Atop La Dormida & Back Down in the Rain
Panama Travelog #17
El Valle, Panama - Tue, 24 Dec 2024. 5pm.
In my last blog about climbing La Dormida (sleeping Indian girl) I shared how I kept telling myself, "We're almost there, keep going," to persevere through the worsening rain. Well, the trail was steep all the way to the top.
And the rain didn't stop. But we tried not to let that dampen our spirits too much. 🤣 I mean, it would be awesome to have an amazing view at the top. Even with the rain we should be able to see something... right?
One unexpected view was the view to the west (above), away from Anton Valley. In the Valley it's easy to focus on the valley being the world and the ridges surrounding on all sides- remember, the valley is the caldera of a volcano- as the edge of the world. But there's a whole world beyond the edge, too.
For all my talk of, "We've got to be just about there, just one more push to the top," finally it was just one more push to the top.
As far as the form of La Dormida I believe the summit area ahead of us is her head. The saddle at the right of the photo is her neck. From here it looks like she has two noses, or maybe a heavy brow ridge like a neanderthal instead of being a beautiful young woman. (Sorry, neanderthots.) What can I say? This is the back view. It looks different from the other side and 1,000'+ below.
Finally, finally, we made the top of the ridge. I was actually surprised how well this photo looking down across Anton Valley turned out given how shitty the weather was. It was raining on us... and not just a sprinkle but steady rain. My shirt was plastered to my skin. I'd left my rain jacket down in the car as it was sunny when we started the trail. D'oh!
Oh, and moments before I took this picture we heard a thunderclap. Oh, what a time to be on the highest point around with no cover! 😱
Just before reached the top another pair of hikers passed us. We discussed briefly how we could continue along the ridge to make a loop or double back the way we came. They said they would hike the loop. Well, they turned around when they heard that thunderclap and met us as the summit. We all agreed to go back down the way we came. "The devil you know versus the devil you don't," explained one of the hikers.
The four of us became impromptu partners for the next half hour. We acted as both spotters and moral support descending the steepest, trickiest bits of the trail. The rain was now pouring, making those tricky parts even tricker.
We took shelter together in the empty ice cream stand a bit below the ridge. By then we were under cover from the trees but still getting soaked by the pouring rain. Sitting under the corrugated aluminum roof gave us a respite. I caught my breath and let my aching leg muscles rest. Both were given quite a workout even on the descent as we were moving as quickly as possible to get out of the rain and avoid being exposed on the ridge if/when lightning struck.
The others went ahead of us and we left 2 minutes behind them. We never saw them again. They were about 20 years younger than us so not too surprising they were faster.
The rest of the way down was mostly a putting-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other exercise. With the rain we were focused on getting back down as quickly as possible. And getting back down as quickly as possible meant putting a lot of focus on our feet on the steep, rain-slicked trail. We did pause briefly at the waterfalls along the trail as we descended. They were little comfort when our clothes were soaked through.
Somewhere in the lower reaches of the trail the rain stopped. It was kind of hard to be sure as we were under good tree cover most of the time. And it was hard to care about the difference as we were still soaked and the trail was still so slippery.
By the time we got down to the car the sky was dry. I noticed mostly because when I peeled off my soaked shirt and dried my chest with a towel, I didn't get wet again. Being outside in the not-rain suddenly seemed like a novelty! We put on some dry clothes on (we'd packed a change in the car), changed out of our muddy boots, stowed our packs, and drove back into town.
El Valle, Panama - Tue, 24 Dec 2024. 5pm.
In my last blog about climbing La Dormida (sleeping Indian girl) I shared how I kept telling myself, "We're almost there, keep going," to persevere through the worsening rain. Well, the trail was steep all the way to the top.
And the rain didn't stop. But we tried not to let that dampen our spirits too much. 🤣 I mean, it would be awesome to have an amazing view at the top. Even with the rain we should be able to see something... right?
One unexpected view was the view to the west (above), away from Anton Valley. In the Valley it's easy to focus on the valley being the world and the ridges surrounding on all sides- remember, the valley is the caldera of a volcano- as the edge of the world. But there's a whole world beyond the edge, too.
For all my talk of, "We've got to be just about there, just one more push to the top," finally it was just one more push to the top.
As far as the form of La Dormida I believe the summit area ahead of us is her head. The saddle at the right of the photo is her neck. From here it looks like she has two noses, or maybe a heavy brow ridge like a neanderthal instead of being a beautiful young woman. (Sorry, neanderthots.) What can I say? This is the back view. It looks different from the other side and 1,000'+ below.
Finally, finally, we made the top of the ridge. I was actually surprised how well this photo looking down across Anton Valley turned out given how shitty the weather was. It was raining on us... and not just a sprinkle but steady rain. My shirt was plastered to my skin. I'd left my rain jacket down in the car as it was sunny when we started the trail. D'oh!
Oh, and moments before I took this picture we heard a thunderclap. Oh, what a time to be on the highest point around with no cover! 😱
Just before reached the top another pair of hikers passed us. We discussed briefly how we could continue along the ridge to make a loop or double back the way we came. They said they would hike the loop. Well, they turned around when they heard that thunderclap and met us as the summit. We all agreed to go back down the way we came. "The devil you know versus the devil you don't," explained one of the hikers.
The four of us became impromptu partners for the next half hour. We acted as both spotters and moral support descending the steepest, trickiest bits of the trail. The rain was now pouring, making those tricky parts even tricker.
We took shelter together in the empty ice cream stand a bit below the ridge. By then we were under cover from the trees but still getting soaked by the pouring rain. Sitting under the corrugated aluminum roof gave us a respite. I caught my breath and let my aching leg muscles rest. Both were given quite a workout even on the descent as we were moving as quickly as possible to get out of the rain and avoid being exposed on the ridge if/when lightning struck.
The others went ahead of us and we left 2 minutes behind them. We never saw them again. They were about 20 years younger than us so not too surprising they were faster.
The rest of the way down was mostly a putting-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other exercise. With the rain we were focused on getting back down as quickly as possible. And getting back down as quickly as possible meant putting a lot of focus on our feet on the steep, rain-slicked trail. We did pause briefly at the waterfalls along the trail as we descended. They were little comfort when our clothes were soaked through.
Somewhere in the lower reaches of the trail the rain stopped. It was kind of hard to be sure as we were under good tree cover most of the time. And it was hard to care about the difference as we were still soaked and the trail was still so slippery.
By the time we got down to the car the sky was dry. I noticed mostly because when I peeled off my soaked shirt and dried my chest with a towel, I didn't get wet again. Being outside in the not-rain suddenly seemed like a novelty! We put on some dry clothes on (we'd packed a change in the car), changed out of our muddy boots, stowed our packs, and drove back into town.