Hiking La Dormida - for the Waterfalls!
Panama Travelog #15
El Valle, Panama - Tue, 24 Dec 2024. 2pm.
The trail up to La Dormida is steep. And I don't know that we're going to see anything at the top. I mean, I don't think we'll be able to see the legendary figure of La Dormida; we'll be standing on it. Though we should get a commanding view of the valley- actually a volcanic caldera- from the ridge.
As a bonus for all the hard work ascending the ridge there have been several waterfalls along the way.
Some are small, like this one above. It's still a nice little respite along the way.
Others are larger, with multiple tiers.
The falls above has even more tiers lower down plus a nice swimming hole at the bottom. To really see the lower tiers or to enjoy the swimming would've required picking our way down a steep slope. ...Not that we're opposed to such things, generally, but today Hawk already took a spill in the first 5 minutes of the hike while checking out a natural pool. That's made her less steady on her feet (she bruised both her legs a bit) and me a bit reluctant to try dicier things as I don't want both of us hiking injured.
That's not to say, though, we don't venture off trail. Sometimes it's necessary for the best views. For example, this photo above wasn't just waiting for me right there on the main trail; it took a bit of work to get to it.
We ventured across a boulder field to get to the bottom of those falls.
As we've gotten higher up the canyon toward the ridge top the crowds have thinned out. Not that we were knocking elbows against other hikers near the bottom, but we did see other groups every few minutes. Up here it's gotten rarer. I wonder if it's because others are hiking mostly for the falls and swimming holes lower down... or if it's because the sunny weather we started hiking with has turned cloudy and threatening rain! I hope the weather holds out for us. We've still got at least 1/3 of the climb left to go, then we have to get back down.
El Valle, Panama - Tue, 24 Dec 2024. 2pm.
The trail up to La Dormida is steep. And I don't know that we're going to see anything at the top. I mean, I don't think we'll be able to see the legendary figure of La Dormida; we'll be standing on it. Though we should get a commanding view of the valley- actually a volcanic caldera- from the ridge.
As a bonus for all the hard work ascending the ridge there have been several waterfalls along the way.
Some are small, like this one above. It's still a nice little respite along the way.
Others are larger, with multiple tiers.
The falls above has even more tiers lower down plus a nice swimming hole at the bottom. To really see the lower tiers or to enjoy the swimming would've required picking our way down a steep slope. ...Not that we're opposed to such things, generally, but today Hawk already took a spill in the first 5 minutes of the hike while checking out a natural pool. That's made her less steady on her feet (she bruised both her legs a bit) and me a bit reluctant to try dicier things as I don't want both of us hiking injured.
That's not to say, though, we don't venture off trail. Sometimes it's necessary for the best views. For example, this photo above wasn't just waiting for me right there on the main trail; it took a bit of work to get to it.
We ventured across a boulder field to get to the bottom of those falls.
As we've gotten higher up the canyon toward the ridge top the crowds have thinned out. Not that we were knocking elbows against other hikers near the bottom, but we did see other groups every few minutes. Up here it's gotten rarer. I wonder if it's because others are hiking mostly for the falls and swimming holes lower down... or if it's because the sunny weather we started hiking with has turned cloudy and threatening rain! I hope the weather holds out for us. We've still got at least 1/3 of the climb left to go, then we have to get back down.