Parque de los Nevados

We left Bogotá around 4 A.M. Felipe Parra, Santiago Saavedra and me (Mauricio Romero) has just returned from Australia and wanted to do some traveling in our beloved Colombia. Juan Manuel Garcia and David Londoño joined us. The trip took around 6 hours to the park entrance. We took the rout that takes you out of Bogotá through the Calle 13th, goes to Facatativa, Mosquera, Alban, Armero to the Alto the Letras, and then to the park entrance.

We stopped at Mariquita to have a hearty and filling breakfast that included rice, scramble eggs and hot chocolate. We also made a stop in Armero, a town that on November 15th of 1985 was completely destroyed by and avalanched generated from an eruption of el Nevado del Ruiz, and active volcano within the National Park of Los Nevados. Today, the town is a giant graveyard and very few buildings are left standing except perhaps for the vault of the only bank the town had. This was one of the greatest tragedies in the history of Colombia and we stopped to pay our respect and to remind our self that mountains deserve a lot of respect.

Its a good idea to stop along the way to acclimatize, and also to enjoy the park.

After a couple of hours we reached the park entrance. We had the usual talk with the park rangers and they explained to us about the concession between Aviatur and the National Park. Aviatur is in charge of all tourism within the park leaving the park ranges free to take charge of conservation. Aviatur has also invest a lot in infrastructure but now you do not only need to pay the park entrance but a guide to take you up to the beginning of the glacier of El Nevado del Ruiz, even if you do not intend to go there. The park rangers are not very keen of people going up any mountains on their own, so if you plan to go up El Nevado Santa Isabel, do not tell them.

El Nevado del Ruiz, or Cumandy as the indigenous people called it, is still an active volcano, as the tragedy of Armero remained Colombia, and since its last eruption in 1985 is under yellow alert. This means you are no allowed to go to the summit unless you have special permission. However, you are allowed to go to El Crater de la Olleta, which is a crater from Cumanday but is not joined to the main mountain. If you drive half and hour or so from the park entrance you will reach the highest point in the road and the Crater will be on your right and the summit of Cumanday to the left. You can park here and go to the top. This side trip makes a perfect acclimatization hike and the view is great.

The view from the Crater the la Olleta its the Nevado del Ruiz.

After we finished the hike to el Crater de la Olleta we drove to the El Cisne Visitor Center. This used to be just a camping spot but now it has a very nice cottage with Satellite TV, a restaurant and so on. Camping it a lot nicer now as well since Aviatur has put hot showers for campers. The camping spot is nice and flat. We prepared our dinner here and then went to bed early.

To the left, on the back, is Laguna Verde. The weather was not very nice, so you cant actually see its green color.

Near to the visitor center there are two hikes. The first one, which is pretty short (3 hours round trip or so), takes you to Laguna Verde. A very nice Lagoon which, with the right sun light, looks bright green because of the sulfur it contains. The second hike takes you to the summit of El Nevado Santa Isabel. You can break this hike in two, by hiking up to the sector known as Conejeras, where you can camp and make an early start the next day to the summit. You can do different mix and match combinations of these hikes. If you have a lot of time you can hike to Laguna Verde one day, to Conejeras de next and to the summit on the third day, and then either camp at Conejeras or go all the way back to the visitor center. You could also hike to Laguna Verde and the to Conejeras from there. The path that connects the two is through the moraine and it’s not very clear although several track marks (mojones) can be found among the way. If you have time, are adventurous, know they way or have a GPS and a track or at least a mark of where the Conejeras sector is, then you can definitely try this hike. The next day you can hike to summit.

Another option is to hike to Laguna Verde one day, and the next walk up very early and try to make it to the summit. It will be an 8 or 9 hour round trip hike. Finally, if you have a lot of energy and walk fast, you can do it all in one day. Hike to Laguna Verde, then go through the moraine to Conejeras and keep going to the summit, then go back to the visitor center. This is a long long hike.
We choose the last option, since we were short on time. It took us over 14 hours to complete it, but it was completely worth it. I was leading the group since I was the only one that had been to the summit before, but I left my boots at home and just had my sandals (which where intended to be used while driving). It was a terrible mistake and my toes still hate me for it. The path from Conejeras to where the glacier starts is very clear and easy.

This is where the glacier starts.

You can actually see my sandals.

After you reach the glacier you should use crampons but they are not essential. The glacier is quite easy and does not have many cracks and the way to reach the summit is clear and straightforward. But remember, the thing you see when you start walking is not the actual summit, once you reach that point there is another small mountain on top of the cone you need to go up to. You can avoid a lot of the glacier by walking though the rocks on the right.

That thing on the bottom is not the actual summit. Oncde you reach it you need to climb a little bit more.

Us on the summit.

The weather was not very nice to us, especially once we were close to the top since hailed started to fall and you could hear thunder. We decided to go down quickly and where back to the moraine safely within half an hour or so. Then we hiked back to the visitor center and took a very nice hot shower!

The next day we woke up, drove to the Hot Spring outside of the park (Ask for the Termales) and took a very well deserved bath. Then we drove back to Bogotá.

Recommendations:

If you go with a car is a good idea to take a 4WD, since the road near the Crater de la Olleta often gets covered with snow.

The hike to the summit is easy but do not get over confident.

Stop several times while you drive to the El Cisne Visitor Center to acclimatize.

There are several rock climbing routes near the Arenales Area.