Hiking in Parque Nacional El Avila

Yesterday we had our first opportunity to explore Avila, the mountain which runs along the north side of Caracas (hiding the ocean from view and helping keep the pollution nicely situated overhead). We began our journey with a taxi ride to the trail head for the journey up to Hotel Humboldt. Hotel Humboldt is perched safely on a ridge on the western end of the mountain range overlooking the city.

As we began our assent, we were armed solely with a rough outline of the route and plenty of enthusiasm. The weather was clear and sunny and the sky was a beautiful shade of blue. And we were all amazed at the proximity of such a lush natural area just minutes from our hotel in this bustling metropolis.

We began our assent at 1,100 meters on a paved trail populated with hundreds of Caraquenos. I was highly discouraged to be on pavement which for me does not count as good hiking terrain but happy to see plenty of the local talent getting exercise and gazing upon this motly crew of gringos.

The trail changed over from pavement to dirt quickly enough and the grade became fairly steep but we made steady progress. The weather changed from dry warm air, to thicker more humid air as we gained altitude. Cloud cover moved in as well and we were greeted with our first sprinkles of water about an hour and half into the hike.

After taking refugee from a down pour under a four post shelter – we made our way further up the trail. At this point there was some uncertainty about where we were heading and we began to check with people coming down the trail to find out how far we were from our destination.

We soon realized that the looks of confusion and concern on the faces of our advisors was an indication that we may have made a wrong turn. Two young caraquenos assured us that we could get to Hotel Humboldt but we had to traverse from the top of the mountain we were on to another and it would take another 3-4 hours. Keeping in mind we were 2.5 hours into a 3-4 hour hike this was not welcome news.

Fortunately, the landmarks they suggested were clear and we found the proper turn off to begin a westerly traverse of the mountain ridge. Unfortunately, as we began the traverse the sky opened up once more and our hiking trail was quickly converted into a flowing river of water shin deep. Having reached an elevation of 2,350 meters we were also now in much colder air – without proper clothing and soaked to the bone.

The traverse was enjoyable for some and a concern for others. Visibility was very poor with cloud cover surrounding us. At the very least, we had left behind a steady incline for a more level and forgiving trail. However, the rain continued beating down on us with unrelenting force.

After several fits and starts and some intense debate about where we were heading – we emerged from the clouds and rain to get a glimpse of the ocean which lies north of Avila. We also caught a glimpse of the original destination – Hotel Humboldt. However, at this point it remained a good distance away.

With renewed enthusiasm and an easing of group tensions we picked up our pace and headed toward the first man made structure we had seen in several hours. We celebrated our arrival at Humboldt with some pictures, some laughs, and by quenching our hunger at the variety of food stalls set up for tourists that arrive via the teleferico. Then we huddled ourselves into the cable car and began the easy assent down to awaiting taxis and warm showers at the hotel. Although it took some convincing – we were able to coax a taxi driver into accepting our fare despite our miserable appearance and were soon home nursing our sore joints.