Chirripo National Park: The Epic Climb

Victor called us a couple times to let us know that he was stuck in traffic but was on his way (he had taken some clients to San Jose in the morning) and "don't worry my friends, don't worry", which made us all worry a little bit.  He picked us up at about 2:45pm with his wife, two kids, and small dog named poopy in tow.  We drove south along the coast and got a good look at all of the palm oil plantations and then took a left at Dominical to head over the mountains.  The road was super steep and a bit foggy due to driving through the clouds.  Upon arriving in San Isidro, Victor told us that his wife won't let him come to this city by himself due to the unusually high number of single Ticas (ladies).  We headed once again into the mountains this time for Rivas.  The communication/understanding broke down at this point as we needed to get to San Gerrado de Rivas which, it turns out, is quite a bit past Rivas.  Lucky for us it was getting dark and the road was getting smaller and sketchier by the kilometer.  Victor did the usual stop and ask locals for directions to the Casa Mariposa Hostel where we had reservations and at first no one had heard of it.  Finally we started to hear 2km more, but then we heard that a couple times after continuing 2km.  It was about this time that it was completely dark, the road was one lane with less and less pavement and getting significantly steeper.  We could hear water rushing under the bridges we were crossing, and despite attempts to remain in good spirits (the kids were bouncing around the back seats of the mini-bus giggling) we were all beginning to be a bit on edge seeing as how we did not have 4 wheel drive.  Luckily we spotted the hotel after a very exciting last climb but turning the bus around required all of us hopping out and Mark and Ron pushing the bus back up the hill.  Once inside, WA (Wendy Ann), gave us a quick tour of the place and just to settle the nerves, the hotel dog (which we later found out was blind and deaf) fell off of a pretty high rock right onto Amber who managed to break the dogs fall even if it did continue to roll down the steps finally stopping at Ron's feet.  Then it got up as if nothing happened and walked away.  At this point we explained our urgent need for food and beer and were pointed next door where we found a very reasonably priced and delicious restaurant at Hotel Uran.

 
  
Our plan was to wake early, hike down to the park office, and acquire 4 of the 10 hiking permits available daily.  There were two guys in front of us so we thought that we would definitely be able to hike the following day.  The park ranger informed us that there were only 2 permits left.  The math definitely did not work out on that one so we figured we had been swindled somehow (figured out later that they were tour guides).  Our spirits remained high due to the amazing new area we are able to explore for an extra day.  We lounged about the hostel which had a beautiful kitchen with huge windows, a cozy living room, and hammocks and then hiked with a guide through Cloudbridge Reserve where we saw a very diverse jungle with the beautiful Rio Chirripo running through it.  As luck would have it, we were able to acquire permits the following morning.  We began the climb to Chirripo (highest peak in Costa Rica) the following morning.  We planned on taking the "short-cut" through Cloudbridge that the guide had told us about but the blind and deaf dog was following us and we had to take the normal trail to ditch the dog.  It was 14.5 km to the lodge where we would be staying and then another ~5 km to the top of the peak with a total elevation gain of about 7,000 ft.  We hiked through dense jungle, a zone with oak trees up to 150 ft tall, and finally into grass and shrubs.  A couple kilometers were more trying than others, especially "the hill of repentance" as it is named.  After lunch at the lodge we decided to do a little more hiking and just so happened to be headed toward the peak.  After a little debate, even though we had been told to summit the following morning and see the sunrise, we choose to continue up to the summit during our clear weather window.  The people who had gone to the top that morning said it was cloudy and they could not see anything so we took advantage of our weather.  The vista was beautiful even if we were unable to see the Pacific and Caribbean oceans.  The lodge had a kitchen and dining area and the rooms had bunk beds.  We did a short hike in the morning and then headed back down to the hostel.  We decided to take the "short-cut" which turned out to be about the same distance as the main trial but significantly steeper.  With wobbly knees we went straight for some nachos and cervezas.  Tomorrow would be a long travel day to the Caribbean side...