Mount Cameroon is an active stratovolcano, it is the 31st most prominent mountain in the world and the 4th in Africa. It is also the 22nd most isolated mountain in the world, and a country highpoint. In short – it is a very interesting peak, and of course worth all the bureaucratic effort. Peter, Dave,…
Tag: ultra
Pico de São Tomé
The hotel offered us an early breakfast at 5am, but we politely declined as we were afraid it would take too long. We then drove for almost an hour to a resort where our guide, Zezito, was supposed to be waiting for us. When we arrived, the gates were locked and no one seemed to…
Cerro Chirripó
Cerro Chirripó is a remarkable journey in Costa Rica, situated in the Talamanca mountain range. It stands tall at 3,819 metres and is the highest point not only in Costa Rica, but also in the Cartago, Limón and San José regions. Being ranked 36th on the “World Top 50 by Prominence” list, it is a…
Volcán Miravalles
Volcán Miravalles is a stratovolcano located in the province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. It is the highest peak in the Cordillera de Tilarán, rising to over 2,000 metres above sea level. The volcano powers several geothermal power plants at its base and offers hot springs for tourists. As usual we start early in the morning…
Volcán Concepción
An active stratovolcano, the most prominent lake mountain in the world, the most prominent mountain in Nicaragua, and maybe the “most” of something else… For us, it’s enough that it’s an ultra peak. We try to get on the first ferry in the morning, but we don’t know if we’ll make it. To transfer the…
Volcán San Cristóbal
This is my first introduction to the world of Nicaragua’s smoking volcanoes. First impressions are important and these are great. One of Nicaragua’s two ultra mountains is Volcán San Cristóbal, an active stratovolcano with a bush-covered base and a half kilometre high volcanic sand slope. Today we’ll have a great opportunity to get our legs…
Cerro Castillejos
After we drive ten or fifteen kilometres along a private road, we stop at a farm, Franco talks to the owner’s brother, and we pitch our tents in the yard. The most spectacular sight of the evening is the huge insects flying around and glowing bright green. The light is so strong that you can…
Cerros de Pereyra
For the second time, we head towards Cerros de Pereyra. The first time we came to a gravel road, due to a very heavy downpour, we turned around. Maybe we would have reached the village of El Fuerte, but we probably would not have reached the trailhead. This time the weather was good. We believe…
Cerro Bolsón de los Cerillos
Very prominent peak, one of the world’s top 100 by prominence. No other reason was needed to climb it. We are little acclimated from the previous two mountains – Cumbres Calchaquies and Cerro Malcante; and only need a good weather window. And here we go: Sunday morning should be fine for summit. Franco arranged mules,…
Cerro Malcante
The forbidden fruit is sweeter, and Cerro Malcante also intrigues us more than the other mountains. We arrive early in the morning, park the car on the side of the road, and a few minutes later we are climbing up the steep slope. So far, no one has stopped us, but a few hundred metres…
Cumbres Calchaquies
The first Cerro Pan de Azúca climb was great, but it didn’t help us acclimatise and get used to the higher altitude. Next, we chose the Cumbres Calchaquies, as the first night would be at 3000m, the second night at 4100m, and the summit at 4740m. Optimistically, we decided that this would be the right…
Klabat
The ultra peak of NE Sulawesi is close to Manado, but we begin climbing at half past two a.m. We need to catch our flight to Jakarta. Later, we fly home from Jakarta. We leave the car at the widening of the road, but it seems to me that we could have driven a few…
Karangetang
One of Indonesia’s several most active volcanoes is on a remote island of Siau in the Sulawesi region. There was little information from other hikers and no peakbagger reports. For the above reasons, this ultra-peak was not in our original plan. But we met Aris, a man who loves volcanoes in action. He often climbs…
Gunung Marapi
Today’s hike is intimidating because we don’t know for sure if we will reach the actual high point. We know that there are people who have been there, and we even have some ideas about where to look for the trailhead; we’ve also seen videos of people on the trail, but we haven’t found a…
Singgalang
Today’s mountain is shrouded in legend. When one reaches the lake, one must never say a woman’s name out loud. I don’t know what happens when you say it loudly at the lake. But I strictly follow this instruction for all the right reasons. After an early morning breakfast and photo session, I am taken…
Gunung Kerinci
We are staying at Kerinci View homestay. It’s a great name, and one can watch the smoke rising from the pillar of Kerinci crater from the balcony. It started to smoke actively the day before we arrived. Pani, the owner of the house and our guide for tomorrow, calls the park rangers and reassures us…
Gunung Slamet
We arrive early in the morning at the registration point at the end of the village. We check in, get on our motorbikes, and ride a couple of hundred vertical meters very quickly. Just before the end, we have to get off the bikes because they are apparently not designed for western weights. We climb…
Gunung Lawu
The mountain is very popular with locals. Many trails wind their way to the top; we chose the one that should be a bit freer. It is foggy all the way, so we can’t see much. Pretty quick, we reach the upper camp, where a lot of people are resting. We move on, the wind…
Gunung Rinjani
The man is like a doctor, fingering the pulse and declaring that our blood pressure is perfect. He prepares a certificate, signs, and stamps it. Great, we are ready to climb Mount Rinjan!i. I am surprised that the trail goes through open grassland instead of jungle, which was unexpected.. Within half an hour, we reach…
Gunung Agung
We get up at 1am, drive to the trailhead, where a local guide is waiting for us. The trail starts at a temple. We climb 330 steps. The local guide is praying and burning incense. After ten minutes, we pass the temple building on the left and start climbing an easy, well-maintained path. We pass…