I had an AMAZING trip to Pico Duarte. Pico Duarte is the tallest mountain in the Caribbean. That being said, I’m really not sure how much competition it has since the Caribbean mostly consists of beautiful flat beaches.
The trip was 4 days and 3 nights with an ecotourism group from Santo Domingo. We left at 3:00am Thursday night/Friday morning. After about a 3 hour drive, we arrived to the start of the trail (la Cienaga). Each person carries a day pack but my large pack with the tent, sleeping bag, etc is carried on a mule (mandatory). Although the hike would have been much more challenging with the pack, the mules were one of my least favorite parts of the trip. The mules walked the same trail as the hikers, so it was difficult to watch the mules constantly be mistreated.
Very quickly into the first day I realized that the terrain was going to be different than I expected. The majority of the first eight hours of hiking was in deep, squishy mud. The majority of my steps resulted in my feet being completely covered in mud up to my ankles. At times the slipping and sliding in the mud was fun, but it was always a welcomed break to get to “normal” ground.
The first day we walked from La Cienaga to La Comparticion. We arrived around 4:30 pm so we had time to set up the tent before dark. A local family traveled with us to cook all of the meals. Everything was cooked over the fire. I spent the evening around the fire because of the cool temperatures on the mountain. The low for the evening was 30 degrees Fahrenheit but the wind made it feel much colder.
Day Two was a much shorter hiking day (about 5 hours). After a breakfast of eggs and plantains, we set off for the peak. Luckily, this hike was not filled with mud. Pico Duarte is named for the “father” of the country, Juan Pablo Duarte (the Dominican George Washington of sorts). The view was amazing from the top. Again, we spent the night a La Comparticion. We had pork and rice for dinner, and I slept much better (amazing how quickly you learn tricks to sleep in the cold when needed).
Day 3-We were up and out hiking in the dark in order to see the sunrise over the mountains as we walked. The majority of day 3 was downhill on small rocks…suddenly I wasn’t sure if mud was so bad after all. J We were walking to a valley called Valle Tetero so it was nice to see glimpses of the lush, green valley as we walked. The valley had a river for swimming and bathing (of which I did neither…too cold!). I did enjoy just lying on the ground reading a book…something I should take more time to do. There was also more free time this evening to spend with fellow hikers and eat a delicious dinner of sancocho.
Day 4-We hiked from the valley to where we began the journey in La Cienaga.
It was a wonderful trip and one of my favorite experiences in the DR!
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| looking back down the path |
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| los mulos |
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| There were pine trees! |
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| increible! |
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| view from the top of Pico Duarte |
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| otra vez del pico (again from the peak) |
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| I was trying to pretend to be a professional photographer :) |
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| Juan Pablo Duarte |
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| dinner cooking |
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| Unfortunately, this was almost as common as the mud due to the number of mules. |
The next six pictures are a progression of the amazing sunrise.
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| Valle Tetero from above |
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| slippery path |
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| arriving to the valley |
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| cold but pretty water |
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| a rainbow definitely makes it worth hiking in the rain |
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| a shower was becoming more and more necessary |
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| LODO (MUD) |
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| heading back down |
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