Climbing Volcán Barú

Volcán Barú--elevation 3,474 meters (11,398 ft)--the tallest point in Panama. The climb up Volcán Barú was a grueling 5 1/2 hours, 13.5 km, and over 1,500 m of elevation. In the dark. We started at the trail head at midnight and pushed to make the summit by sunrise. 

The lights below us in the valley.

Although the road is wide enough to drive a jeep up, it is extremely steep for several long stretches. We made it to the top about 30-45 minutes before sunrise, but it was so cold (two shirts, three fleeces, and a rain jacket to break the wind...and I was still freezing) that we huddled about 100 m below the ridge until the sun started peaking up over the Caribbean.

One of the really cool things about Volcán Barú is that since it's so tall and Panama is so narrow, you can see both oceans from the top!

Caribbean view with the very top-most summit to the left.

Pacific view.

Near the top there is a leveled area with buildings and cellular towers.

Looking down on the leveled area from the summit.

We watched the sunrise from here, sitting behind a building to cut the wind and peeking out every few minutes to take pictures. Although the summit itself was pretty rocky, there were a few plants eking out life in the harsh (cold and windy) conditions. The most striking was this pretty red flower.

Once it warmed up a little bit we climbed to the very top where a concrete cross has been erected (this seems to be common practice on mountains here).

The summit itself.

Proof that we made it!

It was a really tough hike, but the views from the summit were stunning, as I hope you can see!