Maja’s birthday hike to the Mogote Mountain in Jarabacoa

My friend Maja and I began hiking two years ago in the Dominican Republic, with the Mogote trail as our first route in the region. Guillermo, Larissa, and Georgina joined us for a six-hour ascent and descent, each involving roughly 950 meters of elevation gain. The path led through dense forest that provided essential shade.

This was no casual walk but a 3.5-hour ascent on a steep, narrow, rocky path. The summit delivered a full 360-degree panorama that justified the effort.

At the summit, we stopped to recover and take in the panorama. We ate, drank, and assumed the descent would be the easy part. In retrospect, another three hours of climbing may have been less punishing.

Thank you for this beautiful day in such great company. Despite the effort and the struggle, we never lost our good humor—or our laughter. May the record of this hike stand as a basis for future routes shared with the same clarity of purpose and companionship.