Over New Year's I went on an 8-day hike with two good friends, MCCers in Bogota (Beth Miller and Neil Richer) and a friend of Neil's who came from the states. We went to Cocuy National Park, a 14 or 10 hour bus ride, depending on the bus (we had both experiences, the 10-hr option is WAY better than 14), from Bogota into the department of Boyacá in central Colombia. We packed everything including all our food, tents, etc and most of the way we were between 13,000 and 15,000 ft. It was incredible, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Words can hardly describe it and pictures don't do it justice, but here are a number of photos with running commentary that will take you through our 8 day adventure. Enjoy...
Day 1...
First day we started off with this view. Pretty incredible. We had energy and were feeling great. The first night was insanely cold and I hardly slept. We realized throughout the trip that my sleeping bag was a bit old and not as good as everyone else's so mostly I was freezing every night, but the first was for sure the worst.
It was cold and windy right from the beginning. (I basically froze all trip long)
Not a cloud in the sky...
Lowell (neil's friend...furthest to the right) came out from Chicago to visit Beth/Neil and did the hike with us. It was great to get to know him. He struggled a lot with altitude sickness the first few days, though, and it was pretty bad. We were worried we'd have to turn around and go back but he made it and was feeling great by day 3.
At our first pass. The first day really was pretty easy - about four hours...we planned it that way so that we could adjust to the altitude a bit.
We carried a small stove that burned alcohol to cook warm food in the evenings. Beth Miller prepared all our food and it was the most gourmet food you could image for the trail...
Washing the dishes was FREEZING
Our first night campsite...
DAY 2...
Was a big day. Our packs were still heavy, being at the beginning of the trip, and we went over two passes, the second one being unanimously voted the hardest and biggest of the entire trip. It was a big day, about 8 hrs of hard hiking. I got some altitude sickness for just a bit with some serious headaches and short breaths, but taking breaks and breathing well it passed after a couple of hours. The second day was also New Years and we had celebration food (mac and cheese...such a luxury!!!) and brought in the New Year around 7 before hitting the sack.
These plants are called frailejones. They are EVERYWHERE and have fuzzy leaves that work great for toilet paper!
At the first pass, pointing to the second one...
First pass of day 2: 13,779 ft.
Crazy ice that pushed up particles of dirt overnight and froze like this.
Looking to pass #2
At the top of the second pass. We were all beat but thrilled because the view was PHENOMENAL...at 15,255 ft here.
These were like cushions of grass patches all around us, solid in the midst of marshy water you would easily sink through.
DAY 3...
Was probably the hardest day for everyone even though the actual trail wasn't that bad. I woke up with a terrible cold that followed me the rest of the trip, which made things considerably harder as breathing became a constant struggle. It was also a hard day because packs were still heavy, our bodies were reacting to the physical work we were putting them under as they were not in shape yet, and we (and the guide) lost our trail for a bit. It also, however, was a beautiful day and we saw incredible landscape.
Frost on the tent in the morning...this was a daily sight.
Trying to find flat ground to sleep on every night was a challenge.
In the mornings we could watch the sun slowly defrost everything around us; it was beautiful.
Its hard to capture the magnificent colors we saw everywhere...
Breakfast! Quinoa flakes with nuts and dried fruit for protein.
This water was RIDICULOUSLY COLD as we crossed...
The valley of the cohines (cushions)...we had to jump from cushion to cushion for about an hour so as not to fall into the water all around us. It was awesome...
Mojones are the small markers along the trail so as not to loose your way. Notice where there are a few rocks piled on top of each other. We saw thousands of these markers throughout the trip and always enjoyed the variety.
Every afternoon around 2 or 3, just like clockwork the clouds came in through the valleys. We always tried to beat the clouds and be mostly done by the afternoons because its way more fun to hike when its clear out, but it was also awesome to see the clouds rolling in every day.
From our campsite...
DAY 4...
Day four was a great day...we all felt really good after feeling tired a lot of day 3. On day 4 we went over three passes, meaning we crossed a crazy amount of terrain and saw a huge variety of landscape.
You may or may not be able to see the path in the above picture, but there is a close-up of it in the below picture. This was a crazy part of the trail with rocks falling from above us and the trail was at a steep angle - not the safest part of the trip...
This is Beth's face looking at this part of the trail...she was pretty sure it was not a good idea to cross it.
Frailejon!
Lowell also brough us peppermint oreos which was a highlight and we savored them, eating one per person every night.
The kitchen...
more sweet ice...
first pass of the day
me and my new buddy lowell
we could see the clouds at a distance and we were way higher than the clouds, it was crazy.
As we climbed through these rocks for hours we had to maneuver through some pretty big rocks...and as I was climbing, I ripped my pants HUGE...the rip went almost to my knee! So we tried to fix it with duck tape, which worked for about 30 seconds. Then in the evening at camp we found thread and needle in the first aid kit so I was able to fix them up for the last half of the trip! :)
In the afternoons, we would sit around and talk...cooking dinner was also usually a 2-hour affair...
And then we'd play rook all night long. AWESOME.
Day 4 in the night we sang christmas songs for a couple hours and I was soooo happy because I hadn't been able to have christmas really and hadn't sung any christmas songs. It was beautiful...
DAY 5...
was a shorter day of hiking, so we woke up slowly, sat in the sun and read/relaxed for a good part of the morning, and even bathed in the river, which was ridiculous because the water was ABSOLUTELY freezing. but after 4 days, you start to get desperate...
We ate peanut butter in tortillas and Lowell, a literature major, recited an entire poem (long poem, story-like) about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by Shel Silverstein. It was impromptu and one of the highlights of the trip, I think. :)
Notice how we haven't had any rain?! We were incredibly lucky with weather...no rain in 8 days. Day 5, 6 and 7 did have some serious fog, though, and we walked through mist for awhile, which also ended up being a sweet experience.
In the afternoons, we also sat around and read chapters from different books in Beth's kindle.
sorry this is the wrong direction...here i am reading in the morning
the river we washed in...
DAY 6...
we got up early to watch the sunrise because it is supposed to be incredible - the sun comes up and makes the mountains look red and on fire. but it was really cloudy this morning and we hardly saw anything...day 6, like day 5, was pretty short. basically after day 4 we flew and ended up wishing there was more to hike than what we had.
gorp
and we made hot chocolate which was a treat on the colder afternoons...as well as instant coffee.
me, waiting for the sunrise, determined to stay out even though it was clearly very cloudy.
the last couple of days there were a lot of people at the camp sites...it was better when we were more alone.
DAY 7...
Was a short day again but we had to go up a huge pass that seemed never-ending...
At the top of the pass...resting.
Cooking and reading...
DAY 8...
At 5am, Neil and Lowell got up to do a hike without packs up to the snow at about 16,000 ft. Beth and I stayed at the campsite and relaxed and read all morning because I was feeling pretty sick from the cold I had had all week. After the guys got back around noon we hiked out to the meeting place with the truck who took us back to town where we took warm showers and got on the overnight bus back to Bogota.
In the town of Cocuy, there is a map of the entire mountain range, which was really fun to look at and study after we hiked through it all.
DAY 9...
back in Bogota, we took another warm, incredible shower and we looked at pictures and celebrated our hike with a huge feast of salad, roasted vegetables, burgers and bells! delicious...
