, they know the trails well and could run up the mountain if they didn’t have us weak folk holding them back.  From Kanwara we crossed over a river, Rio de las Playitas, where there were tons of frailejones.  Gorgeous.  From there we were climbing for a good 3 hours.  It is steep.  I had to take my time.  Because of the altitude, we reached nearly 15,000 feet, breathing is difficult and so all physical activity is more strenuous.  We had great weather going up the mountain.  As we reached the snowline, however, the skies opened up.  The first 30 minutes we were descending in snow and then after that pouring rain…all the way home.  I think the descent would have been a bit faster but because the rocks were wet we had to be a bit more careful.  I fell – hard – 3 times.  Eventually, the guide started holding my hand down the steep parts.  How embarrassing.  But we went really fast because he was so sure of his footing and because I had his support I could go quickly too, knowing he wasn’t going to let me fall.  Thank goodness for Don Miguel!

The snow was the goal

Success!!

3.   Morning walk before leaving Kanwara (1.5 hours)

Dawn in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy

We took a day off because of Pacho’s knee and because I think Mafe and I were both exhausted after the hike up Rita K’wa Blanca.  The morning of the day we were going to leave, however, we got up early to enjoy the fresh air and to have one last look.  This time of day is absolutely stunning and the clouds usually haven’t moved in yet, so you can see the mountain range for miles and miles.











4.     Bosque de los Frailejones (3 hours)

Neverending frailejones!

After settling in at our new accommodations, we set of for an easy hike with Don Gilberto, who would be our guide for the three days we were there.  He was excellent.  He took us for a walk through forests of frailejones.  These plants are special to the area and I think only grow in the mountains of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru…but this might now be quite right.  There are many different species but they are very unique.  Some of the frailejones in these forests were HUGE!  Our return home, we saw the sun set.  Lovely.

5.     Las Lagunillas (8 hours)

This hike also is usually quite easy.  The walk is long but there is not a whole lot of climbing.  I think this was probably my favorite hike.  We had great weather.  Well, we had sun.  The challenging component of the hike was the wind.  It was soooooo strong, that at some points I thought I was going to be blown off the trail.  The hike takes you along a river that runs from the four lakes that you reach at the end of the trail.  The plants and flowers with the sun and water made for a heavenly combination.  Additionally, on this hike there are great views of several of the snowcapped mountains.  Pure paradise.

River de las lagunillas

La Laguna Pintada

6.     La Laguna Grande de la Sierra  (11 hours)

View from my horse

      I almost elected to skip this hike after hearing it would take us 12 hours.  The hike from the previous day was excellent but the distance and the wind left my body sore and tired and was not sure I’d survive 12 hours of a hike that the guide told us would be very challenging.  Solution: Rent a horse.  As most of you know, I can be rather competitive –so I felt like a bit of a weakling riding a horse for about half the hike but in the end I still got to see the lake and didn’t kill myself.  This hike because my descending along the road for about an hour to La Esperanza, a hotel/hostel inside the park.  From there you are climbing for about 5 hours.  It is beautiful but it is definitely not easy.  It is steep and it is long.  Oh, it’s also cold.  It was windy and snowing – yes SNOWING – hard – for at least the last hour of the ascent.  It was because of this that I had to walk at certain times.  Riding a horse is easy but when you aren’t doing any work it is also FREEZING.  About 30 minutes before reaching the lake there is a large rock that has somewhat of a cave that provided the perfect refuge.  We stopped, refueled and then continued to the lake.  The weather was not in our favor this day and so it was quiet cloudy but still the lake was beautiful.  Super clear and is overlooked by the Pan de Azucar and the Púlpito del Diablo – snowy mountains that help to define the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy.  Mafe and Pacho wanted to see if they could wait out the clouds to get some better pictures.  Since, it seemed like we were in the middle of a blizzard, standing alongside the lake, I decided to head back to the cave and wait for them.  I don’t know if they have a greater tolerance for cold, better gear, a love for pain, or what but I just couldn’t imagine standing there another minute.  I ate my lunch and rested a bit in the cave until they finally gave up after about an hour and joined me.  The descent is much easier but still long – maybe 4 hours.  The worst part is that the hike ends with one final ascent….that is a good hour to hour and a half.  I tried to take the horse but after being in snow and rain, I needed to move again in order to not go numb from the cold.  Not sure I’d want to do this hike again.  Maybe in better weather conditions…but I don’t know.

La Laguna Grande del La Sierra

Lessons Learned for my next trip to El Cocuy…because there WILL be a next time

1.     Bring less toiletries.  It’s cold – I will not be bathing often, I certainly won’t shave, and I do not need to worry about my nighttime rituals of exfoliating and moisturizing properly.  My wrinkles are not going to develop too dramatically in just one week!

2.     An extra jacket.  When my jacket was drying out by the fire after being caught in a downpour, I was really wishing I had another jacket. 

3.     More clothes.  As the title of this post indicates, as do my numerous comments throughout the most, I was COLD pretty much the entire time.  My sleeping bag is great so I slept well at night but when it was snowing at the top of the mountains or when I was eating breakfast/dinner at the cabañas, I was cold.  Next time: Water proof, insulate gloves; 1 or 2 of those fancy neck warmers that can transform into hats and headbands as well; thicker long-sleeve Techwick shirt preferably with a hood; cold weather running pants to put under my pants

4.     Small daypack.  I was trying to pack light – and that I did - but for the hikes I was emptying out my large travel backpack and bringing along only the essentials.  Still the pack was too big  - also, in town it would have been nice to have a smaller bag.

5.     Better sunglasses.  I’ve never spent a lot of money on sunglasses because I tend to lose them or break them every few months.  For these mountains though – where there are lots of lakes and lots of snow – quality sunglasses with UV protection for the eyes is a must.  After every hike my eyes were hurting and exhausted.