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The route to the top of Pico Bolivar is both spectacular in its beauty and
challenging in its ruggedness. The trail starts at La Mucuy, part of the
Sierra Nevada National Park, from where the path winds its way up through dense, tropical
cloudforest. Plants grow on plants, green upon green, and the lush
vegetation erupts with birdsongs. During the three-day ascent to the base of the
Bolivar, we pass into "paramos", stark but beautiful moors, famous for the
velvety "frailejon" plant, indigenous to the tropical Andes. Later, we hike
over a desert paramo of stone and snow, camping every night along the shores
of large glacial lakes. Using proper climbing equipment, we summit Pico Bolivar,
a peak of 5007 meters, and gaze across political boundaries into Colombia. We descent
from the mountains on the world's highest and longest cable car, enjoying
an unforgettable view of Merida on the down to the valley.
The Itinerary
Day 1: (2130 m - 3200 m)
From Merida, we drive to La Mucuy (2000 m), part of the Sierra Nevada National
Park. From here, we hike up into the cloud forest, through an area of dense
vegetation, of huge ferns, exotic bamboo, imposing trees covered with bromeliads,
mosses, and hanging vines and an abundance of winged creatures. We pass several streams
and small waterfalls and finally set up camp at Coromoto Lake at 3,200 m (L D).
Day 2: (3200 m - 4000 m)
Today, we hike along a steep and rocky path to Green Lake (4000 m), named for
its brilliant emerald colour and located at the base of the impressive Humboldt
(4992 m) and Bonpland Mountains (4890 m). The scenery opens up as we climb.
We set up camp at La Laguna del Suero (4200 m) (B L D).
Day 3: (4000 m - 4600 m)
From the beautiful Laguna Suero, we hike west to Laguna Timoncito and face
a steep uphill slope on loose rocks called "Chomahoma". On top of the slope,
we enjoy the spectacular views before crossing through a rock or snow landscape to Laguna
Timoncito. Overnight at Base camp Pico Bolivar (B L D).
Day 4:
Today, we climb up to the top of Pico Bolivar (5007 m), where we
admire the splendour of the surrounding mountains, before descending
to base camp for a well-deserved dinner (B L D).
Day 5: (4045 m - 4765 m)
After breakfast, we hike to Pico Espejo (4765 m), the highest cable car
station of the world. We trek down to Loma Redonda station (4000 m)
and return to Merida via the highest and longest cable car in the world
(12.5 km long and 4765m high) (B L).
General Information
Read our customers' feedback about this journey.
Rated: Moderate/Strenuous (especially day 4).
The climb is not technical demanding, but the last strenuous 300 meters demand some
extra strength while scaling over rocks. A faster route to Pico Bolivar is available upon request for those with limited time.
However, this route is only suitable for people with a strong resistance to altitude sickness.
It starts with a ride on the world's highest and longest cable car to Loma Redonda
(4000m), within a day of the top. By returning the same way, it makes this a short, 3-day adventure.
The trek includes a porter per 2 participants so that you only have to carry your personnal belongings
and a part of the food (15 to 20 lbs maximum).
A discount of 15% will be applied to the participants who prefer not to have a porter.
They will share the common equipment and food with guide. You will have to carry more
than 30/40 lbs and be very fit as the altitude
gradient is more than 10,000 ft/ 3000 mts.
| Tour Tariff - Private Departures | |||||
| N° of Participants | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| USD | $ 476 | $ 448 | $ 448 | ||
| EUR | € 395 | € 372 | € 372 | ||
| GBP | £ 267 | £ 251 | £ 251 | ||
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