VOLCÁN BARÚ (PANAMÁ)
Volcán Barú, at around 11400 feet above sea level, is the highest point in Panama. It is in extreme western Panamá, near the mid-sized town of Boquete. On a clear day, one would be able to see both the Caribbean and the Pacific at the same time, but on the day I was there, there were clouds in both directions. There is a lot of cloud forest, with timberline conditions near the very top. This volcano last erupted in 1550 and could erupt again in the near future.

First, a view of the mountain from the southeast (south of Boquete) from an elevation around 3000 feet above sea level. Note that this location southeast of Barú is somewhat dry due to the prevailing downsloping wind from the north.



Looking up the slope from around 7000 feet above sea level...



The summit...



Path to the very top...



View from the top towards the north/Caribbean (with heavy cloud cover)...



View towards the southwest (also with heavy cloud cover in the distance)...



View towards the northeast...



Communications towers just a short distance from the summit...



Vegetation at the top was shrubby, including this unidentified shrub...



This large shrub with bright red sort of hanging blossoms and gray-blue leaves was just a few hundred feet below the top...



One of several craters on Barú, this one was around 10000 feet above sea level with a lot of woodlands above it...



Cloud forest around 10,000 feet (there are a couple of (likely) Oreopanax trees)...



A slope, also around 10,000 feet, with trees of various leaf colors (including silver)...



Cloud forest around 9,000 feet...



Probably a Schlefflera (possibly S. robusta) at around 9,000 feet...



Close-up (with what appear to be colorful new leaves)...



A couple of Tibouchina shrubs in bloom (not sure of the species)...





An unidentified vine with tube-shaped blooms...



An unidentified shrub of the aster family (like many of the Central American highlands)...



Begonias around 7500'...



Mexican alder around 7500' (Alnus acuminata)...



View of the valley to the east/southeast from 6500'...



Some light showers occurred late in the hike down...so...here's a rainbow...



All of the above pictures on this page were taken in February 2011 by Brandt Maxwell.

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