Colombia
August
20, 2012 - From Soata we headed towards El Cocuy, our
jumping off point for a few hikes in the national park. The road
leaving Soata was stellar for the first 24 kilometers, with
not a single section of straight road to be seen. We were
flipping back and forth through the turns like giddy children.
This is what riding in Colombia is all about.
Need I say more?
El Cocuy used to be FARC-central, but in the last few years, the FARC has been driven back far enough to declare the area safe.
This was the first thing I saw when I got here, goats being loaded onto a bus.
We sported a similar grin earlier in the day when we were flipping through the twisties.
These guys were bemused by us taking their picture.
We also wandered around the local cemetery, quite an interesting one too.
After an afternoon of rest and a long chat with a local mountain guide, we'd picked a few potential hiking options. Given some of the feedback from other riding buddies, we decided to stop off at Hacienda La Esperanza, halfway between El Cocuy and Guican when you follow the dirt road. We're glad we did. The place was really something.
While the bike took a little rest, we donned our hiking gear and made for even higher ground.
Our goal for the day was Laguna Grande de la Sierra, with an intermediate pass at around 4,000 meters. La Esperanza was at 3,600 meters. A few hours into our hike, the weather turned nasty quickly and we decided to capitulate.
A few more inquiries later it was clear the weather was too unpredictable at this time of year to do any serious hiking. Our grand plans for a five day circuit tour were shelved after some navel gazing. Later in the evening I got to enjoy my first ever bout of altitude sickness and slept for twelve or so hours straight.