El Peñón de Guatapé, Inselberg monolith in Guatapé, Colombia
El Peñón de Guatapé is a granite inselberg in the municipality of Guatapé, Antioquia Department, rising above the surrounding hills and reservoir. The pluton consists of a single smooth granite surface with vertical cracks running from the ground nearly to the summit, where a viewing platform stands.
In July 1954, a team of climbers reached the summit for the first time after hammering wooden wedges and a rope into the vertical crack. The reservoir around the rock formed later in the 1970s when the area was flooded for power generation.
The western wall displays a large white letter G and an incomplete U, traces of an old dispute between two towns over the rock's name. Today, visitors climb the stairs and take pictures of the colorful houses of Guatapé far below, while locals sell souvenirs and refreshments at the base.
The staircase of more than 700 steps winds through the natural crack in the granite, and the climb takes roughly 30 to 45 minutes for most visitors. The viewing platform at the top is small and can get crowded with many tourists, so early mornings or late afternoons are often calmer.
The granite supports almost no vegetation on its surface because the rock is too smooth and steep to hold soil layers. The only exception is a few lichens and mosses in the cracks, which have spread slowly over decades.
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