Cerro Plomo Summit!

Location: Cerro Plomo (~18,000 ft)

Rundown: Trekked three days in to summit the looming, glaciated Cerro Plomo.

Took a few days and drove up into the mountains to attempt to summit Cerro Plomo... again. Last attempt was met with too much snow to drive in. Cut down a good six hours of hiking by driving to the top of Valle Nevado to Tres Puntas.

Hiked several hours in on the rocky, clinging paths following the glacial runoff stream that cuts the valley. You can see the glaciers of Plomo behind me here.

Set up camp just beyond the first flat spot, Piedra Numerada. Didn't feel the altitude as much at this camp. Made some chow and watched the setting sun ignite the tall walls of the valley. Gorgeous. The stars come out in force at night. I'd love to go back when I'm not conserving energy for a summit to just lay out and watch the circus.

Hiked past Federacion, a refugio that could hold 3 or 4 climbers in a storm.

Brought a lot of food and ate like crazy. The excellent thing about mountaineering; it merits constant chowing!

Full packs.

Had a few hotspots with my new boots. Miranda taped 'em up tight before the morning of our summit bid.

Made it up to La Olla, the highest camp before the summit bid. Crashed out as early as possible, about the same time as the moon rose over the hanging glacier. The glaciers ooze into a moraine and ice blue lagoon near camp. You can hear them creaking and groaning as they pour down the mountain side.

Up at 3 AM to make our summit bid. Slept in our hiking gear and summit packs waiting to go. The wind was howling and the trail up was sketchy in the dark. You could hear the noise of the loose rocks clattering down the slope disappear into the wind.

Almost had to turn back because of the temperature and wind. Much colder and windier than we expected. Had to scramble from depression to depression to keep out of the blasting wind. Made it up an hour hiking hard and were still chilling too quickly. Eventually found and hid out in the Refugio Agostini for an hour as we waited for the sun to come up. Can't say what a little wind break will do for you.

Made a big detour to catch the first rays over an easterly ridge which involved two steep and ugly scree fields in the dark and the wind. Nearly turned us around. The opposite side of the ridge provided the windbreak and sun warmth we needed to keep going. When I staggered over the ridge I think a few tears came to my eyes (and quickly froze). The sunrise over the Andes was one of the most beautiful and welcoming sites I've seen. Would've been frozen and turned back without it. Took a few minutes to recover our nerve and stamina.

Our prospects kept looking up as the sun rose and the wind abated a touch. Hiked along some amazing ridges overlooking the snowcapped peaks.

Tried to take a picture and ended up with a little video clip.

Approached the cross of the Iver Glacier. A poorly placed step would send you for a good 3,000 foot slide back down to La Olla that would land you on the broken body of the glacial moraine below. Yikes.

Donned crampons and wielded our ice axes. Crossed the thing without a hitch. The small peaks below in this shot are called the Pirca del Inca, a ritual burial site for the Incas! They would march a procession up here and sacrifice young boys and girls to the gods, leaving their bodies and other gifts in circular burial tombs.

The Incas apparently used to take perfect children adorn them with gifts and ceremonies thne take them up into the mountains and perform ritual burials. They would give them chicha (fermented corn alcohol) until they were drunk and then leave them in the circular tombs where the cold would quickly kill them. The mummified body of a young boy was found recently (1954). His remains well preserved for some 500+ years in the extremely dry and cold environment. (Not my photo below. When I get to the museum, I'll get my own!)

Crossing the glacier was a highlight for me. Coming from a snowy environment, I always assumed glaciers were just fields of snow, but they're completely blue ice and behave very differently.

Two hours after the glacier cross we staggered up the the summit of Cerro Plomo. The Chilean flag blazing in the wind, but little else around aside from mountain peaks and snaking glaciers. Just amazing.

Ten hours after we left camp, we topped out at just shy of 18,000 feet. Hard to breathe, hard to think, hard to stand.

Managed to get a shot right before the camera blew over.

And then back down we went! Took us four hours to get down with a second glacier crossing and burning legs.

Fourteen hours after we left camp we staggered back into it exhausted out of our minds. I don't know how, but I got the stove going and made some of the best ramen I've ever had in my life. You know what they say, oxygen deprivation, unbearable cold, and muscle rending climbing makes the best seasoning.

Tired. Very tired. Slept 14 hour in the tent before descending in one push the next day.

This isn't my shot, but shows the general route up from La Olla (misspelled on the picture).

Ciu-DAD Perdida Trek

Rundown: Headed again into the Sierra Nevada jungles, but this time brought some reinforcements: Papa Gorkiewicz!

Location: Jungles of the Sierra Nevada... Ciudad Perdida

Headed out from humid Cartagena up to Santa Marta with my dad at the end of the school year before flying back to the US. Took off from Santa Marta the following day in a gregariously colored 4x4 chiva which drove us 3 hours into the jungle before dropping us off at the last little village on the jungle road called Mamey.

Hiked for 3 days into the jungle. Local kids played in the rivers... just like the kid in the Jungle Book. What a cool place to grow up in!

We crossed and swam many a rivers ourselves. As we got higher into the Sierra Nevadas the temperature cooled, the rivers became brighter and crystal clear.

The jungle is home to many critters. Our most exotic on the trip was this good looking Toucan, who raised quite a racket with his mate as we were hiking.

The trek is amazing! The terrain changes between dense jungle, savannah, and rocky riverbed. If you like hiking, the hike is superb!

Other local fauna included the Kogi indigenous, whose villages we had the privilege to see from a distance on an occasion. They have such simple lives, and such complex social interaction, it's amazing to think of the similarities and differences of the cultures...

Other local flora and fauna...

Stayed in rustic encampments along the way with interesting trekkers from all parts of the world.

On our last day we did the big push up the long, winding stone staircase built into the mountainside and emerged sweating and breathless at the lost city, Ciudad Perdida.

Safety? Sure! The site is loaded with a platoon of soldiers stationed there to keep the peace in and the FARC out. Amazing to see them after seeing no one on the trail for three days.

For more pictures check out my dad's blog about the trip!

http://bobanddianesadventures.blogspot.com/

Ciudad Perdida: The Lost City

Location: Ciudad Perdida: The Lost City

Rundown: A three day uphill trek into the Sierra Nevada mountains through jungles, rivers and native villages to spend two days at a site of an ancient city reclaimed by nature before a three day return trip. Please don't feed the guerillas.



Took a bus north from Cartagena to a city on the coast called Santa Marta, a cross between a beach town and a port, with a beautiful island guarding the harbor and ocean freighters swinging on their moorings right next to kids splashing in the waves.



Spent the night in a dodgy hotel, and in the morning met up with the rest of the group going. Edwin was our guide (the same guide whose group was abducted by ELN guerillas in 2003, and then returned safely), and along with the four other teachers, we had 3 Brits, 3 Germans, 2 Sweeds, an Italian and a Croatian. It was quite a pleasure to get to know everyone along the way.

Took a chiva (cross between a bus and a jeep, without real doors or sides and painted in garish colors) into the interior. Drove for an hour on tarmac, and then spent another two off road climbing into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, often stopping to let people out to hang on appropriate sides of the chiva to keep it from rolling over going over aggressive terrain.




The chiva dropped us off in a little pueblo in the foothills where we began our three day hike. We hiked through the red-dirt foothills up into the jungle, crossing a couple low rivers on the way. Awesome trekking.

Made it to our first encampment just after dark, winding down steep, muddy switchbacks that claimed a few shoes as victims. Check out the little video of the hiking bit of the trek.



The encampment was an open air shelter with a corrugated metal roof under which we slung our cloth hammocks and bug nets. Although we did get bitten, the onslaught was nothing like a June evening in Michigan.






Swam in the morning at the watering hole and played with the resident friendly toucan.






Hiked all the next day in dense jungle, across rivers, and through native Kogui villages where they speak only their indigenous language, and little or no Spanish.




Hiked through dense jungle and high mountian savanna. Up ridges and down valleys... Edwin made us framiliar with the Coca plant that has been so integral to Colombia's history.






Passed a night in our second encampment which was perched about the beautiful and powerful Rio Buritaca. We stayed dry in the heavy rain that night.








Our final day up to the Lost City, we hiked for a few hours, pausing to rest our beaten, bug-gnawed legs, and chow on our daily fresh fruit on massive jungle leaves.



Made five river crossings. The rivers were powerful enough that even though we waded only to our waists, the water was enough warrant linking arms to cross. Fun stuff.






We found ourselves on a rocky island in the middle of the river. On the far side, the earth took a near-vertical leap; the jungle foliage just holding on. Tucked just inside the shadow of the trees, ancient stone steps wove their way up the mountain and disappeared in the brush. We crossed the river and took the stairs.




Most of the steps were no bigger than a shoebox, mossy, and slick, but not in bad shape considering their thousand years of service in harsh jungle climate. An hour and two thousand steps later we emerged (sweaty and wheezing) out of the jungle and onto the first of many stone terraces left by the Tairona people.




The site was a religious center, built into the mountains to communicate with the gods. Five main terraces stuck out of the dense jungle, but thousands of other terraces, some still buried in vegetation, were connected by stone pathways crisscrossing throughout the steep terrain. The site was only ‘discovered’ in 1976, so along the paths, stone steps would disappear into the underbrush, still uncovered.






We stayed the night there and listened to Edwin’s account of being taken by the ELN (similar to the FARC only in that they tote guns, hang out in the jungle, and have their own political agenda). The accomodations included 7 mattresses laid out on the floor with a huge bug net over them on the second floor of an open air shelter. I felt a bit like I was 8 again, making forts with my sisters out of pillows and blankets.




Due to the ease to which any armed group could pluck travelers off of the mountain side, a company of Colombian soldiers were stationed at Ciudad Perdida and in the surrounding hills. They patroled the site with their Israeli arms, but were extremely happy to talk to anyone.




Spent two days at the site wandering around the winding stone paths and swimming in the waterfalls before our return trek. The site was novel, interesting, and beatuiful, but wasn't a place to trek to if one isn't into getting muddy and having a little bit of struggle. As with all my treks, the people and the journey were the best part.







And one little video to cap it off with the theme song of the trip.







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