Hiking Volcan Baru – with the Mighty Quinn!

Our guest Marc wrote me prior to his Boquete trip: he was looking forward his stay and he and his 10-year-old son were especially excited about their hike up Volcan Baru. I promptly sent him a link to our Baru blog post.

It’s borderline anti-Baru. In summary: if you only have a few days in Boquete, don’t use up a full day climbing Baru—it’s long, hard and the views fleeting (the mountain clouds up pretty fast—so both oceans are visible for a limited period of time, if at all). And heck, a 10-year-old can’t climb Baru, right?

Both Marc and Quinn were determined to hike and didn’t let the post dissuade them.

The father and son team are from Colorado, so they’re used to higher altitudes and they do lots of climbing during their frequent hikes. In short: they’re experienced.

They left before the sun rose. They paced the trip—stopping to drink water at signs that marked the trail every four kilometres. They took a total of three 15-minute breaks, including lunch. Quinn said the trail was really easy to follow, “It would be hard to get lost!”

Marc and Quinn did the entire hike from trailhead to top and back in 8 hours and 4 minutes (!!). And when they reached the top, they saw both the Pacific and Caribbean oceans just in the nick of time—it clouded over 10 minutes after they reached the summit.

Quinn’s tips:
Climb when it’s dry: The trail would be very difficult if wet and muddy
Be careful where you step: the trail is made up of rocks and your feet can slip in between them
Take breaks: refuel with food and water