NCT and MRP Day 3-The Manistee River

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It was a crisp and clear night. Though I did not notice the stars that Andy spotted even though he wasn't wearing his glasses. I think the low was around 45F which is definitely cooler than the night before. I slept about as well as I could hope given the sore spots I went to bed with. In the morning, around 07:00, when I got up (after Andy dropped my food bag off and pulled my sleeping quilt off me, what a joker he is - ha ha) it was overcast and about 51F. We broke camp and started walking towards Coates Highway end of the section. That is a distance of about 2.8 miles I think and until we climbed up a big hill that afforded us some fine views of the Manistee River we had to deal with more blowdowns. This is a section of trail that needs a good bit of attention given to it. Maybe that will happen in time. When we reached Coates Highway, catching up with Doug who had pulled ahead, we were all well warmed up. Most of us had shed some layers of clothing even though it was still only in the mid 50s and overcast. But we probably looked overdressed to the trail runners who zipped on by us chatting as they came. They were in t-shirts and shorts and carrying what seemed like a tiny amount of water. I suppose they figure they don't need more. They clearly were in great shape. After a short break at Red Bridge we returned to the Manistee River Pathway (which we had joined by Coates Highway I believe) and soon the clouds began to break up some and the views got better and better. The MRP has some modest hills here that bring you up high above the river and then drop you back down towards streams that flow into the Manistee. At one of those streams we paused to take pictures and noticed a very well camouflaged deer carcass just upstream of the bridge we were standing on. I suppose I caught a whiff of decay but to be honest I am not at all sure I'd have figured out that the carcass was there had Andy not pointed it out. John and Doug never saw it when they went by before us. It is a strong reminder that you have to pay attention to your surroundings. Not long after finishing lunch at a sluggish stream the clouds began to really break up. If you stood in a sunny spot and waited you could feel sun drenched warmth that might have been close on 70 degrees but the actual air temperature was probably never more than about 58. Throughout the afternoon we encountered a few other backpackers all heading in the other direction. Some, like the group of 4 or 5 we saw around 13:45 by a creek (not sure of its name) were definitely carrying pretty hefty loads. We also met a local out with his friendly dog (by S Slagle Creek road I think) who seemed quite nice and definitely was familiar with the area. I'm not sure how far he actually went by I'd not be surprised if his roundtrip day hike was pushing 10 miles as we were pretty close to the suspension bridge that crosses the Manistee when he passed us by on his return to his car. I'm sure he could move quickly; certainly far faster than I and maybe faster than any of my companions but then he just had a daypack. His dog definitely could move quickly and was full of life which was impressive given that he was a hard luck stray the fellow found 6 years ago. With the sun beaming down on us the walk on both the high banks and low spots of the MRP was very enjoyable. The river twists and turns as its blue waters flow on by. You walk through birch, pine, and oak forests that open up now and then into glades with wonderful campsites (though water at many of them is not available as they're way above the river). Now and then the trail dips into a dark grove of trees and , for me at least, the going gets a bit tougher. However, overall the MRP is easy to follow and is in pretty good shape. It could use some more obvious blazing but perhaps that is me just missing the blue diamonds (and sometimes white rectangle blazes). I had fallen behind the rest of the group so perhaps I was going slower because of that. I'm not sure how much faster I would have gone had I been hiking with someone but I suspect it would have been a bit quicker. Oh well. Somewhere around the Clay Pots (?) I well and truly caught up with John and Andy and I was able to speed up a bit with the goading of them to ensure we got to the car before 19:00. It was a bit past 16:00 by this time and we reached the suspension bridge around 17:15 to find Doug waiting patiently for us. we had somewhere around 2.7 miles to go I believe. We crossed the Manistee River and joined the NCT on the other side (?) heading south for a way before finally turning on to the Marilla Trail that would take us steadily up the flank of the hill we had been following (now heading north and then westerly) to the Marilla Road trailhead and the car. That final walk north provided us with some wonderful views of the Manistee River valley to the east and the bench we paused at is clearly a favorite spot of local people. In fact, as we came to the parking lot - around 18:50 - we saw a handful of folks coming our way clearly heading to the very bench and lookout spot we had left 10-15 minutes earlier. Our day was done: 16.9 miles of hiking and a grand total of about 47.9 miles I believe. A very good weekend indeed and it ended I think with the best hiking on the last day.

NCT and MRP Day 2: Far From the Maddening Crowds Knoll

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Today we hiked about 16.5 miles. We are camped at the Far From the Maddening Crowd Knoll. It has been a good though tireing day of hiking. The night passed uneventfully for us. It rained quite a bit after midnight but otherwise nothing much remarkable happened Those of us not cursed to rise sometime around 04:30 slept in to about 07:00 but everyone was well and truly moving as dawn moved into morning. A cloudy damp morning greeted us. I suspect the temperature was in the mid 50s when we finally broke camp around 08:15. The inital hike through the rest of the Udell Hills isn't all that spectacular. It is nice trail and when the trees leaf out and wildflowers bloom I expect it is far prettier. After we left the Udell Hills we had a lengthy stretch of road walking to do - about 3 miles. But a good chunk of that road walk is one small roads that run through dense forest so it is actually quite nice. We found a little campsite set up for NCT hikers by a forest service worker who is also an NCT volunteer. Very posh campsite: a fire hearth, wood under shlter, a privvy (very low tech) and a water pump wer all present. There was a cabin too but it was locked so we could not tell what it was like except that it appeared quite old. What a nice thing for this landowner to do for NCT hikers. After a pleasant lunch at the High Bridge parking area (we saw a few people fishing and others who were probably fishing left hauling their boats out of the Manistee on the boat ramp) we returned to the trail under partly cloudy skies. By now i had warmed up considerably and the sun waas appearing now and then. That made the hike through the Leach (?) BayouYou get many fine views of the waterways as you stroll through forest or swampy lands. Its a bit hilly and so can be tiring but the section between High Bridge road and Dillinghast (?) Road is well worth a visit. I wish I could say that was true of the 3 miles after Dilling Road. Sure the forest is nice enough but the trail in this section definitely needs a lot of tender loving care. Blowdowns abound. However, we pushed on through and at about 19:15 (again) we settled down at our camspite. We visited the top of the Far From the Maddening Crowd Knoll in the hopes of finding enough flat spots for our four shelters but that hope was dashed when we reached the crest of the knoll. However, the walk was still worthwhile for the nice views to the south (I think) that we got even given the late hour and thoroughly overcast sky. We returned to the trail junction to set up camp. I think it will be a nice night even though I feel a bit sore right now especially in my shoulders and a bit in my thighs.

Manistee River Pathway - The Last Day

Far the Maddening Crowd Knoll

Camped at the Udell Hills

Costa Rica, February 2012 - Days 3 and 4

The boat ride to Tortuguero is, at the best of times, somewhat slow. Since the Rio Suerte was running very low it was even slower for us.

The hotel in Guapiles, called Suerre I believe, is a massive place. I touched on this in the last entry and I still do not know why it is so big. To add a bit of insult to injury, though that is actually a bit strong, the rooms are nothing special: standard hotel rooms with the basic amenities you would expect in a modern hotel. That includes a complete lack of character which is wholly at odds with Pacuare Lodge and the place we stayed at our first night. It was a place to sleep and that was good enough. Today was a travel day. The travel is governed by the schedule of the boat that makes the river run to Tortuguero 3 times a day along the Suerte River and the Rio Tortuguero- a journey that takes about 75-90 minutes depending largely on the level of the water especially in Rio Suerte. We had the bulk of the morning to kill and I suppose we could have gone into Guapiles and explored but it just did not look like their was much there based on the drive in. We hung around the hotel and really did nothing until it was time to gather at the lobby for the bus ride to where the boat would pick us up. That ride took about an hour and we passed by numerous banana plantations along the way. At the ferry dock there is a restaurant that is reputedly known for its chicones (sp - deep fried portk with beans and rice and some sort of banana). It was OK but I think I was expecting something a bit more though I am not really sure what or why. The first boat puttered on it at about 13:00 and it was clear it was nowhere big enough for everyone that was waiting. We loaded it up with many people but our group of 11 had to wait for the second trailing boat to arrive. We boared with a french family and departed perhaps 20 minutes after the first boat. The water level in Rio Suerte is very low. The boat captain has to clearly have a detailed knowleddge of the currents, eddys, rapids, hidden logs and rocks, and so on to navigate this bit of water. If you have read Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi and his time serving as a riverboat pilot I suspect the guys running the boats here must have comparable knowledge. We definitely scraped the river bottom a couple times and came close to many rocks. We also were lucky enough to see some birds including heron, egret, something large and white, and some other avians. SOme were lucky to spot a caimen and an American crocodile too. The river at this time is mostly a dusky brown which contrasts starkly with the rich green of the Pacuare the last couple of days. We slowly wormed our way along the twists and turns of the shallow river to the much larger Rio Tortuguero where the captiain clearly did not have to worry about running aground and was able to open up the throttle to the point where we had a substantial wake and were catching a fair bit of stinging spray in our faces. The french family were dropped off at a lodge in the community of San Francisco and we continued on to Tortuguero which is the main village in the region and home to about 1,000 people. It is an interesting mix of modern and far less modern aspects. They have only just recently gotten a high school. They do have electricity everywhere along with full telecommunications (i.e., cellular and internet access). At the same time many of the omes seem to be a bit of a hodgepodge as far as their construction goes and look less well off. But during the tourist season the national park that Tortuguero sits just outside of does see 1,000 people per day and given the challenge of coming here that is pretty good. We found ourselves with a few horus to kill before dinner so we did a bit of exploring.

Casa Marbella is quaint. The rooms are high ceilings and are pretty spartan. But it turned out that they would be adaquate.

Tortuguero sits on a spit of land with the Rio Tortuguero flowing north-south to the west and the Caribbean pounding the shore just to the east. If this bit of land is more than a couple hundred meters wide I would be very surprised. Somehow everyone in the village nestles in a fairly short stretch of land. We first walked north to the far end of town where we found some fencing blocking our way. We checked out the beach which is a dark brown sand beach and boasts a surf that is definitely not really suitable for swimming (and for some reason we did not see anyone swimming in the river either). We stopped in a couple of the little stores that are selling local handicrafts to a general store that sells all sorts of things a village resident might need. The bakery next door furnished us with a milkshake and carrot cake both of which were tasty. Heading south takes you to the national park entrance and we found an information kiosk that told us plenty about the region and the life that it supports all of which is quite interesting. Aong the way we dodged kids and adults on bikes zipping down the hard dirt main drag. We saw a few cats and dogs out and about and I suspect most are just that: out and about left to their own devices. It is an inteeresting place. Dinner at Ray's, who is a friend of our trip leader Greivin (sp) was a low key affair. He reputedly specializes in making food with a Caribbean bent. Perhaps he does but I am not enough of a foodie to know. I do know that the fried breadfruit was very good and the rice and beans dish was certainly good enough. I did not hear any complaints about the chicken. I hope Ray can make a go of this newly birthed place that will also include some rental cabins. But I have to say that the food didn't knock my socks off the way the meals at Pacuare Lodge did. It is now a bit after 21:00 and thankfully the temperature has dropped and the fans in my high ceilinged small room are helping keep me cool. It is a very modest style of room that comes far closer to rustic than anything we have seen to date. The bed is a double but a cheap one at that. The shower produced warm though far from hot water and the only soap I found was a dispenser of Palmolive (the real soap turned out to be in a glass on a shelf). Mom is right their is a bit of the dormetory feel to the place though as far as I know all the rooms have en suite bathrooms. I am sure it will be a fine place and as long as it isn't too noisy with either jungle sounds or , maybe more likely, people partying I will have no complaints. Tomorrow we get up early for a 06:00 boat tour of many of the natural and artificial canals that will hopefully afford us some great wildlife encounters.

* * *

We took a sunrise boat tour through the canals and Rio Tortuguero. The jungle is incredibly dense and you can't see into it. If you are lucky though you do get to see some animals, especially birds, as you float quietly along.

The sounds of the night were nowhere near loud enough to bother my sleep. I think the greatest noise probably came from a couple parties that were taking place not that far from Casa Marbella (our hotel). I heard some critters like night insects and some noctural birds and the occassional spurt of dog barking but if I was expecting to be regailed by the soundscape of howler monkeys and the sounds of a jungle you think you know from watching television shows and movies I was dissapointed. We had an early start with a sunrise motor boat ride along the Rio Tortuguero into various natural and artificial canals in the national park, The boat was captained by a local named Roberto who along with Greivin who served as the primary guide. The only real way to see the jungle is by water unless you are willing to hack your way through the staggeringly dense forest with machetes and I am sure that is not for the faint of heart or unskilled. I wish I could report that I saw the wildlife that was pointed out but that would be untrue. I had to settle for hearing the critters and just absorbing what was told to us. People were certainly quite pleased to see birds like green Ibis, heron, wrens, and perhaps even a green macaw. We were fortunate to also spy a couple of caimen along the way and I think people spotted howler monkeys in the trees. The howler monkey makes a remarkable sound that can be best described as a fantastically upset stomach rumbling for its life. Of course, if your stomach was as loud as a howler monkey's howl you are probably in serious need of medical help. We also were lucky to spot some type of ant eater that was high up in a tree of some type happily devouring ants or maybe termites as it clung with its prehensile tail and huge claws to the branches up on high (I wish I had seen that). It was an interesting 3 hour tour though our enjoyment is a bit tempered by the fact that we were wholly passive. You are just sitting in the motor boat watching and I certainly would appreciate a chance to do more though exactly what that means in this context I can't really say.

The narrow stretch of coastline is dozens of miles long. We enjoyed our walk along the Carribbean coastline even though this is a beach that will never win awards for loveiness.

When we returned to the hotel it was time for a light breakfast of local fruits: pineapple, watermelon, and papaya, and pancakes. The group broke up into parts and we decided to take a stroll along the Caribbean Sea beach and see what we might find. The beach is narrow, made of deep brown sand, and in places actually a bit steep. If the tide had been in I am sure parts of the beach would have been unwalkable. As it was we had plenty of room to walk comfortably When the sea surf did swirl around our feet we could feel the pull of the retreating water quite strongly. If you want to take a dip in this surf you are playing with fire so to speak. The water is warm and the sand pleasant to walk across in bare feet. Just watch where you step sometimes as you have to avoid driftwood down by the surfline and plenty of plastic crap that has washed up against the tree line just a couple dozen yards away. Seeing the trash is a bit sad and a reminder that polution is pretty much everywhere (we actually saw some water bourne pollution in the Pacuare River when we paused by a waterfall on our second day; I suppose that foam was coming from one of the little communities of people who live along that remote stretch of water). The walk along the beach was quite enjoyable even though it is clearly not a beach you are going to just lounge around on. We walked north about 1.5 miles and found our way into the Laguna Lodge which appears to be a very fancy resort type establishment. They'll come fetch you from San Jose and bring you all the way in (we saw guests from that lodge at dinner at the Budha Cafe so unless they walked along the beach the 1.5 miles along the beach or the powerline right-of-way they surely came by private boat. One thing of particular interst on the beach are the seris of markers, spaced aoubt 100 meters apart, that strecch the entire length of the beach which is, I think, some 50 miles long. This beach is a vast nesting ground for green sea turtles that come from all over the Caribbean and in some cases as far as Australia to lay their eggs every summer and late autumn. The markers are used by the people whose job it is to protect the turltles as keys to finding the active nesting sites. The Costa Rican government seems to be pretty serious about this which is a good thing for the tuttle popolation which was decimated by human hunting and poaching. If you are looking to wipe out a couple of hours in Tortuguero taking a beach walk is a good way to go especially since the breeze on the beach makes the otherwise hot day very pleasant.

Sitting rock solid still in an open area like the one we found this iguana in is probably not the best survival strategy but I suppose it was all this fellow had going.

After our usual issue figuring out what to do about food when we are left to our own devices we settled on picking up what we could from one of the local grocery stores. I think their are at least 3 such stores in this small village and none of them sell what you would consider staple fare if you were trying to feed a family. It makes one wonder where residents get their food. We picked up the fixings for sandwiches and went back to the hotel for a quick lunch at the riverside dock before joining everyone else for an afternoon stroll into the national park. Greivin took us into the forest along a nature path and found many things of interest to point out to us. It started even before we reached the park entrance as we crossed a field in the village. An orange and black striped Iguana was partially covered by a big stick which a person moved away. At first you might think the animal was injured or dead as it was not moving but it seems more likely that it was playing dead - standing rock still trying to convince us that there was nothing here to see. That might work well if you are amongst some plants with big leaves but in the open it is a strategy that just is not going to work too well. He (I assume though I have no basis for that) was really quite stunning and an hour or so later when we returned that way the iguana was gone so hopefully it found a better place to hang out. Entering the forest we left stifling heat and found ourselves in much more comfortable shade. Now and then as we would past an opening to a path that led out onto the beach we woulc catch a cooling breeze that was always welcome. I was a bit surprised that we did not hear much in the way of animal calls as we strode along the wide dirt path. Perhaps this was because it was about 15:00 and everything was taking a siesta. We soon found some astonishingly large active termite nests and some wondefully complex spider webs. Greivin also pointed out an assortment of plants but I confess that now I can't tell you what they were. It was nice to just amble along the path. It would have been made all the better had we actually been able to find the geocache that was reportedly planted just off the trail by one of the paths that lead to the beach. We did not spend all that much time trying to find it and it is possible it is not there anymore anyway. All told we probably walked about 3 miles out and back. We were left with a couple hours to kill before dinner at the Buddha Cafe and as you would expect in a tropical village like this where you still have access to modern amenities like a shop that sells beer and ice cream bars (think large Dove bar on a stick) we settled down on the dock to relax for a time before freshening up for the meal. For some reason I did not think Buddha Cafe was as large as it turned out to be. It was really quite extensive and the menu is varied. We ended up following our guide's example and tried a pizza which was pretty good and definitely larger than we needed. It was a very relaxed affair perhaps due in part to the fact that I do not think they have a big staff. No one was annoyed by this; things move at a more languid pace here in the tropics at least on the Caribbean coast. One last thing to note about the village is the bakery that is next to Casa Marbella. We stopped there the previous day for a milkshake, very tasty strawberry, and a piece of carrot cake. They have very long hours opening up around 05:00 and closing well after dark. If you need a quick bite to eat or refreshing drink this little place is worth remembering when you are killing time in Tortuguero.

listen to ‘In the village of Tortuguero. Costa Rica. ’ on Audioboo

Costa Rica, February 2012 - Day 2

Our lunch spot along the Rio Picuare is about halfway through our rafting run. It was a nice sandy area where dozens could congregate comfortably. Our guides set up a picnic table with a wide variety of tasty food for everyone.

Last night we finished a good dinner of ribeye, potatoes, veggies, and a very tasty light chocolate tort and returned to our respective rooms bathed in the gentle glow of the pathway lights from below and the wan light of the many stars that were visible in the sky above. It was a lovely night in the Costa Rican jungle. Insects were out buzzing up a storm as the river rumbled off in the distance. I don't think I heard anything much more exotic than those things throughout the night. I slept quite well in my room right up until I woke up just before something I thought struck the roof and caused the building to shake. It happened twice with just a few seconds gap between the shakes of the building. I must say it never crossed my mind that I had just felt an earthquake rumble on through. Mom and Dad felt it too and they too thought some large animal had slammed into the roof. This is, of course, ludicrous because even though the buildings aren't hefty structures no animal is going to cause the structure to shake and shimmy. But until one of the local staff told us what happened a few hours later we had no clue. It definitely did not bother our rest because I fell back to sleep for another 45 minutes and I suspect my parents did too. Some people staying at the lodge slept through the entire event (we learned much later that the earthquake was off the western coast and measured 6.4). Can you call the event exciting when you don't actually figure out what it was and it doesn't really disturb you all that much? Sure, why not. We rose, more or less, with the rising sun. The morning was pleasingly cool though you could definitely feel the humidity in the air. At least I had stopped noticing that my sheets were slightly damp with humidity. I actually did sleep quite well. We found ourselves with a bit of time to kill before breakfast so sallied forth down a path we had not yet trod. The sun slowly colored the trees gold at their tops as we walked upriver to see what we could find. It was a peaceful, as peaceful as the jungle gets I reckon, morning with not too much bird calling yet. I am sure many had been up before us to try and do some early bird watching. Our biggest find was a nifty spider web. It was a good way to start the day.

Walking the paths at Picuare Lodge before breakfast was fun. Among the cool things we saw were this cool spiderweb and the Indio Desnudo tree.

Our final lodge meal was again superb. You could eat a staggering amount of food if you chose to do so but we limited ourselves to a couple omelets, yogurt and banana filled pancakes, fresh baked bread, and various fruits. The lodge really puts out a remarkable spread and though I understand there is a very gnarly twisty bad road I still suspect a lot of the materiel comes via the river. It is impressive and damn good. It is a good thing you then spend your day doing something challenging and physically demanding because otherwise you might easily gain a surprising amount of weight. Piling into our respective rafts a little after 09:30 we shoved out into the river and were at once greeted by a modest rapid to get our juices flowing. The sky was dotted with a handful of cotton ball clouds and the air temperature had warmed up quite nicely. The water was also comfortable so getting doused was no hardship. Today we knew we would encounter many more class III and even a handful of class IV rapids. The river is running low due to a lack of rain but you still get your fair share of boat swallowing holes and fast flowing chutes full of rocks to bounce off of. Great fun. Juan Carlos did fine work making sure we were where we should be and we only got stuck a couple times which is no fault of his (others got stuck too). The scenery continued to be quite fine though it is hard to tell just how much variety their is as the foliage is so dense as to appear like one great green wall. But people who looked carefully could tell things apart. As we moved we also were graced with more bird life and even some remarkably blue butterflies. We were having a blast. We did take one break before lunch to walk up to a waterfall. It was nice to stretch ones legs but the rocks you climb over are a mite annoying. If you doubt your footing take a paddle to serve as a walking stick. It will help on the descent and not really be a hinderance on the trip to the waterfall. Lunch found us on a sandy bench of riverbank that is also home to some local (indian?) families not far off. We saw some kids playing in the river using very light wooden (balsa? Someone suggested that though it seems improbable to me) boats to play in the rapids. Our guides prepared a big spread of fruits, guacamole, pasta and chicken for us to devour. We did not consume everything and I believe the leftovers were left for the local families. If that is routine then I bet they don't have to worry too much during tourist seasons about getting food. By this time it was early afternoon and we were about halfway done. When we got back into our rafts it was right back into the thick of things with a rapid that drenched us quickly. It is good to get right back into the swing of things.

During a half-hour stretch of rafting one of the kayakers who I suppose was also acting as a rescue boat did double duty as a staff photographer. As you can see many of the rapids had us working pretty hard (nothing probably compared to our guide Juan Carlos). We got drenched several times but the water of the Picuare is warm.

It was later in this section when we entered a canyon-like stretch of river. The cliffs rose up fairly high and the waters were cast in deep shadow turning them a dark green which was appropriate as they were also fairly deep. No rapids to worry about here so this was a perfect spot to roll out of the raft and take a swim: which I did. The water was comfortably warm and easy to swim in even when you are encumbered by your PFD, a helmet, and a hat whose brim keeps rolling down over your eye blocking your vision. Just floating on my back and enjoying the river flow was worthwhile. The hardest bit was getting back in the boat but Juan Carlos made that easy enough with a great helping hoist that let me easily roll my legs over the bulging blue tube of the raft's side and plop down in the boat. If the weather permits, that is it is warm which it always is, taking a swim in the Pacuare River in this little canyon is a good idea. Just make sure you get out before the canyon opens back up and you're greeted by more rapids full of plenty of rocks to bounce off of. I have no doubt that the entire 28km trip can be done in a single day even when the water is low (and if it is high no doubt you can blaze down the river far more quickly) but I think it would be a sad waste if you're visiting Costa Rica to miss out on a stay at the Pacuare River lodge. We utterly enjoyed our time there and our time spent on the river negotiating its many rapids and quiet stretches. Our trip came to its inevitable end a little before 15:00 I believe. We got ourselves out of the river and had a chance to freshen up a bit if desired (we just changed into dry clothing) before piling into a bus - the same one I think that we took from San Jose - to make the 45-60 minute drive to the hotel we are now at for the night located in the town of Guapiles. It is a nice enough place but really lacks the charms of the river lodge. It sports an Olympic sized swimming pool and has more rooms than seems to make any kind of sense given the area and even if that pool is used by nationally ranked teams for training. Maybe when we do a bit of a stroll tomorrow morning in the town we will learn that the place has hidden depths unknown to us. Time will tell. For now I am going to get myself ready for bed and sleep quite well after the day's adventures. Eventually I will create a video that gives you a much better idea of the kind of river Rio Picuare is from its quiet deep green canyon stretches to its much more lively rapids. But for now enjoy this video clip to get a sense of one of the gentler rapids.

Costa Rica, February 2012 - Day 1

This swimming hole is at the end of a rocky tributary of Rio Picuare.

By the time I reached the pool I was sweaty so taking a quick dip was in order. Some people did quite a bit more. Too bad the walk back along the stoney creek brought sweat forth again. If you question your balance take a paddle along to use a walking staff.

The sun is setting behind the dense foliage of the jungle that surrounds Pacuare Jungle Lodge. While the day started out a bit slowly it has turned out to be a truly splendid day with a great deal to experience and enjoy. If the rest of the trip holds to this level of quality then it will go down as one of the best trips we have ever taken. From the outskirts of San Jose (we actually were staying in the town of Escazu) we wound our way a little after 06:15 (Latin time as we thought we were getting picked up at 05:45 but perhaps that was for the first hotel) through town to fetch a few other people who were also going to be rafting on the Rio Picuare and overnighting (or more) at the lodge. Soon we were climbing up into cloud shrouded mountains past farms growing ferns amongst other things. We soon found ourselves inside the clouds and the views vanished as we approached the restaurant where we would have what was called a traditional Costa Rican breakfast (we had had a "traditional" Costa Rican dinner the night before at a restaurant that was on top of a great hill overlooking San Jose. I believe the name of the place was Tiquicia Mirador)). The breakfast, served buffet style, in a rather large eatery that when it is clear surely sports a grand view of the valleys below, included scrambled eggs, a mild cheese, rice and beans (quite flavorful), tortilla, and fruit. Actually quite a hearty breakfast and I reckon the couple of cyclists who pedaled up the mountain to the place probably enjoyed having a filling meal. We had been on the road for about 90 minutes to get to the place and still had a good 90 minutes to go before reaching our put-in point on the Pacuare River. We began to slowly wind our way down out of the clouds passing very active coffee plantations and sugar cane farms. This whole area is big on agriculture. As we dropped in elevation the clouds broke up and the sun began to really shine through. It was clear well before we neared the river that we were going to not have to deal with a misty damp day but would instead be paddling under brightly lit partly cloudy skies. When we finally disembarked I am sure the temperature was easily 80 degrees. We found quite a few other groups getting their rafts ready for the river but nowhere near all of the people we saw were stopping at the lodge. We have no clue where they all were going perhaps there are take-out points other than the one we'll use tomorrow 28km downriver of our put-in point. Juan Carlos is our river guide. He is a young, athletic, exceedingly knowledgable fellow who I think is also part of the national team for whitewater sports (something like that anyway). After a brief but detailed safety lecture and instructions on the commands we would follow as Juan Carlos guided our 6 person raft through the rapids was done, we pushed off into the warm green rushing waters of the river. It wouldn't be long before we hit our first rapid, really not too much more than a big riffle but it got us in the groove and soon larger rapids including a Class III with a nice raft drenching hole would come up to greet us. We met them with style and grace and no one was flipped out of our boat (which could not be said of all the boats). You hit that first big bit of water and you can't help but feel excited and swallow a bit of the river as you take a deep breath whether in excitement or terror (excitement I think is probably more common). We were having a very fine time and I think we quickly gelled as a group executing Juan's commands deftly. We stopped to take a bit of time to walk what seemed like many hundreds of meters but was surely considerably less up along a rocky creek that opened up into a deep swimming hole. By the time you reach the swimming hole you, or at least I, are drenched in sweat and the dip feels good. The only problem is you have to walk back the way you came so the sweat returns as the rocks all conspire to screw up your footing. Granted most people will not find the going that challenging but some normal-sighted people also elected to use a paddle as a walking staff and probably didn't go much faster than I.

The pathsat the Picuare Jungle Lodge are extensive.

This waterfall is just a few hundred meters away from the lodge. You take a nice path that near the waterfall does get a bit narrow on its dirt track. Along the way if you are fortunate to have someone like Juan Carlos around you will learn a lot about the local flora that is so abundant.

We still had a bit of a ways to go before reaching the lodge, a journey of about 8km we were told, but it probably wasn't long after noon when we pulled our rafts up on shore and were greeted by the lodge manager. This place is remarkable. I am not sure how large the property is but it is certainly not small. Many buildings ,each housing a handful of rooms, that have either river, jungle, or garden views (to say nothing of the Honeymoon suite which is reached by a sky bridge and is off in a secluded spot) plus the main office, kitchen, dining, and no doubt other buildings make up the lodge complex. If the other rooms are anything like the room I have which is itself quite well appointed then this must rank as one of the more posh places I have stayed. It's all is made more special when you realize that most everything has to come in by river (I learned later that a rough road exists so supplies could be trucked in but it sounds as though it is a pretty nasty road requiring a few hours to negotiate even in a tough vehicle). I am in a room with two good sized (doubles I think) four-poster beds with a huge bathroom with wonderful shower. Sure you have to dispose of toilet paper in a waste basket instead of flushing it but that makes sense from an ecological point of view (and seems to be common practice). The vast majority of the buildings do not have electricity but I don't see that as a real big liability either. The paths have lighting and the rooms are equipped with candles (and some of the rooms do have electricity including our two though it is really just powering a couple dim overhead lights). After being fed a tasty cucumber soup, pasta, and nice desert with coffee for lunch people were able to go about the afternoon as they saw best. Some went out to do a zipline, others a canyoneering style hike, we went with Juan Carols to a nearby waterfall. Along the way he pointed out many of the native plants in the area and we had a thoroughly enjoyable short walk to a nice waterfall. Walking the grounds afterwards was just as much fun especially when we were able, with the help of a spotting scope being used by another guide named Jonathan, to get an exceptional view of a toucan in a tree. Although a lot of the birds remained invisible to me I could enjoy the sounds of the jungle. For example, the oropendolas (not sure of the precise name) were quite noticeable as they seem to be everywhere have large hanging teardrop-shaped nests, and have bird calls that are loud and distinctive. The soundscape is varied and distinctive and does, in fact, sound rather like you would expect if your only prior contact is soundtracks from movies and television. It can be loud but I don't think I'll be kept awake by the jungle sounds.

While walking the paths of the Picuare Jungle Lodge observing all sorts of things from the wonderfully vocal oropendolas with their hanging nests to hearing howler monkeys in the distance we were lucky to catch guide Jonathan with his spotting scope. He had it trained on a tree with this toucan and with some careful jiggling was able to capture these shots on my camera.

It is now just a bit after 17:00 and I've heard some wild sounds already including some rather loud repeating birds, cicadas, the rush of the river, and maybe even a barking sound that I suppose could have been a howler monkey though I do not know if they're around here. As the sun nears the horizon the biting bugs are also becoming noticeable and it will soon definitely be time to put on pants and a longsleeve shirt. Soon it will be time for dinner and what I hope will be a good night's sleep. Tomorrow we will raft the remaining 20km and my understanding is that section will include quite a few more Class III and even IV rapids than today did. It should be an exciting day.