Pico Duarte is the highest peak in the Caribbean. It is on the part of the island of Hispaniola that is the Dominican Republic. It rises to 3101m and is surrounded by tropical forest. But more on that in a moment.
My daughter was working in Punta Cana at the far eastern tip of the country. So, we had decided to go to visit her and enjoy some March heat. Punta Cana is great if you like all-inclusive resorts and golf, but there is not much else there. Having spied the opportunity to climb Pico Duarte, I set about organising. On this occasion, the Reluctant Mountaineer forewent the opportunity to join me as did a couple of others who I asked. So, it was just me.
Using the services of a local guide (Guias de Altura) I ended up with a package that included two other Ultras in the country – Loma Alto de la Bandera (2842m) and Loma Gajo en Medio (2279m). Towards the end of our time with our daughter, we took a two-day trip to Santo Domingo. It is the capital and is based around the oldest Spanish city in the New World. The core of the city is compact, yet fascinating with its colonial architecture.
Loma Alto de la Bandera
Santo Domingo was also where the guide, Joel Roman, was based. So, he met me very early one morning to head for the start point for Pico Duarte. But first we would pick up Bandera. A military permit is needed to access this peak. And even then you cannot get to the very top because of the sensitive installations there. So you end up 10-30m below and 200m short at a security fence.
But the drive to the start is beautiful through the lush and verdant greenery of Parque Nacional Valle Nuevo.
We had the permit. Despite this, we had to wait while the young guard rang his superior. He needed to confirm all was in order. So I had a wander around the camp.
Access to the road that leads to the top is barred by a gate.
Discussions concerning access was fairly laid back. The guard seemed more interested in the floozy who was sitting next to him, arms around his neck. But once the final OK had come from the superior he tore himself away from that attention and opened the gate.
Having gone as far as we were allowed, we went on to Jarabacoa en route to La Cienaga.
By early evening, we reached La Cienaga. It is a village close to the start of the most popular trailhead for Pico Duarte. Here I was put up in a comfortable private home with dinner based around the local staple of plantain.
Pico Duarte
The following morning saw, once more, an early start with a basic breakfast at the trailhead. Here the permit for the climb was issued. A Park guide is also mandatory, and I was placed with a group of three Puerto Ricans and a local. The guide had two mules. One mule carried overnight gear for the group. The other mule was for transporting exhausted or injured climbers.
Signs at the start state that groups are required to stay together. But this was impractical for me. I was on a two-day climb. The rest were on a three-day one. Depending on who you believe, the round trip is about 45kms with around 2700m of ascent and re-ascent. There is a path all the way to the summit. It is difficult to get lost. But the path becomes very muddy after rain, particularly in its lower reaches.
This is particularly so for the first 6kms. The path rises only slightly as it follows a river to Los Tablones. This is the first rest stop along the trail. Along this section I was accompanied by a dog.
But once crossed, the path steepens.
At Los Tablones, I left my companions. I informed my guide that I would be going on ahead.
Surrounded by trees there are few views, but it is never without interest with birds and the abundant plant-life. Every so often there are further rest stops with pit toilets and shelters. I had brief rests at La Laguna and Aguita Fria.
The guide with the mules, one of which he was riding, briefly caught me up at Alto de la Cotorra. But he stayed to wait for the group.
The initial objective was La Compartición. This is a camp where climbers spend the night before/after the summit. This is around 18kms from the trail head.
Before then the trail continued through the forest, undulating with more ups than downs and sometimes following narrower ridges. There were even occasional views.
The path traverses Pico del Yaque and the first views of Pico Duarte appear.
Aguita Fria is reached. Here just below the trail the Dominican Republic’s longest river rises. After the rest stop at Descanso Alto de la Vela there is a unwelcome 250m drop to La Compartición.
7 hours after setting off I was at the camp and a scattering of buildings, including a National Park office. Here another pack of excited dogs came to greet me. I had a brief chat with the Park Ranger – not helped by the fact that there is no internet reception so Google Translate was not available. My Spanish is very limited and his English was non-existent.
I had a long rest with my new-found canine friends while waiting for the guide. This rest provided time for rehydration and food.
The guide turned up 35 minutes after me. I had given myself the choice of continuing to the summit that day. And I had decided to exercise that choice. But although he had been riding one of the mules he said that he himself needed a rest! Nonetheless, 75 minutes after I had arrived we were off again.
Most climbers tend to want to get to the summit for sunrise. That is not something I go for – sunsets are better in my view. I have seen too many disappointing sunrises. We soon came across a couple of small parties who were descending. We continued climbing to Valle de Lilís. At that point, the trail splits. One arm heads to the Dominican Republic’s second highest peak. We reached the summit two hours after leaving La Compartición.
The summit is a small outcrop popping up above the trees. A short, easy scramble leads to the top. It has a large cross, the national flag, and a bust of Juan Pablo Duarte. He was one of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic.
Here is a video that I took at the top.
We had the summit to ourselves. We stayed almost an hour looking at the views of tree clad peaks. They reached the horizon as the sun slowly sank. Our return was a swift 1 hour 20 minutes
Back at the camp accommodation was on a floor in a barn.
Electricity was switched on for two hours enabling me to recharge my phone. Sleep was fitful.
The next morning I was up and ready early. I agreed with the guide that I would leave before him but would wait for him at Aguita Fria, 4.6kms back towards the trailhead. Here I sat in the sun-dappled clearing. Noisy caws (the local name for the palm crow) entertained me. They hopped around hoping for handouts and accepted some peanuts, but wouldn’t take them straight from my hands.
The guide eventually turned up, missing a mule. Sick I was told, hence his delay. Return to the trailhead was swift – 5 hours including stops at La Laguna and Los Tablones.
There is a GPX track of my descent route from the summit to the trailhead here.
I stayed again at La Cienega. The next day, Joel drove me for 5 hours to the final objective. It was Loma Gajo en Medio, located to the south of El Cercado near the south coast of the country.
Loma Gajo en Medio
This mountain is rarely climbed. A local family owns the land, one of whom. Elias, would be my guide. We met at 4am were off by 4:15am. The early start was necessary. I had to be back in Santo Domingo by 4pm. I needed to catch a bus to Punta Cana. Elias did not walk, but rode a mule. At first we ascended a rough road, the glow of my headlamp lighting the rear of the mule!. At least he carried my rucksack.
This section can be quite muddy after rain, but for me there was only one brief section of unavoidable gloop. Elias set quite a pace!
After 30 minutes, we branched to the right. As I would note on the descent, we climbed between fields. Then, we moved into attractive open forest.
Eventually, the sun’s light percolated through the trees and I saw that we were in wispy cloud. Elias only dismounted the mule where the ground became rocky or steep. He also did so when it was necessary to bash through vegetation. And then finally, at a slight dip in the broad ridge, where he tethered and left the animal.
From there we had to crawl under a barbed-wire fence and spent 20 minutes bushwhacking through vines and thorny plants.
Elias then announced we were at the top at a small clearing. It was 7:40am. There was no view because of the trees. It was atmospheric with the clouds. The sky was blue above. It certainly looked as though there was nothing higher.
We spent 30 minutes eating. Then we wandered around to check there was no higher ground before leaving. We returned by the same route, collecting the mule on the way.
The descent was delightful with sylvan views to other tree-clad mountains.
The round trip took 6½ hours. There is a GPX track of my route available for download here.
Joel was waiting to take me back to Santo Domingo. My bus was at 4pm. The roads in this area are good, but progress is slow. Because it looked as though it would be tight to get to the bus and I had no ticket, Joel phoned his wife en route. She kindly bought me the ticket. We stopped by his flat on the edge of Santo Domingo. She delivered the ticket to me there.
And I made in time for my bus with 20 minutes to spare! It was packed.
Pico Duarte is definitely worth the climb. Perhaps a three day trip would be more relaxing. But probably only the hardened peak bagger will go out of their way to visit this country. Even then, Pico Duarte is well away from the main tourist destinations.
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