Pico Duarte is the highest peak in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

, on the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

and in all the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. At above sea level, it gives Hispaniola the 16th-highest maximum elevation of any island in the world. Additionally, it is only northeast of the region's lowest point, Lake Enriquillo, 46 m (151 ft) below sea level. It is part of the Cordillera Central range, which extends from the plains between San Cristóbal and Baní to the northwestern peninsula of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

, where it is known as the Massif du Nord. The highest elevations of the Cordillera Central are found in the Pico Duarte and Valle Nuevo

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

History

The first reported climb was made in 1851 by a German who was British

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

: Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk. He named the mountain "Monte Tina" and estimated its height at . In 1912, Father Miguel Fuertes dismissed Schomburgk's calculations after climbing La Rucilla and judging it to be the tallest summit of the island. A year later, Swedish botanist Erik Leonard Ekman sided with Schomburgk's estimate, and called the sister summits "Pelona Grande" and "Pelona Chica" ("Big Bald One" and "Small Bald One", respectively). During the Rafael Trujillo Molina regime, the taller of the two was called "Pico Trujillo". After the dictator's death, it was renamed Pico Duarte, in honor of Juan Pablo Duarte, one of the Dominican Republic's founding fathers. At the summit is an east-facing bronze bust of Duarte atop a stone pedestal, next to a flagpole that flies the Dominican flag and a

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

Geography

The mountain's elevation was debated for decades, up until the mid-1990s, when it was still held to be high. In 2003, it was measured by a researcher using GPS technology, and it was found to be tall. The official elevation as recorded by Dominican government agencies is , a measurement that has been confirmed by several groups of hikers using personal GPS consoles (the most recent verified one in January 2005). In 2021 a team of researchers using GSSM technology found that its altitude is with a margin of error of . It is only a few meters taller than La Pelona, its twin, which stands at , and from which it is separated by a col between summits that is approximately wide, and is officially named ''Valle del Baíto'', but unofficially called ''Valle de Lilís''. The col's mean elevation is .

Ecology

The area has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

that very few would associate as typical of a Caribbean island, with cool temperatures all year round, going several degrees below freezing during winter nights. The mountain and the surrounding landscape are covered in ''pino de cuaba'' ('' Pinus occidentalis'')

forests A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

. The pines frequently host the

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

s ''guajaca'' (''

Tillandsia ''Tillandsia'' is a genus of around 650 species of evergreen, perennial plant, perennial flowering plants in the family (biology), family Bromeliaceae, native to the forests, mountains and deserts of the Neotropical realm, Neotropics, from northe ...

'' spp.) and the parasitic '' Dendropemon pycnophyllus''. Some areas, like the Valle de Lilís, are treeless meadows of tussock-like ''pajones'' ('' Danthonia domingensis''). The

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the Canopy (biology), forest ca ...

is composed of

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

such as '' Lyonia heptamera'', '' Myrica picardae'', '' Myrsine coriacea'', '' Ilex tuerkheimii'', '' Garrya fadyenii'' and '' Baccharis myrsinites''. All of these species are adapted to the acidic

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

of the area. Pinus occidentalis on Pico Duarte

Reptiles in the area include the endemic '' Panolopus marcanoi''. Birds seen in the area include the endemic Hispaniolan palm crow (''Corvus palmarum palmarum''), Antillean siskin (''Carduelis dominicensis''), rufous-throated solitaire (''Myadestes genibarbis''), Hispaniolan crossbill (''Loxia megaplaga'') (whose abundance is directly related to the Hispaniolan pine cone crop), and Hispaniolan trogon (''Priotelus roseigaster''); at lower elevations the Hispaniolan amazon (''Amazona ventralis''), scaly-naped pigeon (''Patagioenas squamosa'') and golden swallow (''Tachycineta euchrysea'') can be seen. There are two extant mammals endemic to Hispaniola whose remaining range includes the

broadleaf forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

s of lower elevations: the primarily nocturnal

Hispaniolan solenodon The Hispaniolan solenodon (''Solenodon paradoxus''), also known as the agouta, is a small, furry, shrew-like mammal endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (in the Dominican Republic and Haiti). Like other solenodons, it is a venomous, in ...

(''Solenodon paradoxus'') and the Hispaniolan hutia (''Plagiodontia aedium''). Both are rarely seen, with the latter considered Endangered.

Wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

, descendants of animals introduced to the island during the colonial period, have been reported. A

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

in 2003 altered the landscape of a large section of the eastern side of the mountain. As of 2008, the hillside of charred trees is now a new-growth forest. While thousands of charred trees are still standing, a large variety of indigenous grasses and small plants are now growing.

Climbing information

There is a system of trails leading up to the summit, with trailheads at several locations (their final stretches to the summit are seen on the topographic map). The easiest access is from the town of La Ciénaga, near Jarabacoa. The trail is to the summit, with a total elevation change of , and a shelter away from the summit at La Comparticion. Tourist-friendly travel agencies can help arrange trips from this trailhead, using mules in their employ to help lug food, sleeping bags and supplies for the overnight stay in the shelter.A comprehensive guide for Pico Duarte
A few fresh water springs labeled "potable" are along the trail, but water filters or purifying tablets are recommended. The majority of hikers travel by this route. A trailhead northwest of the town of San Juan de la Maguana is the starting point for four-day (three-night) trips that end at the Ciénaga trailhead (or, for an extra day of hiking, back at the starting location), which are run entirely by local Dominicans who cook the food provided, and help campers along the way. Each night is spent in shelters, and due to the distance traveled, riding by mule-back is strongly encouraged. Far off the beaten path, it is highly unlikely that anyone else can be seen on the trail until the merge with the trail from La Ciénaga. According to Dominican Park Service representatives in La Cienaga, while approximately 1,000 hikers visit Pico Duarte during each of the months of December and January; only about 10 to 15 people a day hike the mountain during off-season months.

References

* Dod, A. S. (1992). ''Endangered and Endemic Birds of the Dominican Republic''. Cypress House * Marcano, J. E.. ''República Dominicana: Sus regiones – Cordillera Central''

* Schubert, A.; Pérez, R. (1998). ''Hacia el Techo del Caribe: Caminatas al Pico Duarte''. Kiskeya Alternative.

External links