Nevado del Tolima expedition: ride, páramo and snow

We ride from Medellín along mountain roads and coffee landscapes to Salento, the colorful town that will be our base. Gear check, dinner and rest at the hotel.

We start walking from Salento among the wax palms of the Cocora Valley and climb through cloud forest, waterfalls and canyons to our mountain lodging.

We cross the páramo among thousands of frailejones, with the cone of Nevado del Tolima ahead, to our high-mountain rest point. Early dinner and rest before the summit push.

We leave before dawn with headlamps under the stars, climbing rock and glacier to the summit of Nevado del Tolima at about 5,200 m. Sunrise over a sea of clouds, with Nevado del Ruiz and the range's volcanoes in the distance. Then we descend to our rest point.

We descend through the páramo and cloud forest to the Cocora Valley, closing the 60 km trek back in Salento. Celebration dinner and rest at the hotel.

After breakfast we ride back through the coffee region to Medellín, with the reward of having stood on the snows of Tolima.