RIGHT: A bright green (probably venomous) snake in the middle of the trail. I thought it was dead, but it was actually digesting its lastest meal.
After resting up for a couple of days at Mapache Lodge on the OSA, it was time for the next adventure: climbing to the highest point in Costa Rica, Cerro Chirripo (Mount Chirripo). Located right in the middle of the Altantica and Pacific shorelines, this mountain is a towering 3820m (about 12,000 ft) high. On a clear day you, are supposed to be able to see both oceans; we weren't that lucky unfortunately.
On the bus to San Gerardo, I saw two very HOT Ticas. I think they were twins too, "DOUBLE TROUBLE". We also met up with three other Canadians along the way and set off together. After staying the night at San Gerardo, we started our climb the next morning @ 5:45am. By this time I was used to getting up that early since we had to always make use of the daylight (sunset was at 5:45pm each day).
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LEFT: After about 5 hours of
killer "stair climbing" through the rainforest
on the lower part of the mountain, we saw the environment
change into a dessert-like terrain. There was a huge
forest fire a few years back. The charred trees in the
picture are proof of that. At some points, I felt like I
was in a barren dessert in Arizona. RIGHT: A bright green (probably venomous) snake in the middle of the trail. I thought it was dead, but it was actually digesting its lastest meal. |
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LEFT: Cerro Chirripo. After about 8hrs of hiking the first day, and shivering through a freezing cold night, we still had to do about 2 more hours the next morning. I was full of excitement at finally seeing the peak. Until this point, we had no idea where it was or what it looked like. It was freezing, and the wind was fierce. You could be blown off the peak if you weren't careful. RIGHT: At the peak, paying hommage to the "guy upstairs" for creating all this. Because I haven't gone to church much, I will consider this to be my substitute for Christmas Midnight Mass. |
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MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Dec 25th, Christmas morning. While you kids were opening your presents, I was freezing my ass off, could barely feel my worn legs, and still climbing this monster! After a total of 10hours of intense uphill hiking, we finally made it. This experience was truly an exercise in mental and physical power. At some points, I actually felt like quitting and turning back. I'm glad I didn't, because climbing this mountain is probably one of my greatest achievements in life. At the top, we tried to light up a celebratory Cuban Punch I brought up, but it was too windy to do so. So we all settled for a few shots of Bailey's liquor. Quite refreshing actually. |
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RIGHT: Along the trail to the summit, we saw
this mysterious head-shaped rock. Cool! LEFT: Chillin' out at Paraiso Lodge in Dominical. It was time to recouperate from two long days of hiking. We were treated to a nice, luxurious, and FREE weekend at this cozy little place by the beach. |
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OK, time for a quick story:
During
our hikes through the OSA and to Chirripo, our diet was comprised
of powdered milk, powdered mashed potatoes, canned tuna, pasta,
crackers, beans, dried everything, and a SHIT-LOAD of
granola. Needless to say, we were sick of eating
that stuff by the week's end. But guess what we ate for dinner
the first night at Dominical? Pasta and tuna. And guess what we
ate for breakfast the next day? FREAKIN'
GRANOLA!! I couldn't stop laughing when I saw it!
But I was hungry and ate it anyways.
It gets worse. I thought I was pretty hot stuff climbing the "highest mountain in Costa Rica". But I found out that the lady who owned the lodge (in the picture, a German- Canadian), was the oldest person who made it to base camp of Mount Everest. She did it 5 years ago and trained for it two years prior. I shut myself up after she told me.
