The story of the climb

November 17, 2006

A week has passed now since I first left on the adventure of climbing Mt. Chirripo. Chirripo is the tallest mountain in Costa Rica, measuring approximately 12, 530 ft. I had never actually climbed at such altitudes before, but I was up to the challenge (or so I hoped).

A group of 4 (2 students, Lance and Matt, from my school and then Janelle, who I had met through the camp I volunteer at) of us left Thursday after school and took a 4 hour bus ride, followed by a 45 minute taxi ride to the town of San Gerardo de Rivas. The taxi driver told us that he could not make it up the road to the hotel so we were dropped off by a restaurant. The lady there mentioned that she could call our hotel and have someone pick us up, but the taxi driver said it was only 1 km away so we decided to walk. (The lady said it was 2 km). The road split almost immediately but because the driver had said to go straight, we did not bother to read the signs. After about 30 minutes of walking uphill (and it was not nearly as cold as I had expected), we decided to ask for directions. Some people out on their porch kindly pointed us back down the hill to the road we had ignored on the right. It was probably about 8:00PM at this point (it gets dark at 5:30 down here) but no one seemed too upset or discouraged by the news. The hardest part was sheepishly returning to the restaurant and asking if we could call the hotel because none of us wanted to walk another 2 km uphill. I am sure that the lady and everyone else there got a good laugh at us.

Once at the hotel we ate dinner and then headed to bed because we had an early morning ahead. Friday morning we were up and eating breakfast by 5:00AM. We began our climb shortly after 6:00, and once again I was surprised at how warm and humid it was. In February and March there can be ice on the mountain. At this point we were still at a low altitude of a little less than 5000ft. For the next 8 ½ hours we climbed steadily uphill. There were breaks of course, but it was a hard climb. My lungs are definitely not used to such heights. Along the way we met quite a few other North Americans. Mid-afternoon we arrived at the shelter at 11,132ft and were excited to see that it was not as rustic as we expected. There were real toilets and individual rooms (not one huge room for everyone).

After eating and visiting with people, we headed to bed around 7:30PM because the plan was to get up at 3:00AM so that we could be hiking to the peak of Chirripo in time to see the sunrise from the top. The plan did not work quite as we hoped in that the climb took longer than expected but it was still neat to see the sun rising across the paramo (moor). I loved the opportunity to hike in the early morning while it was still dark. The stars shone brilliantly overhead, with the shooting stars being clearly evident when they zipped across the sky. Light from the moon made it almost unnecessary to use headlamps. Just the day before or so I had read Psalm 89:15 which says, “Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.” This verse came to my mind as I walked that morning in the dim light of my headlamp. At times we were rather spread out on the trail and so I was walking alone. My prayer was that I would remember at all times to walk in the light of God’s presence and not in the light of anyone or anything else. When we stopped every now and then to rest or take off the jackets, I loved the utter silence that filled the plain.

From the top of Chirripo we were able to see the Pacific Ocean and had it not been so cloudy we also could have seen the Atlantic. By 7:30AM we were headed down from the peak and 3 of us decided to explore some other peaks. I found it interesting that when you looked across the plains or at the distant mountains, the land looked rather brown and barren. But when you were down in the plain, you found yourself amidst many bright colored flowers. I was challenged to remember that sometimes I look at people from a distance and perhaps judge them to be boring or whatever, yet if I would get to know them and see what is inside I would see the handiwork of God.

We ended up back at the shelter by noon and spent the rest of the afternoon there playing cards, visiting with people, and relaxing. A heavy rainstorm passed by which made staying inside very nice. Inside the shelter the temperature was about 14Celcius which I loved. It was great to be able to use gloves, fleece, and a hat again. By late afternoon I was ready to get outside again so I wandered off in search of some waterfalls in spite of the drizzle and cool temperatures. I glimpsed a bit of the colors splashed across the sky as the sun set on the other side of the one mountain. Again the stillness was beautiful.

We had another early night and my friend, Matt, and I got up early again to hike the second tallest peak. This climb was harder than Chirripo though it was shorter. I think that I was more tired and it was a steady uphill for most of the climb. Matt taught me the “rest step” which was good except that it required patience because you had to pause in between each movement of the feet. This pause was of course the very thing that allowed me to experience a bit of rest, but all too often I am too impatient to slow down though in the end I would be much better off doing so. I know that God has some lessons for me in that analogy too. As soon as we descended from the second mountain, all four of us packed our bags and began the final descent at 6:45AM. I found that the climb down was almost more challenging for me because I kept slipping thanks to the mud and poor traction of my boots (and maybe my walking habits, I am not sure). We made it down the mountain in about 4 ½ hours and my knees were definitely feeling the effects of the descent. After eating a real lunch and cleaning up at the hotel, we crowded into a “7 person” taxi with a group of girls who was also headed to the bus station. None of us thought that the taxi looked like it would comfortably fit 7 people but the driver assured us that it would. And in the end it was not so bad.

Once at the bus station we discovered that the first opportunity for getting seats was not until 5:30PM about 3 hours from when we arrived at the station. Janelle had to get back early so she took an earlier bus without a seat but the rest of us did not fancy the idea of standing for 4 hours on the bus. We passed most of the 3 hours of waiting in McDonald’s which is a bit anti-climatic after spending 3 days in the mountains in God’s creation. I was thankful for shelter and a seat though. On the bus ride home I was able to talk some in Spanish with a 12 year old girl across the aisle. I was also entertained by watching how the bus driver managed to pass a whole line of cars on curvy roads.

On Monday I headed back to classes quite sore and a little tired from the weekend, yet very thankful that I had had the opportunity to hike. I loved the challenge and the opportunity to be out of the city again. I think that I can never get enough of exploring God’s creation.