Seemed a good idea at the time

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A lot has been happening this week, although it has been mostly dominated by one thing Mount Chirripo and to those not in the know (I didn’t know beforehand) it is the highest mountain in Costa Rica and the second highest in Central America.... now let me just digress here for a moment... While here I have had time to reflect on things and this was true for this matter... At school I usually got good reports, you know, intelligent(ish), hard working, etc, but I always got let down by the comment 'easily led into trouble' and on reflection of this week, things just haven't changed. For example, Sarah a beautiful Canadian girl I met says "hey, do you fancy climbing Mount Chirripo?" "Sure", I say, and 3 days later we are on a bus with our guide Jimmy for 4 days of total physical and emotional intensity.
Day 1. We drive down to San Gerrado (the nearest town to Chirripo).
Day 2. A hike of 3km to get to the official start of the mountain hike (as the local bridge was out - thanks) before starting the 14.5km hike up to the mountain refuge. Well as most of you know that I am built for comfort rather than speed, I am already blowing by the time we had got to the start, so as we hit the rainforest things just got harder although we were spurred on at the 4km point when we met a group of French hikers coming down, they said 'yes, it was long, but it wasn't too difficult', however that all went out of the window when at 6km we met the 3 porters they had paid to carry all of their gear - lying lazy tossers ! So after 9 hours of solid hiking we made it to the mountain refuge where we had a quick change into dry(ish) clothes, warapped ourselves in big blankets, and had a big plate of spag bol to boot - it'sat times like those that I realise the simple pleasures in life (hot food, being warm) are the most heartening.
Day 3. The next morning we woke at 5am for the last 3km hike to the summit of Chirripo, which at 3820M is high enough that all of us suffered from some form of altitude sickness.
I am pleased to say we did all make it to the topand had our photos taken, read the psalm, and wrote a paragragh in the book... What did I put ?... Well you'll have to go up there and look, but if you don't you can rest assured that even though my heart was trying to bust out of my chest, my head was pounding, and I couldn't take full breaths due to the lack of oxygen at that altitude, I still managed some minor comedic genius, ha ha.
So after our triumph, it was back to the refuge for breakfast and a quick kip before going back down the mountain, which actually ended up being a lot harder than it sounds due to the vast amount of rain that had fallen in the night. Due to the delay it took us 6 hours to get down the mountain which meant the last 2km wasin pitch black darkness. Now believe me, climbing down a mountain, through a rainforest, at night, is definetly not the place you want to be, the only thing that kept us going was the thought of putting our (presently freezing cold and wet) toes onto the warm sands of Playa Jaco later the next day.

So there you have it, I did it, and I am proud of myself, but I will never ever ever do it again !

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Photos

Cerro Chirripo
Confirmation that we made it to the top.

Comments

[cuckoostella]

Should I do it?
Wow that sounded strenuous. I was thinking about doing it but now I'm too sure...

[anonymous]

Off your cake !
Phil. Surley it wasn't that bad in Warrington ? Be careful in the forest as there are ar*e bandits and there don't want stinkin' badges. Abbo.

[anonymous]

Partner in crime ...
It is with great pleasure (and pain) that I too got to experience this adventure with Phil (my wild, sensitive and MACHO english mate). in fact this excursion was my idea and Phil was the only one brave enough (or stupid depending on how you look at it) to join as my partner in crime. It was both a physically, emotionally, spiritually challenge that we all endured probably not fully knowing what we were getting ourselves into before setting off. In the course of this yr. I have had many firsts - running a marathon, big ass bike ride, etc. but this by far topped the gamet. not only was it physically challenging but the outside elements were NOT in our favour with constant rain and cold temps. i could go on and on....All anyone needs to know when it comes to a challenge, any challenge, rise to it with full confidence in your ability, enjoy every single detail of your experience and kick some serious ass! What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger......in every way. - Sarah