Hiking Pico Blanco

From the day we moved into our house, Jim has looked at the mountain looming to our south and wanted to climb it. However, it was not until we saw a picture of our Bible Study host posed on a rock above San Jose that we even knew that the peak was called Pico Blanco. He invited us to join him when he led a team of volunteers from the states that wanted to go. So last Sunday a group of 18 of us climbed into 2 buses and headed to Escazu.

We started our hike at the very spot we had seen on the news months before (see the November 5 post) where a flash flood had washed away a house and cascaded down the mountain wreaking havoc. We began an immediate ascent up a steep meadow, complete with cud chewing vacas and crested a ridge, following a worn spot in the brush that involved a fair amount of climbing up boulders and trying to place our feet on solid ground between tufts of tall grass, smaller rocks, roots and mud. After pausing to enjoy the view from an outcropping know as the saddle, we crossed into a cloud forest where the pitch of the trail became more severe and the mud became much more slippery, to the extent that it became routine to grab roots, limbs and vines in order to haul ourselves up the trail.

As we have mentioned in other blog posts, the growth under the canopy in a cloud forest is quite thick. Consequently it became difficult to see or hear very far in one direction or another. Even with 18 of us hiking, at one point we found ourselves “on our own” somewhere in the midst of the group with just some smear marks in the mud as a guide. Nevertheless, we caught up with the rest of the group and worked our way to the highest point, where we could enjoy a view of clouds, trees and brush.

The climb down proved to be more of a challenge than the ascent, as we came down a different ridge that was like a series of mud slides interrupted abruptly with tree trunks and pointed rocks to land on.

When we were out of the clouds, we enjoyed great views of the valley, including a distant look at our neighborhood and the new national futbol stadium. Now, we may have mentioned this before, but the model for the Minnesota Vikings to fund their new stadium can be found right here in Costa Rica. It turns out that the Chinese are more than willing to provide not only the funding, but also the design, labor (imported Chinese construction workers who now intend to stay in Costa Rica) and materials. All Costa Rica had to do was turn their back on their long term ally Taiwan and refuse to recognize it as a sovereign nation any longer. And, like the Metrodome, the new stadium was built without any parking. Oops.





A view of Pico Blanco taken from our balcony,
at the beginning of June. 




The new stadium




A view looking back towards our house, towards the Poas mountain.




Close up of where we live. The long white building is Intel. The smaller long, tan building in front of Intel is the Costa Rica Marriot. The group of houses to the left of the Marriot is our development. 





A close up of the washed out area.





Climbing in the cloud forest.