Hiking to Ritacuba Blanco in El Cocuy National Park

Day 64 (August 31, 2018) – El Cocuy National Park, Colombia

We had one more hike planed in El Cocuy National Park, up to Ritacuba Blanco. We were supposed to do this hike the day after our first, but with our change in plans and having to head back to El Cocuy, rather than stay in a cabaña at the trail head, we decided to delay the hike for a day and take a day of rest.

A dinner of soup, cheese, and crackers.

Our one day of rest became two. Travis got quite ill the night after getting back from our first hike, most likely from overexertion. The same thing happened to me back when we were hiking all day through Tikal, Guatemala. It’s crazy how fast your own body can turn against you if you push it too hard. You don't even know you're overdoing it until it's too late. A couple days of rest, rehydration salts, and a lot of hot soup seemed to remedy the problem.  

The cabaña at the start of the trail head where we were supposed to have spent the night, but was closed, so we had to make the long drive up from El Cocuy the morning of the hike. 

The rest turned out to be good for the both of us. We started the morning of our hike at 3:45 AM and we were feeling pretty good. Like before, we ate as much as we could of breakfast and even stuffed some leftover bread and cheese into my pack to have later. We were all ready to head into the mountains with our guide, Martha. Our ride arrived, we jumped in, backed out of the hotel to turn around, and the car died. We sat there for a while as the driver tried to get it restarted, but it wasn’t going well. I thought we’d have to reschedule the hike again. But through some of the driver’s coaxing, which included rolling the car backwards downhill for a bit, he managed to get it started again.

Near the start of the Ritacuba trail head.

I can’t explain in how sad a shape this car was. It was the car that could if there ever was one. It stalled a few times on our way up into the mountains and the only way to get it started again seemed to be this rolling backward downhill trick. I think it needed a new battery, or maybe a new transmission, or maybe just a whole new car. Regardless, we did eventually make it. It was a long ride though. We didn’t get to the trail head until around 6:30 after having left at 5 AM.

Hiking among the frailejones again.

Ritacuba Blanco is the third highest mountain peak in Colombia, at a height of 5,410 meters (17,750 feet). The summit of the mountain is covered with an ice cap. While experienced hikers who have come prepared can climb over the glacier to the peak, we were climbing up to an enormous slab of rock that overlooks the glacier and, if the clouds cooperate, a view of the peak. On our hike, the clouds weren't cooperating so well, but it was still a sight to see.

A rest break along the way up.

The trail up to the top is pretty much straight uphill. The entire way. The only rest from the continuous uphill trek is when we crossed a few wooden bridges, enjoying the 5 or 6 steps of flat ground, and then having to continue trekking up the never-ending staircase of a trail.

As with our first hike, the scenery was spectacular. Starting in the early morning, most of the walk was in the shadow of the mountain, but as the day got later the shadows receded, the clouds burned off, and you could see for miles.    

The view back down the valley we hiked up from.

The hike was intensely challenging, but for a very different reason from our earlier hike. Our first hike was just long. It required hours of endurance. This hike was shorter and steeper, but what was absolutely killing me was the altitude. We didn't have a chance to acclimatize overnight at the trail head and I think I was suffering because of that. I was going stronger than Travis at the beginning of the hike. My legs were doing perfectly fine, but at some point I just couldn’t breathe anymore. I was stopping frequently and falling behind. Not because my legs were burning, but because I couldn’t take a deep enough breath.

Our guide, Martha, leading the way up to the snow. Always uphill. This is also around where I started gasping for breath.

It got so bad that I couldn’t take more than a dozen steps without stopping to catch my breath. It was the most bizarre feeling. When I was resting, I felt perfectly fine. I had plenty of energy and my legs felt strong. I would see Martha maybe 10 paces ahead of me. I could see how close she was and assessing the situation, it should only take me 10 steps and maybe 10 seconds to reach her in any normal circumstance. I would take a couple steps and already be breathing heavy. Then a few more and it only got worse. After 10 paces I would catch up to her but not be able to move anymore. I had to rest again, catch my breath, and start this process all over again. It was so frustrating because I had more than enough energy to keep climbing, I just didn’t have the lung capacity to not feel like I was suffocating.

Not even at the top, but we're already looking down on all the other mountains and clouds.

To my amazement, we all made it to the top. The glacier and the white clouds at the top were blinding. It was hard to even tell what you were looking at because all you saw was the pure white snow and these white swirling clouds everywhere. It was truly a sight to see and, unfortunately, it just doesn’t get well captured in a photograph. The scale and enormity of the view doesn’t fit in a camera lens.

Looking over the glacier. A lack of reference points makes distances deceiving. The "rock" we're standing on is at least the size of a football field. There is a person standing at the end of it on the right.

A small portion of our view at the top. The glacier continued and wrapped around to the right as well.

After some snacks and enjoying the scenery for a while, we started to get cold and decided to head back down. Fortunately, as soon as we started heading back downhill I no longer had a breathing problem. It took less energy going downhill and my lungs could keep pace with my walking. We made it back to the trail head and had to take one more ride in the rickety car all the way back to El Cocuy.

From the top of our hike. You can get a sense for how blinding the snow and clouds are in the background. They're even hard to tell apart from one another. 

The effort to get to the top was well worth it. It’s a sight that is not going to last. The glaciers in El Cocuy National Park are melting. Fast. They are predicting that in only 7 short years from now we will be able to easily hike to the summit of Ritacuba Blanco because the ice cap is expected to completely disappear by then. This mountain range is just not going to look the same without their white peaks. I’m so glad we visited when we did.