Chirripo sunrise
We are at 12,000 ft on the top of Chirripó, and my little brain, used to living at sea level, is playing the base drum inside my skull in protest. I try to remind it that we live in the second story of a house, so that’s really 20 feet above sea level, and every little bit counts.
My brain isn’t buying it.
Let me start by laying out the events of the past few days. First, we left my house, took a train to the airport, a plane to Denver, another plane to San Jose C.R., a taxi to the bus station, a bus to San Isidro, and a taxi to San Gerardo de Rivas. We then paid for the permit to enter the park.
Amount of sleep in the last 36 hours: 0.
We woke up the next morning at 4 am, packed up the Tarptent and carried our packs 4 km to the park entrance. Add 6 km for accidentally missing the park entrance and getting very, very lost. A nice man let us jump in the back of his truck on his way to work, and set us on the right track.
We were then starting our hike having already done 10 km already.
The climb was fairly brutal, at least for 2 people carrying too much weight.
12 Cosmic Brownies, Addy? 12? They sell food in Costa Rica.
But maybe not Cosmic Brownies.
Everyone coming down the trail was carrying, at max, a water bottle. A large fat kit chugged his way down and told us that the view made it all totally worth it. In my heart, I slowly began to hate him.
Why was no one carrying backpacks we wondered? They had all hired donkeys to porter their gear to the base camp. I would say that I took pride in carrying up all of my supplies, but those Cosmic brownies (12, really?), instant pudding mixes, and GU shots were burning a hole in my pack. At each break, both Shannon and I consumed as much food as possible so that we wouldn’t have to carry it.
Who knew that I would ever have to force down a brownie.
The first day’s hike ended up being around 20km. More or less. The maps are a bit fuzzy on distances, and we have no idea how far lost we were in the morning. Regardless, we were counting steps by the end and taking frequent stops. When we saw the base camp, I lost my fatigue and took off running. Shannon was not quite as enthusiastic. Because it was so cold, we slept that night in a cocoon of emergency blankets.
The next morning, we awoke at 2 am so that we could summit at sunrise. Even though I was heavily sleep deprived, had a small marching band inside my head, and generally hated everything that did not involve the words warm, sleeping, and sea level, Shannon somehow coaxed me out of bed.
Once on the trail, we hiked with headlamps under more stars than I have ever seen. We passed a group that had left earlier than us (you know, the ones who had all hired donkeys to take their gear to the base camp), and, I’m not going to lie, I felt pretty proud of us at that moment. The final climb was steep, but reaching the top was exhilarating. We could see in the distance the people coming up the trail behind us. 25 of them all holding flashlights. It looking like a moving Christmas tree light I was reminded of the scene in 13th Warrior when the Wendol are raiding camp. Cue Antonio Banderas saying, “They are only men!” What? You haven’t seen that movie? Good for you. Those two hours of my life are gone forever.
Also, I haven’t learned how to shoot low light settings and my fingers were too cold to operate the camera.
Reader: It couldn’t have been that cold. Exaggerate much?
Addy: Shhh. You are ruining the story.
On the way down (Lord bless the way down), we slowly warmed up as the elevation dropped and the sun came out. I began to feel hope that I would not remain cold for the rest of my life. Several kilometers later, we got to see brightly color lizards sun themselves on the hot rocks. Humming birds flew around the trail mating.
We finally stumbled all of the way down into town and collapsed in a hostel. Sleep is a good thing. The pounding in my brain got a little bit quieter.
While I write this, I am sprawled out on a mattress with the thickness of a notebook, eating and drinking everything in sight. I could really, really go for a Cosmic Brownie. Too bad we ate all of them in two days.
All of them. 12 brownies in two days. At least my pack got lighter.
To end this, and maybe this is just the sleep deprivation talking, let me say that Chirripó is a beautiful, beautiful mountain that I will NEVER climb again. But you should try it if you go to Costa Rica. And, if you do hire a donkey to porter your gear, I promise not to judge you in the slightest. As long as you don’t judge me for eating 12 brownies in two days.
