Costa Rica Day 4 (May 18) - Mount Doom

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

The Rincon de la Vieja Volcano stands at 6,286 feet above sea level.

And we were going to ascend to the summit of this active volcano.

Map of the conservation areas in the Guanacaste province

We woke up early at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning for our shuttle to the national park. I was excited because I had never visited a volcano before, much less an active one! Our shuttle was late due to road construction delays (the construction effort was not well planned or executed), and our guide for the day, Giovanni, was anxious to get going by the time we finally arrived. We entered the National Park just after 9:00 and began our "hike" up to the volcano.

We began walking through the tropical dry forest of the park...

...but quickly made our way up into the tropical rain forest

C takes the lead!

It quickly became dark under the forest canopy

As we continued our journey through the tropical rain forest, we could hear the screams of a nearby howler monkey. Unfortunately, we could not find the howler monkey, but we were rewarded shortly thereafter with a spider monkey sighting! Apparently, they aren't fond of visitors, and are known to throw sticks at you to make you leave their territory - unfortunately, we were unable to witness this phenomenon.

"I'm gonna come at you like a spider monkey!"

C desperately wanted to see monkeys during our hike and she got her wish

Some of the trees were enormous

Snake!!

Just Kidding. 

Giovanni explained that this is a "bad" tree. It wraps itself around good trees and its roots take over everything.

After trekking through the rain forest, we continued our climb through the cloud forest. The trees were much smaller and shorter, but the foliage was just as dense.

C walks through the cloud forest

A view from the top of the cloud forest after two hours of hiking

Once we exited the cloud forest, it was time for our ascent up the volcanic rock formations to reach the lip of the crater. At this point, we thought our journey to the volcano was almost complete. We had two routes to choose from: (a) a longer, "easier" route, or (b) a shorter, harder route.

"Acceso dificil. Tenga precausion."

No thanks, we'll take the longer route

As you can see, we didn't have much farther to hike, but we didn't account for the fact that the rest of the "hike" would become a steep climb up volcanic rock. This part of the journey would test our strength and resolve.

We said good-bye to the luscious green forest...

...and said hello to the unstable volcanic rock and RAIN - lots of rain

View of the ridge we were climbing towards

View back towards the valley we just hiked through

(you can barely see the "trail" we were using to climb up this ridge)

Spectacular view of the surrounding ridges and valleys

You can see the volcano off in the distance, on the other side of the ridge

(you can also see the path we must take)

At this point, we had reached the top of the first volcanic ridge. As we began to descend, all we could see was MORE volcanic rock and the path to our next ridge. During this part of our trek, we kept asking Giovanni, "How much farther till we reach the top of the volcano?" And he would always respond, "Just over this next ridge." We heard that at least three times...

Carolyn wondering, "How did I let Patrick talk me into this?"

By the time we reached the final ridge Carolyn was physically and mentally exhausted, and could not bring herself to navigate the final climb. It had been raining non-stop and the rocks were very slippery and dangerous (if you look closely at the picture below, you can see that she started to cry). I was concerned about her, but she assured me that she was crying not because she was unhappy, but because she was scared. While I obviously wanted her to finish the climb with me, I understood that she had already pushed her limits and boundaries. 

We had just tackled one of the most technically advanced climbs I've ever done without ropes and in the pouring down rain. I was (and still am) extremely proud of how she attacked this treacherous climb. 

Carolyn is exhausted

But for me, the goal was within sight and it was time to finish what we had started...

View from the final ridge down towards the old, dormant crater (now a lake)

THE ACTIVE CRATER

I wanted to check on Carolyn (you can barely see her resting on the trail)

Closer view of the dormant crater

This is the part C opted out of hiking
(you can see the path is only a couple of feet wide and there is a steep drop on both sides)

Approaching the active crater

A good view of the narrow path along the final ridge

Active sulfuric vents (200 meter drop into the acidic lake!)

FINALLY MADE IT!

Somebody either screwed up the arrow on the sign or the placement of the sign

Checking on Carolyn again (yup...still there)

After I returned from the final part of the climb, we had another choice to make. We could either (a) go back the way we came, or (b) try the harder, yet shorter, route. We knew the harder route would be steeper, but Giovanni assured us there would be more foliage around to help with our descent. He also said, "It doesn't matter which way you go, you'll fall down. I'll fall down. We'll all fall down." It wasn't the most re-assuring of comments, but we decided to take the shorter way back.

The way back down involved ropes and lots of rain

Carolyn navigates her way down the slippery slope (yup...still raining)

View back up towards the volcanic ridge

I may or may not have slipped here...

Refreshing waterfall

We are soaking wet (Carolyn's face tells it all)

During our trip back down through the rain forest, Giovanni let us in on a little secret, "Most people don't attempt this hike. They usually do the half-day hike to one of the waterfalls, then go home. In fact, I'm the only guide around here who will agree to be a tour guide for this trek." I guess what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

We also assumed the hike was 8 km round trip
(it turned out to be over 16 km round trip and took just over 7 hours to complete)

C gives an enthusiastic thumbs down

Our guide, Giovanni

Carolyn was all smiles when the hike was finished

Go Team Byrne!

Now, 4:30 p.m. - Adios to the volcano...hola to room service!