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Published: February 23rd 2010
El Cocuy Courtyard
Replica model of Sierra Nevada Mountain RangeBefore leaving Suesca, Taylor brought forth a grand idea. Having been inspired by a reoccuring cartoon map of a National Park in Northern Colombia...he thought we should take a trip up to do some trekking. Seeing as how we were already moving slowly I was reluctant at first, but after some considerations we formed a plan. Our aspirations soon turned from merely walking around to summiting a peak we heard Freddie (our climbing guide in Suesca) talking about. Most everything about it was a limit pusher for both of us. The peak sits at 5100 m (16,700 ft) and is covered in snow. That is higher than any peak in the contiguous US...Mt Whitney (the highest) is only 4400 m. Ive never been that high in my life, nonetheless donned crampons and an ice-axe! It would take two full days of trekking and a pack-animal just to reach our base camp at the foot of the snowpack. We asked Freddie what the name of this daunting peak might be and he responded with ´Pan de Azucar´, which translates roughly to ´Sugar Bread´. Great....my first venture into actual mountaineering is going to be on ´ol Sugar Bread...the guys will surely believe me.
The only discouraging aspect of our plans was the price. All the outfitters wanted to charge quite a bit just to get us up there, but before we left Suesca we decided to roll the dice. We asked Freddie what he was doing for the next week.....´nothin really´. We asked Freddie if he wanted to take us up Pan de Azucar....´uhhhh...not sure´. We asked Freddie if paid food and bus transportation would change his mind...´Yup. Meet me here on Sunday afternoon.´ After securing our guide we returned to Bogota to gear up and eat some deep fried empanadas that we would dearly miss in the week to come.
All in all, the trip went really well. Being at those altitudes certainly has an affect, and progress was slow the first couple of days. I was able to convince Freddie to bring some rope and his rack, so we also got to climb a rock wall just to the left of the peak called ´Pulpito del Diablo´. Now that name is a little more like it. Really interesting feature...just a huge square monolith that juts out of the mountain side. Its all trad, and we strung two pitches up
it, climbing above the snow on the ground. After another night of heavy winds and ice-coated tents, we woke up early and pushed summit at six a.m. Got to the top in great weather, chilled for a bit, and glissaded our way back to the tent. Great trip to El Cocuy National Park.
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Mindy
non-member comment
Greetings!
Your mother has been keeping me posted all along your trip. However, somehow I had not seen the blog until tonight. Steve, I am so very happy for you and so very proud of you!! I'm so happy that you are having all of those wonderful experiences which you will remember for the rest of your life. And so very proud that you worked, planned, saved and made it happen. Just be safe - I've had many conversations with your mother in the past 6 months or so. I know you've given her a few gray hairs! Again - very happy and proud for you!!!! ENJOY ALL YOUR EXPERIENCES AND SOAK IT UP!!!!