Heaven: She Came on Moonlit Wings

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The sub-subtitle--or the overarching title, not sure which--would be:

An Account An Three Parts of the Best Week of My Life.

Really, I couldn't call it anything else. Katie graciously forfeited her spring break to come and spend with me one amazing week in Costa Rica! I literally had the best time of my whole life, and am very grateful for all the experiences we had. Katie and I traveled from the Airport to San José, to San Isidro de General, where we were picked up by our amazing hostel owner, John, in his 4X4 to take us up the slightly treacherous road to San Gerardo de Rivas, an incredibly remote and beautiful mountain village where we spent the majority of our week.

This is the initial of three entries, which includes our initial adventures up to the beginning of our hike up to Chirripó. I have to admit that I was having such an incredible time with Katie that I didn't take as many photos as I normally do, and thus there are are fewer to share. You'll probably enjoy this anyway. Rock!

The other entries will come soon!

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Photos

A New Day
Upon the morning of our first day, we arose early from our mountain Hostel to seek park passes from the PN Chirripó Ranger Station, some 2 or 3 kilometers down the mountain. This is the mountain side of San Gerardo.

Aguas Termales
This is the "hot" springs way up in the mountains, which was more like tepid springs, but the remoteness of the pools, the surrounding beauty, and the quaint pools that had been constructed into the rocks were more than enough to justify the modest entrance and the rather challenging hike to get there. Katie and I had set out early are enjoyed the privilege of being the first visitors.

Here She Is!
This is my companion, and she's the best you can find. Full of sand, one might say. She and I lounged around the springs, chatting, laughing, and trying out my underwater camera. Later, as we were leaving, hordes of Ticos started showing and we found out how much of a local place it is. We were stared at slightly more than usual, but how can I blame them when I'm with a girl like Katie?

Welcome to Casa Marisposa
I can hardly describe how amazing this hostel is! The entire hostel is built on top of giant boulders that are incorporated into the architecture--especially the stone floors--and has a cozy, homey feeling where everyone is instant family.

If you can't stand the heat,
This is the community kitchen, sunlight pouring through the skylight, where every night we cooked family-style dinners that turned into laughter-filled feasts, and late-night discussions over hot tea.

The World Family
This photo was the only one that I bothered to take because I was having so much fun; it's not the best, and doesn't do justice to the warmth of the random assortment of travelers gathered here, but it gives a faint idea, in the least.

Staples
Katie brought me the two most important foods from the states that keep me "satisfecho" while I'm on the road (thanks mom!)! We ate each liberally. I had to post this because Katie looks like the next Life Cereal kid, but for PB and Nutella.

Journal Spot
Katie took a moment to catch up on our many activities, which included the day before a hike on the property of Casa Mariposa with the owner, John, to a waterfall and a nice little swimming hole. Pictured is the garden area with a small pond and behind Katie is the chill out gazebo with hummingbird feeders... Since CM sits at the top of the long road that is San Gerardo, all this is with a view of the mountain village below.

Cloud Bridge Nature Reserve
This enormous reserve is pretty spectacular and pretty straight forward: it's beautiful, full of trees, small rivers, waterfalls, wildlife, flowers, and is owned by a cool couple (gringos) that bought up the land to save it. boom!

Wipe Out!
Ok, so not exactly surfing, but as Catherine and I hiked through the beautiful Cloud Bridge Nature Reserve, we came to a covered bridge and had the urge to hang ten!

Red Tape
This was a big ordeal, but in short, it took two painful days to obtain permits for the National Park because the rangers were either incompetent or unwilling to help gringos. Our hostel owner went down to help us talk it out, and we finally got permits to hike the next day. This photo is the third time we traveled the 3k to the ranger station to get things sorted out, waiting for it to open. On the up, we met a small local kid with some pretty cool sunglasses.

Naranja
This fruit, which we picked wild from the Cloud Bridge NR--don't worry, the park allows and even encourages the harvesting of the wild edible fruits! It's actually not an orange, but I can't remember the actual name. We picked more back at CM and made a pitcher using the unusually green juice of this fruit. mmm...

Packing for Chirripó
After another great community dinner the night after obtaining passes for mountain, Katie and I made ready our packs--food, warm clothes, sleeping bags, stove, water--and slept early in order to rise before the sun to set out on the great adventure.