Páramo del Sol

Comments  (2)

• 
  Danny zm Jun 23, 2015

  Buenas tardes agradecería si me pueden facilitar información de un guía para recorrer el páramo.
  Muchas gracias!!!

• 
  nikisweeting Nov 29, 2017

  I have followed this trail  View more

  Information

  Easy to follow

  Scenery

  Difficult

  The route is basically 3 main sections:
  1. hike from base valley along the river up to the office/house
  2. main ascent from nature reserve office/house red building up to plateau
  3. final hike across moor plateau and ascent up to peak
  
  Timing:
  I did the hike solo in two days, starting at 3pm from the base and arriving halfway up section #2 at a wooden observation deck structure at 8pm. On the second day I hiked from the observation tower in section #2 from 8am - 12pm to reach the summit, then hiked back down and arrived at the base of the section 1 valley at ~8pm.
  
  Important Gear:
  - extra socks for wet feet
  - waterproof jacket for intermittent heavy rain
  - very good headlight to find the path at night, very easy to get lost without it
  - trekking poles, it will help to find which areas are too muddy to walk through
  - camera! amazing views at the top if you go early enough before the fog
  
  Section 1 - The foothills valley:
  Section one is generally an easy hike up a valley, following along with the river to your right. There are some points higher up where you have to cross the river because the path ends, but don't worry, it's easy to hike up the rocks in river if you don't mind your shoes being wet. There are a few wooden bridges and houses on the way up, but the end of this path is at the red house/office where you must pay a small fee ~$30,000COP to continue. The person there will open the gate for you to continue up the ascent to Section 2.
  
  Section 2 - The ascent to the moor plateau:
  The hike is generally difficult because GPS can be inaccurate in the valley and when under dense tree cover, be prepared to hike 200+m away from the GPS tracks in this trail, and make sure you're following the real path and not animal hoof marks, it's easy to get confused when the path crosses a grassy area and there are no more footprints to follow. Don't rely 100% on the GPS, just try to find the widest path with no branches going across it. There are 3 or 4 several shelter structures next to the path on the way up, you can camp under one of these if it gets too dark or rainy. There is a choice at one point whether to go up stairs or take a less steep path, I do not know which way is shorter, but I chose the stairs on the way up and coming back down.
  
  There is a two-story wooden structure with rickety steps, it's near the end of Section 2 before reaching the plateau. I camped there on the second floor, it's very beautiful in the morning because it's on the edge of a valley looking back the way you came.
  
  Section 3 - The moor plateau and final ascent to Paramo Del Sol & Paramo De Frontino:
  It's tricky to find a good way around some of the barbed wire fences, but if you go to the path to the right, you can lift the sticks holding the fence and go under it. From here it's a relatively flat path going across the plateau and beginning to go up to the peak. Beware of mud pools, but other than that it's not easy to get lost on the plateau because you can see white signs ahead along the path. There is one big pile of trash bags about 1hr from the summit.
  
  Watch out for:
  - in the base valley there are angry dogs at night, ideally arrive by car or motorcycle and be ready to quickly open gates that go across the road
  - very easy to get lost when the path crosses grass, since there are no footprints, look for paths with few branches/vines and don't follow horse/goat footprints by mistake
  - deep mud pools covered in grass, test your footing before walking across grass

You can add a comment or review this trail