Extreme hike in La FortunaFeb 8, 2010
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The "trail"
Above the crater lake showing our muddy hands
More of the trail- our guide made it look so easy
| We signed up for an "extreme hike" to Cerro Chato, a crater lake in the mountains, and then on to see the La Fortuna waterfall. We thought they were kidding when they said extreme, but it was super hard. It had rained all night the night before and was misty,foggy, and hot on the hike. The "trail" was barely that at all, but rather the trail where the water had eroded down the side of the mountain in the jungle. Our guide wore rubber rain boots and barely broke a sweat. We climbed up for 1.5 hours to see the crater lake, but it was too foggy to see. By then we were very dirty. Then our guide told us we would have to climb down to see the lake. I started down, it was a steep climb on roots and logs. I made it about halfway before telling Kresha and the guide I'd wait at the top. When they returned they said they couldn't really see the lake and didn't go swimming. Kresha also had a new mud patch on her butt from a fall on the way down. We continued on, down the mountain, which was actually harder than the way up and took another 2.5 hours. It was a steep climb on roots and logs, slipping and sliding part of the way. At the end we were treated to this vista.  By now my legs, shoes and clothes were a mess of mud.  We continued down to the parking lot of the La Fortuna volcano, which was our next stop, for a picnic lunch with our guide.  The best part was the fresh fruit our bus driver cut up and displayed. After lunch we walked down another 400 stairs to the La Fortuna volcano.  We also went for a swim there and tried to wash some of the mud off.  Afterward, it was a tiring climb back up the 400 stairs, but that was our final climb of the day. |
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