Villamaría to camp at 3,000 meters, Parque los Nevados: Climbing to El Nevado del Ruiz with a few wrong turns


Map
Loading...
Statistics for today
Distance 42.21 kms 26.10 miles
Climbed 1,773 meters 5,817 feet
Ride time (hours) 6.58 -
Avg speed 6.2 kph -
Avg climb 7% -
Max grade 21% -
Statistics for trip to date
Distance 14,898.83 kms 9,257.81 miles
Climbed 181,071 meters 594,065 feet
Ride time (hours) 1,170.59 -
On this page

Friday, September 27th, 2013

The guys doing some construction work at the hostal gave me a few tips for the road ahead then I was off. The pavement only lasted less than a kilometer before it gave way to the rocky and sandy ripio surface that would last for the rest of the day. I asked a guy on a horse which way to go at an intersection and he told me right... which turned out to be a major mistake. I dropped 400 meters of altitude on seriously difficult road before finding out from someone else that I should have gone left back at that intersection. I climbed all the way back up then went left like I should have (it felt wrong to go right at the time, I should have listened to my instincts).

It started raining shortly after that intersection, at times heavily, and with it came lower temperatures. At a shelter on the side of the road I ate lunch and layered up. The rain made the stones covering the road very slippery. My back tire was struggling to hold traction on the steep sections. I ran out of daylight and found a campsite down by a stream hidden from the road. I set up my tent under some of the huge fronds lining the river, made dinner then passed out. I was awoken an hour later by ear-splitting thunder and torrential downpours. It took me quite a while to fall back asleep.

Click for a larger version of the picture
Starting the climb away from Manizales.
Click for a larger version of the picture
Click for a larger version of the picture
Let the ridiculous grades begin.
Click for a larger version of the picture
Click for a larger version of the picture
Click for a larger version of the picture
Click for a larger version of the picture
Working horses.
Click for a larger version of the picture
Click for a larger version of the picture
Taking a break from the rain.
Click for a larger version of the picture
Click for a larger version of the picture
Click for a larger version of the picture
Not the ideal cycling surface.
Click for a larger version of the picture
Click for a larger version of the picture
Click for a larger version of the picture
Enormous leaf. My sunglasses in the middle for scale.