Lazy Girls

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  San Gerardo, Costa Rica
Monday, January 12, 2009

I thought the idea of seeing Pacific and Atlantic from same peak was a cool idea. Somehow the romance of the idea blocked out all other considerations, such as whether I could actually hike up the 16.5 kms needed to reach the top from our hotel, or even more important, whether once I had reached the top I would have the energy to get back down. So Stephanie and I made the necessary preparations, and it was only when I set my alarm to 4 AM the next morning that I started to have any serious misgivings.

First the stats: Cerro Chirripo is the highest peak in Costa Rica, at 3820 meters above sea level. We started our hike at about 1400 meters above sea level, so we had to make a total elevation gain of about 2400 meters.
First day, we hiked up 16.5 kms (10.25 miles), 2 kms to trailhead from our hotel and 14.5 kms to the base camp, where we spent the night in a freezing dorm on lumpy sleeping bags. It took us 9.5 hours.
Second day, we hiked up 5 kms (3.1 miles) to reach the peak by sunrise, then hiked all the way down to the trailhead, 19.5 kms total (12.1 miles). The hike up took 3 hours. The hike down took about 7.5 hours.

Stephanie and I went at a similar pace, so we were good partners for the hike, but still it was hard. We kept having to stop and laugh at the absurdity of what we had undertaken. Not to mention that almost everyone else passed us along the way or didn't seem quite as exhausted as us. Actually, when we were only about 10 meters from the very top, a French couple who had shared our dorm room was coming down. The woman saw us resting (at that point we were resting about every 10 meters), and said, "Oh, hello, lazy girls." Of all the things I felt at that moment, scrambling up the rocks, trying to catch my breath, lazy was not one of them!!

Although I complained alot and my feet have still not recovered, I'm really proud that I made did it. We laughed alot along the way, and everytime I was out of breath at least I could blame the altitude. Once we got to the top we couldn't see either ocean for the clouds, but we did see the sunrise and the views were stunning.

After the climb we rewarded ourselves with a stay at the idyllic Casa Mariposa and a big casado dinner. The hotel had hot showers, beds built into rock platforms (more comfy than it sounds), and chocolate cupcakes. John and Jill run a great little place. Anyone making the climb or just visiting the Cloudbridge Reserve should make it further up the hill and check them out.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

church, San Gerardo	patron saint of hard-ass hikes (i made that up)	motmot, San Gerardo	at the beginning of the hike, Cerro Chirripo
Stephanie at break time (we did alot of this)	leaving the cloud forest, Cerro Chirripo	I´m feeling repentant, Cerro Chirripo	so close, Cerro Chirripo
shelter for the night, Cerro Chirripo	our lodgings at Los Crestones base camp	thought this was it, but Chirripo was behind this	that´s our peak, Cerro Chirripo
sunrise views, Cerro Chirripo	Cerro Chirripo	the top!, Cerro Chirripo	this bird cheated, he flew to the top
views from the top, Cerro Chirripo	we made it, Cerro Chirripo	mighty Chirripo	views from our descent, Cerro Chirripo
our descent from Chirripo	Stephanie looking triumphant, Cerro Chirripo	heading down, Cerro Chirripo	bamboo on way down, Cerro Chirripo
burnt forest, Cerro Chirripo	exploring Cloudbridge Reserve next day	waterfall, Cloudbridge Reserve

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