Up a Mountain
Trip Start
Aug 19, 2008
1
36
41
Trip End
Oct 29, 2010
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Thursday, June 24, 2010
LONG WAY HOME: A flight from LAX to MIA, MIA to SDQ, a taxi ride to the bus station, then a 6 hour (normally 3) bus ride to my site; Alex, my brother, had finally arrived. When I was home last he booked his ticket for 3 weeks in the Dominican Republic to live how I live, hang out, and travel. This bus ride, however, was miserable. Because Alex prefered me picking him up at the airport and not taking a taxi himself to meet me, we missed the bus I usually take. One that is much more comfortable, reliable, and has a bathroom on-board. We took a regular, express bus to my site from the capitol that was fine (had AC but smaller seats) until we came to a dead halt. Stopped in the middle of the highway with a line of cars in front of us. Apparently two semi-trucks had crashed and we had to wait until they cleared the reckage. It took about 2 hours (I thought we'd be there all night. No one was hurt) and we were off. Of course when we arrived to my house there was no electricity. Fortunately my full day of traveling (from 8am to 8pm to the capitol and back) was over.
KEEPS GOING AND GOING AND GOING...: Not only did my brother come to visit me but during his 3 week stay I had two friends, Cara and Rachel, visiting as well. We rented a car and essentially drove to all parts of the country - North, South, East, and West. The most memorable story was when we were arriving to the capitol after staying in my site for 5 days and all of a sudden accelerating on the go of a green light, our car just stopped like it had hit something in the road. I told Cara, who was driving at the time, to pull over and she couldn't. We were stuck in the middle of the intersection. We got out and surprisingly traffic police were right there and started to direct vehicles around ours and we saw what had happened. The axle of our car had fallen out. FALLEN OUT! It was annoying dealing with the car rental agency who kept asking questions about the dilemma when all I wanted was for them to send a tow truck. They did and we went to the office to get a new car. We were all a little anxious about driving the new car and waiting to see if they company would charge us for this remarkably unheard of situation, but our new car was fine and they didn't charge us for the damage (after a heated phone debate).
5 DAYS, 6 PEOPLE, ONE MOUNTAIN: My friend, Dan Golub, invited me along to hike to the top of the highest mountain in the Caribbean, Pico Duarte. His parents were coming to visit and since they are a hiking family decided that it would be the perfect trip. Dan's Dominican girlfriend, Yani, along with another volunteer, Jared, also came with so it made for a great trip. To be honest, me and hiking don't really jive all that well. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind walking and I'm down for a half-a-day's hike every now and then, but 5 days seemed kind of daunting. Since I was invited along I figured, "Why not? When am I going to get this chance again without having to plan it myself?" Well, I survived! Not only that, but I made it to the top with no help from those adorable mules that accompanied us with our gear.
DAY ONE: (18 kilometers): The night before we leave we are packing our gear and I realize that I don't actually have "gear." I brought some tennis shoes to hike in, is that okay? My tivas (Peace Corps standard) broke after only wearing them 6 times, of course this is the sixth time and I cannot wear them on the trip. They stay behind. Dan's parents are hiking experts so I get a little intimidating on the morning of our long 18 kilometer hike. However, before leaving Dan's mom requests tea so I feel less intimidated. Oh, I didn't know that it was going to be 18 km that day (nor almost every day) and then get more intimidated than before. At 4 km we stop for a break after what seems like just going up for 2 hours (because that's what we did) and see a sign that says 12 km to our camp site. I think I let out a whimper but we trecked along. It then starts to pour with 6 km left and I get soaked before I can put on my rain gear and realize that my ipod in my backpack wasn't packed correctly (it gets soaked too). It stops raining and we find ourselves with 5 km to go. After another couple of hours we make it to the cabin, wet, cold, but with surprisingly high spirits. My feet, legs, and back hurt and my spirits are a little broken after realizing that we have 4 days left. Our two guides, Tono and Geraldo, make us a great rice and beans meal with a hot cup of coffee and I pretty much stay curled up by the fire.
DAY TWO: (12 kilometers): Already sore. Really? We have a nice yucca and salami breakfast, coffee, and Dan's mom even offers me pain pills. I decline because I'm going to get through this even if it hurts a bit. Even though today is the shortest distance wise, it is all up and down. Down you ask? Yes, down as well. We go up for an hour at a time, then down to where the river is. We cross the river, go up for another hour, then down to the next river. The weather is gorgeous so we spend some time to bath in the river, have lunch, and rest. We go up again and finally make it to this beautiful valley in the middle of a mountain range, Valle de Bao. It is absolutely stunning. The clouds roll in through the valley and another river is right next to the cabin we will be staying in. The altitud gets higher, the air and water get colder, and I keep putting on more clothes. It is the middle of June on a Caribbean Island and the temperature is about 60 degrees F. Cool.
DAY THREE: (18 kilometers): "Mrs. Golub, do you have those pain pills you offered me yesterday?" Today is the day we hike up to Pico Duarte. I see that the elevation difference from our cabin to the top is about 3000 feet. I am already tired for the day thinking about it. It is 8 kilometers up to La Pelona, the peak next to Duarte. Just up. Continuously going up. Not even down this time. Oh, down, how I miss thee! We make it but then find out it's a tease. To get to the top of Pico Duarte we have to go down 2 kilometers and up 1. DOWN, I HATE YOU! PIco Duarte is only 2 meters higher than La Pelona! Just cut off part of Pico Duarte and put it on La Pelona to make the whole trip that much easier, it saves so much time and energy! We made it up to the top of the mountain and even though it was way to cloudy to distinguish any sort of view, just seeing the Dominican flag waving above the statue of former President Duarte (founding father of the DR) was a very proud moment. I honestly didn't know if I'd make it before but all the pain, sores, and rain somehow seemed worth it. Then we had another 5 kilometers down to our next cabin and I was kind of frustrated again.
DAY FOUR: (15 kilometers): Down, down, up, then down and down some more. Though this time, down hill consists of loose rocks and sand. It's pretty rough of the knees but I'm so excited that our guide said it's only 11 kilometers that I don't even care. From the top going down I can see the end cabin miles away. But that's what it is, miles (many kilometers) away. Towards the end of the hike my feet are killing me and even though I can see the cabin it just never gets closer. Am I an hour or 5 away? I was two. I finally arrive down to the cabin before everyone, take off my shoes, and see that I have some nasty blisters. No, it was not okay to hike in tennis shoes, especially old ones because I didn't want to get my new ones dirty. Fortunately, going on the trip with a mom made everything better. She gave me blister cream, band-aids, and her husband's hiking sandals for the last day's hike. The last night in the cabin. The last night sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag, smelling like smoke from the bonfire, and waking up every hour to switch sleeping positions.
DAY FIVE: (20 kilometers): One of the guys at the cabin told me that the last day was easy, only about 3-4 hours to our end destination, La Cienaga. Not true, yet again. It took me five hours and I was pretty fast - jogging down some hills at points. In addition, it wasn't even downhill the whole way since we had to meet up with the main trail. We did 8 kilometers uphill, again! I was pretty done with the whole thing but the last 4 kilometers were a straight, easy shot and the scenery was beautiful; rivers, hills, valleys, and decreasing kilometers signs. I arrived to the end and even though there was no parade/celebration for my finish, I felt a huge sense of achievement (and pain over my whole body).
All in all, I'm happy I did the hike but I'm not entirely sure I'd do it again. It was long, difficult, and uncomfortable. The company was wonderful, the landscape was undescribable, and the experience was unforgettable, especially for someone who doesn't really even hike, like myself.
