Trip to Pico Duarte, DR
P. N. Armando Bermúdez
18 - 20 de March 2010

La Ciénaga signboard showing trail schematic.

Satellite view showing GPS track of trail to Pico Duarte.

Detailed GPS track showing stages of Pico Duarte trail.

mules, so I couldn't quite figure out the mathematics. Toni told me there are only about a hundred accredited guides based at La Ciénaga, so it can occasionally be a problem to handle peak visitor levels. Toni was riding one mule and said the other had gone on ahead. After many journeys the mules all know the route without needing guidance (supposedly). It turned out our cargo mule had an independence streak and wandered off the trail, so Toni had to go and look for it. My friend and I continued up the trail, crossing the river at a couple of points near Los Tablones, where there is another refuge, the last before La Compartición. This first stage took us 70 minutes of fairly easy hiking. The other group's guides with their cargo mules eventually caught and passed us on the way to Los Tablones. We heard them coming long before they arrived as the guides cursed one particularly lazy animal. No sooner had the group of ten or so mules passed than they stopped, effectively blocking the trail. Some of the loads had come loose and needed to be re-secured. We forced our way through only to be passed a second time and only to be held up a second time as one of the loads tumbled to the ground. The load consisted of eggs - so much for the group's breakfast plans. Again we shoved passed them and in due course we were passed in turn for the third time.

After Los Tablones the trail starts to climb markedly, so that we were both fairly tired by the time we reached Alto de la Cotorra at 11:25 a.m., where we had a short stop and ate breakfast consisting of egg, cheese and Bovril sandwiches, which we'd prepared before leaving La Ciénaga, a pear and some 'tres leches' candy to give us a sugar rush. Toni said that many hikers call it quits at this point and return to La Ciénaga. After nearly 3 hours on the trail and the prospect of a further 5 - 6 much tougher hours ahead I could understand why. Herman and another rider passed us on their mules as we were en route to Alto de la Cotorra, travelling in the opposite direction, and we spoke briefly with him. Victor had been unable to communicate with the ranger at La Compartición the previous evening so had dispatched them both to investigate, leaving La Ciénaga at midnight. It turned out that his radio was damaged and had to be replaced, requiring the 12+ hour overnight round-trip. My friend decided to try riding the mule after breakfast. Toni helped her mount up and then set the mule on its way while he attended to the cargo mule. I walked along

behind her but the mule soon stopped, apparently waiting for Toni and the other mule to catch up. I took hold of the bridle and eventually persuaded him to continue but this meant I was at the front of the pack, which was a mistake as mules can move up the trail much faster than I can. While he didn't step on my ankles, I could feel his breath on my legs, forcing me to walk faster than I wanted. I was quickly exhausted and eventually let the mules pass me. It took a while for me to recover, and this wasn't helped by the continued demanding climb to the next stop at La Laguna, where we arrived at 12:30 p.m. Some of the other group had also stopped there in order to mount their mules, so I was somewhat encouraged that we had gained 1½ hours on them.

Student group with their mules at La Laguna.

From La Laguna the tough hiking began, with the trail climbing 670 m over 3.5 km. My group waited for me at El Cruce to ensure I took the right-hand fork to Agüita Fría and not the left-hand fork to Valle del Tetero. The trail turns west north west at El Cruce and climbs steadily to a short plateau at Agüita Fría. I found this stage very tiring and had to stop often to catch my breath and let my heartbeat slow a little. The only encouragement I received was eventually catching and

passing one of the larger group. We sat and chatted for a while. He was an experienced hiker and said his approach was to climb at his own pace and not to try and keep up with others. He explained that the larger group consisted of students and their teacher from a Santo Domingo bilingual college. He and his wife were accompanying their daughter on the trip. Shortly after passing him, I came across this impressive looking spider on the trail (photo on right). It was a great feeling to eventually reach the highest point of the stage and descend to Agüita Fría (arriving at 3 p.m.), where my group was waiting for me, together with a couple of students and guides from the larger group. It was an exposed place to rest, with a cool breeze blowing, so we didn't linger long.

Spider on the trail to Agüita Fría.

The final stage for the day was mainly downhill to the refuge at La Compartición. My friend had had