A Vulcán Barú adventure

(The photo's are from internet. Why? You will read in the next chapter.)

It was time to change scenery; from the Caribbean shore sides I took a long bus to Boquete in the fresh Chiriqui highlands. North of this charming mountain town looms Vulcán Barú, Panama’s only volcano and highest point: 3475m/11.400feet. Coffee, oranges, flowers and citrus fruits are grown all around and the province is home to the Ngöbe-Buglé people who still wear traditional clothing.

After a full day bussing thru mountainous landscapes with lakes and forest covered hillsides I was ready to do some hiking. That same evening my hostel owner explained the activities around Boquete and I put him to a stop when he told me about hiking Vulcán Barú. It was an intense hike and many people did it at night so they could see the sunrise. My ears were pinched and my attention sharp, this smelled like adventure.
He advised to go with other people, at least to share the cab ride to get there. But after asking around for two hours I had no candidates. I did some shopping, made some food, laid down for half an hour and found a cab that brought me to the gravel road leading to the entrance.

So…..from town it’s 8km to the park entrance, and then it’s 15km to the top. Elevation difference with town is 2415m/7923feet. It was steep; the way up was an extreme 4-wheel drive road with huge boulders and tons of loose rocks, you were sliding and slipping and puffing and sweating. I started at 11pm and arrived at the top around 5:20am, the sunrise was still 1.5 hours away.
People, I tell you, that hike needs to be done with a rested body and good fitness. There is no technical stuff, just the loose boulders, but it’s steep and long. I was exhausted from the day traveling, and throughout the night I got so tired that I crashed in the middle of the road for a few minutes sleep that would not come. You can imagine that with altitude comes thin air and coldness, and although I was sweating like a race horse, my body would cool off in a few minutes and I would start to shiver. I had to keep going.
My torch run out of batteries one and a half hours after I had started so I had no more light, the moon didn’t show it’s face until four in the morning. Luckily I had my camera, and the LSD screen gave enough light to keep me going. I really have no idea how I hiked up road of terror, I must have been in a very delirious state, almost dreamlike. When I hiked down in the morning is was waaaaaay longer, there didn’t seem to be an end to this killer road.

But friends…….what a view!!! You can only imagine! When I arrived it was still pitch dark and I could see light all around, from the Pacific side (a lot more crowded) to the Caribbean side and all the mountain towns in between. It was sparkling.
Although I was wearing all the warm clothes in my backpack I was still freezing, being totally wet and very tired and being at this altitude (I’m so happy it wasn’t windy tonight). For an hour I rested myself in the frond of a truck that happened to be near all the antennas on top and 6:40am the sky showed a bright band of red in the East.

On top of Vulcán Barú

Wow, wow, wow, what a sunrise. It was really a 360ºC view, in the East the sunrise over the Cordillera Central. In the South you could see the Pacific Ocean and all its towns. To the West you were looking over de Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa Rica. And in the North there was the Caribbean Sea and the bay I had just came from. The colors changed with the minute and in the west there was a huge shadow. It was Vulcán Barú who was casting a pyramid shaped shadow over the whole country, as far as Costa Rica, a pyramid which became smaller with every sun rising minute.

For one and an half hour I enjoyed this view and feeling of being on top of the world totally on my own. It was very interesting to see how high 11.400feet is, cause you have the sea as measurement right there.
The walk back was hellish though. It was really tough, and the heat and dust were not really enjoyable with this tiredness. Arriving at the gate I found no other way then hiking to town as well, there are no cars or busses to the entrance. So in total I hiked 38km. At home I ate, showered washed my clothes and fell asleep until the next morning.

Not the hardest or best hike I’ve ever done, but definably one with the best final result.