High Mountain Hiking – Intent Nevado del Tolima

Our adventure begins in Salento, Quindío, at 5:00 am. There, we will have breakfast before boarding a Jeep Willys or van to Valle de Cocora. We'll hand over our luggage to the mule driver, who will load it onto the animals. Then, we'll start walking on the trail towards the Fog Forest. After about 3 hours and 30 minutes, we'll arrive at Estrella de Agua, located at 3,100 meters above sea level, where we'll have our lunch, recharge our energy, and filter water. After that, we'll walk for approximately 4 more hours towards the Romerales Páramo, until we reach Finca La Playa, our accommodation at 3,700 meters above sea level.

At 7 am, we'll have breakfast and prepare the mules with our luggage to take it to the base camp at 4,450 meters above sea level. We'll walk for 4 hours through the Romerales Páramo towards Nevado del Tolima, while enjoying the distant views of Laguna del Encanto, Paramillo del Quindío, Nevado de Santa Isabel, and Nevado del Ruiz (if the day is clear). When we reach the base camp, we'll set up our tents, have lunch, and participate in a talk to get to know and learn about the use of climbing equipment on snow and a brief description of the third day (summit ascent).

We'll wake up at 12 am and have a cup of coffee or sugar cane water with some food at 1 am before we start walking for around 5 hours towards the summit. We'll pass through a rock balcony where we'll use our body to hold on and transit with caution. We'll reach the edge of the glacier where we'll prepare our high mountain equipment (helmet, harness with carabiner, ice axe, and crampons). We'll be only 1 km away from the summit where the peak of the Nevado will be pronounced. The weather will change as we'll be at an altitude of over 5,000 meters above sea level with a perceived temperature below 0. We'll reach 5221 meters above sea level, celebrate for a few minutes (if weather and mountain conditions allow it), and then descend from the summit following the same route. We'll dismantle the camp at 11 am and head to Finca la Playa to have lunch, rest, have dinner and sleep.

Once we have breakfast at 7 am, we will leave Finca La Playa towards Valle de Cócora through the same trail we walked on the first day or, if we have more time, we can take a different but longer route via Finca La Argentina. We will be returning to Valle de Cócora at around 3:00 pm. Then, we will board a vehicle that will take us back to the town of Salento, Quindío, to have lunch, chat, return the equipment, and conclude this extraordinary tour and experience.