Mt. Chirripó

(summit photo)

Around the end of last year, an email was sent out to the Volunteer listserv asking if anyone was interested in climbing Chirripó, Costa Rica's highest peak at 3,820 m (12,533 feet). I said yes, and come the end of March, it happened. We went in a big group, 17 of us I believe. I was happy to have the mess of reserving a permit to climb the mountain taken care of for me, as the permits are limited and must be reserved months in advance, but I wasn't exactly super excited about traveling or climbing in a group that big. Groups that big are great if there is a tour guide to tell everyone what to do. If there isn't then I tend to think that whole trip is spent in discussion about where to eat, what to do, which bus to take, etc. But, I didn't really know when I would've otherwise planned to climb the mountain. Luckily, Barton, Andrew, and Elliot, three of my good friends from training, were all in the group. I made the trip halfway, and stayed with Brian P., a solid dude that was in my training group and lives in a nice little mountain town south of San José, and on the way to Perez Zeledón, the town near Chirripó. We had a great night watching a Costa Rican movie and chowing down on delicious food with a family he's friends with.

The night before the climb we stayed at Casa Mariposa, a wonderful, well-run hostel owned by a couple from California. The wife is a former Peace Corps Volunteer, so we were all happy to give her some business. The group's plan was to leave at 4:30 am, in order to make the 14 kilometer hike up to the lodge before it got rainy in the afternoon. I see almost no logic in hiking in the dark, and also don't like to get up early, so Andrew, Barton, and I left about five. We still had to do some hiking in the dark, but figured we should at least stay somewhat with the group. Some of the people in the group had chosen to porter some of their food and other items to the lodge, but I carried all my food, clothing, and sleeping bag. The bum thing about climbing mountains is that when you're climbing you are exercising, thus don't need much warm clothing. Yet, and it was certainly the case at Chirripó, mountains get super cold at night, so you need to carry plenty of extra clothing. It was a great hike. I'm a fan of taking frequent but short breaks, and everyone I hiked with complied, so I was quite happy. Chirripó is famous for it's biodiversity, and although I'm not plant or bird expert to be able to appreciate this, what was really fascinating to me where the different types of vegetation we went through. Again, I lock the brains to list them all here, but needless to say parts of the trip were tropical rainforest, parts looked like Greenbelt Park near my parents' house in Iowa, and parts were heavy pine forest like I've seen in northern Minnesota/Canada, and other parts were filled with the desert mountain scenery seen in Westerns. All in the same day. 

(Barton and me at the top)

We arrived at the top after six hours of hiking/breaks, got signed in and got our stuff to our rooms. Elliot and I elected to take one of the coldest showers I've taken in my life, but I did feel refreshed. After that I had a glorious lunch of tortillas, tuna, apples, and trail mix. Everyone else had similar lunches. Elliot, John F., Barton and I decided to take advantage of the mostly clear afternoon and climb Los Crestones, a set of boulders shooting into the sky on an adjacent ridge. At the top John and I climbed until we were all concerned about how we'd get down. I let John go first so he could help me down-good decision on my part given his superior skill and height. He and Elliot raced back down (John had to help start dinner) and Barton and I enjoyed a much more leisurely stroll back down to the lodge. Most everyone in the group cooked spaghetti with sausage, which they had portered up with the gas canisters and stove. I stuck with tortillas and refried beans (when hiking/camping I'm all about simplicity). Early to be we went anticipating a painfully early rise the next day. 

(Elliot, Barton, and Jonathan on the way up)

The idea was to get to the top of the peak, an additional 5 kilometer hike from the lodge by sunrise, so as to see the sun rise over the Caribbean Ocean. The group left at 3:30, Barton, Andrew, and I left at 4:00, continuing our leaving after everyone else trend. The hike was not my idea of fun: dark and cold, wearing a head lamp staring at the group hoping not to take a spill. On the contrary, the hike down, with plenty of light and a cool, crisp air, was absolutely delightful and had amazingly gorgeous scenery. Alas, we all made it to the top, and Jonathan L., the trip organizer, had brought a bottle of Johnnie Walker for all of us to enjoy as we saw the sunrise from Costa Rica's highest point. Sadly, there was cloud cover on both coasts that prevented us seeing both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans at the same time-which can be done on a clear day. But, we could see the clouds that were hanging over both oceans at the same time. There were also views of calm, pristine alpine lakes in some of the valleys between the ridges. Chirripó is located in the Talamanca Mountain Range, which divides the bottom half of Costa Rica into two, east and west. It was crazy to be able to see places that, by transport, take 8 to 10 hours to travel between, but from the top of the mountain seemed just a hop, skip, and jump away. We passed back by the lodge, packed up all our stuff, and headed on down. The walk down took Barton and I exactly as much time as the walk up, probably due to our bodies hurting plenty from the day before. We took leisurely stops as well, as we didn't have any hurry. A number of people from our group, including Andrew and Elliot, were in a hurry to catch a bus to make it back to their sites that night. I had no plans besides ordering a hamburger and a Pilsen in the restaurant next to the hostel, and that's just what I did. It was a great hike, the ridges, alpine lakes, and views near the top are amazing, and is a trip I would highly recommend to any of my coworkers here in Costa Rica as well as anyone visiting the country. 

Please check out the link to the right for My Photos-Picasa Photo Gallery to see many more photos of the trip.