Crossing of Los Nevados

Trip Description

Accomodation

Stay program

• day 1

  Journey through the coffee region

  Your adventure begins at Pereira airport, where you will meet your guide. Together, you will drive along picturesque mountain roads through the coffee region, passing small towns, coffee plantations, and farmland. After a pleasant ride through the countryside, you will arrive at Potosi, an agricultural area located just outside Los Nevados National Park. Your hosts for the night are Don Humberto and his family, who run Campoalegre, a farm-inn located at 3,930 meters above sea level. There, you will discover handmade arepas, fresh farm cheeses, and the hospitality of the Colombian highlands. After dinner, your guide will give you a briefing for the big day ahead and you will go to bed early for tomorrow's alpine departure.

• day 2

  Climbing the Santa Isabel volcano

  The day will start with breakfast at 2:30 in the morning. You will drive for an hour inside Los Nevados National Park to the starting point of the Nevado de Santa Isabel trail at 4000 meters. The trail climbs immediately and you will walk through a mountain forest of dwarf trees, mossy plants, and small lagoons. As dawn breaks, the vegetation is dense and you have a breathtaking view of the rocky cliffs and mountain slopes. Patches of snow appear as you climb, accentuating the barren but beautiful and white landscape. A collection of glacial lakes lies just below the Santa Isabel glacier and, shortly after crossing them, you can see the helmets, harnesses, ropes, and crampons. The final ascent of the glacier, which begins at 4700 meters, is the most exciting and difficult part of the climb. Your endurance, determination, and the weather determine your level. The highest point is at 4,950 meters, just a few meters from the true summit guarded by a rocky wall. If you make it that far, you will have climbed 950 meters in 4.5 kilometers. Congratulations, you have climbed one of the three famous Nevados. Now, you have to go back down. 8 to 9 hours after departure, you will return to the starting point. Hot food and a well-deserved rest await you at Campoalegre.

• day 3

  The Otun Lake and the páramo

  Today, you will begin to cross the Los Nevados National Park heading south. You will leave from Campoalegre and follow a wide mountain trail with breathtaking views of meadows and hills full of wildflowers. From the trail, you will see El Ruiz, the famous and very active volcano that killed 25,000 people during its eruption in 1985. After about an hour, you will arrive at Laguna de Otun, a lake fed by the Santa Isabel glacier that you will have crossed the day before. The lake is at an altitude of 3,900 meters and is the source of the Otun River, which supplies drinking water to the city of Pereira where you began this adventure. After admiring the view of the lake and the waterfalls that feed it, you will leave the wide mountain trail and follow a narrow path that will take you through a garden of exotic succulent plants. This is the beginning of your hike through the páramo. Your hike will take you across streams, along a mountain ridge, and into a valley. At one point, you will cross a natural tunnel carved by the intertwined branches of knotty siete cueros (seven skins). The most difficult part of the day will end towards the end of the day with the ascent of a steep ravine that climbs a mountain before descending into the Berlin valley, where you will spend the night at the Machete family's farm. The Berlin farm, at 3,840 meters altitude, is perfect with its surrounding cliffs, stream, fields dotted with rocky blocks, and pastures. With 12 more kilometers under your belt, you will spend the evening gathered around a wood stove, relaxing and chatting with your hosts Diego and Maria.

• day 4

  The Tolima volcano and the cloud forest

  Today begins a difficult ascent towards the border of the Risaralda and Quindío departments. At 4,300 meters of altitude, this is the highest point of your hike outside the Nevado de Santa Isabel and, from there, you will be able to see the Nevado del Tolima. The rest of the day will be a gradual descent and you will leave the páramo to enter the cloud forest. At higher altitude, the forest is less dense and the mountain trail you follow still offers clear views of the green valleys and rocky cliffs. In the early afternoon, you will arrive at the Argentine farm at 3,540 meters. After lunch, you will walk to a waterfall. At this lower altitude, the cloud forest is as rich as a tropical forest and countless birds and exotic flowers bombard your senses with colors and sounds. After another 10-kilometer day, you will spend the night at the Argentine farm where you will rack your brain trying to solve Don Javier's very frustrating riddle.

• day 5

  The wax palm forest and the Cocora Valley

  When you descend to the lowest part of the cloud forest, the tallest trees emerge. The wax palms grow up to 60 meters straight into the air and stand out above the surrounding mist and dense foliage. Orchids and bromeliads are also predominant in this part of the forest. Your hike will take you across streams and log bridges. Towards the end of your hike, you will enter the famous Cocora Valley, where farmers have cleared the forest but left the wax palms standing, creating a spectacular landscape of tall trees contrasting sharply with the grassy hills. Your hike will end in a restaurant in the Cocora Valley at an altitude of 2300 meters, where you will reward yourself with a well-deserved lunch (the specialty is rainbow trout and patacón). Today's 10 kilometers will bring your total to 41 kilometers. You will have experienced the full Los Nevados adventure and can return home with a camera full of memories and a full heart. After lunch, you will visit the picturesque town of Salento before heading to Pereira airport.