“Amazing. It was quite hard though, five hours of hiking up there in the middle of the night.” That is what a friend of mine told me and what somehow had me convinced to do the Volcan Barú hike myself. I got seven crazy people from the Lost and Found to do it with me, which was an accomplishment already, and before we knew it we were in Boquete and probably way too unprepared.
Preparing
The hike itself would consist of five to seven hours incline until we reached the top or, in other words, the highest point in Panama. There were two options starting at 23:00 at night or the next morning at 05:30. We ended up doing the night hike with the mindset of “since we are doing this anyway, we might as well get the best sunrise view when we reach the top”. After reading maybe one or two reviews about the volcano and the 3,475 meters high cold weather, we decided to buy gloves and beanies, and stuff our bags with hostel blankets and sweaters. We also bought some food to bring with us, which I would definitely recommend doing, seeing as you wont be back until around 12:00 the next afternoon. With these minimal preparations and some sushi from the Oh Toro Ramen & Sushi restaurant as our fuel, we finally started preparing mentally. Having done it now, I don’t think you can fully arm yourself for this activity or fully know what you’re getting yourself into.
At around 23:00 we gathered at the central road in Boquete to try and find a taxi who could take us up to the entrance of the trail. The jokes had already begun then, about how we were probably the most unqualified group of people to ever do this. Eight amateur hikers with way too little water and probably way too much tequila. We ended up all fitting in one taxi, with a few of us sitting in the back of the truck. Driving up the hill took about fifteen minutes and only cost us 25 dollars. At this point we were already delirious and just a little bit nervous. You could have called us excited, but I don’t think that it would have been an accurate description of people who were about to walk five hours up a hill. With one last tequila shot and a few more laughs we were off.
The Journey Begins
That first half hour was not holding itself back. The only surroundings we could see were the stones on which our flashlights shone and the already exhausted faces of the others. We were hopeful that it would get better, which it sometimes did. The slight steepness of the initial kilometers was only a promise of what still lay before us; thirteen kilometers with an incline of 1500 kilometers. Fortunately the steeper parts were always followed up with flat ones, which made the hike ten times easier at times. Another very redeemable component was the exceedingly beautiful view of the stars. We once stopped for about ten minutes and turned off all the flashlights just to gaze for a minute and take in the stillness of the night. However, accompanied by the falling stars came the coldness of not moving for a while, so we got up and continued our journey. The speaker we brought with us blasted out Glass Animals, Frank Ocean and Mac Miller, which later turned into the good old sounds of One Direction and even High School Musical. Singing and puffing we were slowly making our way up.
Keeping Motivated
We were making good time though. At around 02:00 we had already walked over six kilometers and had started feeling like it too. After every ten minutes of walking we took a minute of rest and I would recommend others do something similar, because it is more motivating mentally and physically. During the trek we found times to stop and eat, drink water, and regather the group. Cookies were shared and motivational speeches were made. Aside from all the complaining and the drama we were laughing, making jokes and in general just having a good time with each other. We did have a couple of hours to kill, so it was not that hard. The positive energy of this particular group of new found friends made the harder parts that much easier. Just to be with them for this long of an amount of time already made it worth it in my opinion.
Struggling
Thank god for them honestly, because by the time 04:30 came around, we truly needed the encouragement. It was one of the two actually difficult moments, the last ten minutes being the second. We were crawling up the hill at this point, but somehow we were still hopeful and excited. The thought of climbing a volcano and reaching the top kept our minds positive and our bodies strong. With every step it became colder though, and the gratefulness we felt for all the layers of clothing we brought was a talking subject for about fifteen minutes. That basically tells you everything you need to know about our mental stage at that time.
The last hour we split up into two groups, one of five and one of three, because everyone needed to walk that final part at their own pace. We were trying to motivate each other and getting thrilled to soon be done with the hike. And I must say, after having done five hours of natural StairMasters, reaching the top was truly the most amazing feeling of all time. I would do it all again just for that moment. The electricity towers that you find on top of the volcano had already been in sight for a while, but the moment I physically reached them I threw my bag off my shoulder and laid down on the cold ground.
Arrival
It was still dark around this time and with a temperature of two degrees Celsius the earlier subject of our gratefulness came up again. Within twenty minutes the last three also reached us and we penguinged together to wait for the sunrise. It did not take long for a weird creature to come creeping up to us. A strange volcano beast was not exactly what we were looking forward to. It ended up being a Coati, however, a friendly animal with few natural predators, so we let it sit with us. But, before we knew it wasn’t planning on killing us, we yelled at it to scare it away, which was loud enough to wake up the police who were, apparently, patrolling up there and came outside to check. Well, what they found were eight exhausted people, who they made the happiest group ever with an invitation into their warm dorm and hot coffee.
Waiting For The Sun
One of us fell asleep on the actual floor, the others sat on the couch and the rest on some chairs. With our savior, a policeman called Jesús, pronounced in Spanish of course, we waited until 06:15 for some outside light to show. And thén the sun came out and the amazing feeling of reaching the top was overshadowed by this new sentiment of wonder and awe. If the hike was one of the hardest things I have ever done, the sunrise view was one of the most worthwhile. We could see the Caribbean sea as well as the Pacific, the countless mountain peaks stretched before us like the flowers growing on them and the sun soaked into our skin as if it had woken up just for us. My whole body was reenergized and I did not waste a second before running up to the peak, the actual highest point of Panama, all the while screaming in excitement. A big cross was located at the top, which fit the heavenly cloud formations perfectly. The adrenaline from reaching it was all-consuming. As a group we then sat down with our blankets, pictures already made, and just chuckled at some jokes, ate our breakfast and enjoyed the extraordinary landscapes around us. It was possibly because we were absolutely unhinged, but I do not think I have laughed more in my life than at that moment.
The Descent
After some unnecessary problems with a car that was supposed to come and get us but did not, we decided to just do the hike down. It was essentially the same way, but now we could see everything, which changed our perspective on the whole thing. It took us a little less time than up, four hours compared to five. Two of us had to catch a bus to David so we split up and they sprinted down. We took a little more time, because someone’s older knee injury started hurting. Those couple of hours were mostly tiring because we had not slept, but were pretty okay to get through. In the end we found a farm where a guy had a car and he luckily was down to drive us the last two kilometers plus all the way to Boquete. It showed once again what wonderful and generous people the Panamanians are and how far a little kindness can go with a person. Back at the hostel we gave him ten dollars for his efforts and continued to go straight to bed. Laying there and revisiting the whole night I felt vigorous and accomplished. We did that, we DID that. I definitely learned a lot from the journey. We had to overcome many struggles and obstacles, but managed to get through them, which is a reward in itself.
Worth It In The End
I’m not going to lie and say the hike was easy enough or pretty doable, because it was not. It was hard and exhausting and not for the weak minded. My ultimate tips would be to bring a lot of warm clothes, a lot of water and food, and mostly do this with people who inspire you and will lift you up when it gets hard. This was in definition one of the toughest things I have ever done. But on the other hand, it was a challenge and in facing it we found ourselves empowered and united. The closeness we felt up on that peak and the realization of our own smallness compared to the rest of the world were unexchangeable. I would highly recommend this experience to every dauntless and adventurous person, for the trial, for the reward and for the undying memories which I promise will be marvelous.