Yesterday afternoon, my nephew and I went back to Cerro el Ávila. This time, we had a team. My wife, my nephew's little daughter and his business partner joined us.
We got to San Bernardino at about 6:25. There was still plenty of sunlight, but I was a bit nervous about night falling quickly and with it mosquitoes and cold.
It was my wife's first time and, as I anticipated, it was not very pleasant. Tiredness hit her very quickly, partly because we were going up too fast.
It so happened that my nephew's friend is an accomplished hiker and his little one is an endless source of energy. She spent the whole time taking like a parrot and yet she never got tired. She did not even ask for water once.
We must have drunk water more than 4 times in 30 minutes.
We saw one biker, whose strength I really envy. We were panting climbing on foot and those guys climb by bike! 😱
My wife was feeling really bad when we passed the 500 meter-mark. The cold air was hurting her nostrils and she felt too much pressure in her throat.
I was carrying my little niece's water (and she was like 200 meters ahead of us), so I had to leave my wife at a resting place while I rushed up to hand in the water and come back to her.
I had no idea how hard it is to catch up with a hiker when you (not an athlete) are going up a steep mountain and the hiker is a 10-year-old road-runner.
They were waiting for me at the 1200-meter mark. My little niece and my nephew's friend were fresh like lettuce, while we were panting like dogs. When we headed back, my wife was getting to the 1000-meter mark. I knew she was proud enough to continue, so she almost made it to the goal.
Now, we know we have to go slower next time. We aren't getting any younger and we are very rusty, so we have to take it easy.
We agreed to go back Today (hopefully earlier). It got dark quickly and as touristic as this mountain is, there are few artificial lights and zero security (Park rangers or police)
It was really spooky at the end. Luckily, we were not alone and most people we ran into seemed decent and just sport-oriented.
On the bright side, the view from up there at night was amazing!
