Pico Duarte - Geography

Geography

The mountain's elevation continued to be debatable for decades, up until the mid-1990s, when it was still held to be 3,175 meters high. In 2003 it was measured by a researcher using GPS technology and it was found to be 3,098 meters. The official elevation as recorded by Dominican government agencies is 3,087 meters (as can be seen written on the sign in the photo), a measurement that has been confirmed by several groups of hikers using personal GPS consoles (the most recent verified one in January 2005). Despite this, SRTM data indicates that the professional survey is probably more accurate. It's only a few meters taller than La Pelona, its twin sister which stands at 3,084, and from which it is separated by a col between summits that's approximately 1.5 km wide, and is officially named Valle del Baíto, but unofficially called Valle de Lilís. The col's mean elevation is of 2,950 meters.

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