Yay Park Day!

Parque Chirripo has the highest peak in Costa Rica, and usually takes about two days to summit and climb back down (time I did not have). Fastest round-trip has been just over 3 hours.  Aha; like I was gonna do that!

So I decided to go a third up (7 of the 20 kilometers) and come back down through the rainforest, alone, all in one early morning (woke up at 5:30am-bah!).  Chris, the Brit I met in Mal Pa’s who had been traveling with me for a week by that time, had told me that he had already done a lot of walking in his 7 weeks in CR, so he did not come.  He probably also needed a break from our sarcastic conversations that sometimes got a bit too caustic. Me too, though.

I started off my journey by not paying attention to the Park entrance sign and walking into the rainforest to finally realize that because I was going downhill, I probably got lost (as always is my luck, or lack of sense of direction).  Fortunately, because I help to make the Let’s Go maps, they are idiot proof for people like me. Serrrrrriously.  Anyway, the first REAL 2 kilometers up were the hardest.  Although I’ve been walking around a lot collecting information, I haven’t had to go uphill like that in awhile.  And my diet hasn’t been the best for such a trek (large, heavy meals of rice and beans, and an occasional burger).  But I made it in a few hours, with my Ipod tuned into my female empowerment jams (don’t laugh).  Oh, by the way, hiking requires decent shoes — something I did not have.  Great, because my sneakers cut into the back of my feet during the climb up, and the bandaids didn’t help much.  Sad face.  So remember, kids: good shoes!

Maybe next time I’ll hike all the way up.  Going through the Cloudbridge Reserve (the rainforest I mentioned) was a beautiful way to end.  Saw an amazing waterfall, watched the clouds blanket the sides of the mountain, and finally felt at peace.  It’s times like these, when all I see is beauty and so much green life, that makes me think that everything will be all right.  Time to think of the present and future, because yes, everything will be all right.