Corcovado National Park [day 3]

All good things must come to an end and so it was that we left Corcovado National Park. After two great days of exploring the jungle [see day 1 and day 2] we weren't quite ready to leave, but we had heard that the trail we were taking out of the park was one of the most beautiful others have ever seen. While beach hikes may not be my preferred, this was such a unique trail that its beauty cannot really be compared to any other trail. It left me in awe.

We broke camp and were on the trail sometime between 6 and 7. We weren't in a real rush; we knew that we had just under 20 kilometers of trail and beach walking to cover before arriving at the town where we would catch a ride into Puerto Jimenez, located on the other side of Osa Peninsula. But after our previous days' experiences we knew that we would be able tackle the distance without many problems. Indeed the day went rather smoothly, we only had a moment's pause at a couple of the rivers that we crossed throughout the journey.

Within the first kilometer of our trek we crossed Rio Claro, a shallow (at least when we crossed) mossy river that gently collides with the Pacific Ocean. We made it across without any problems, though there was the potential to fall at the one rapid we couldn't avoid at the end of our crossing. A narrow channel had formed and the water surged from ankle deep calmness to knee high "I don't want you to leave yet" force. We weren't quite ready for that, but managed to make it out unscathed.

Sea birds looking for breakfast in Rio Claro

The trail led us through the ocean-side jungle and then up to the boundary between the jungle and beach. We followed the narrow trail as it wove in and out of coconut trees. We spotted cat tracks in the sand and scarlet macaws in the trees overhead. The brilliant shades of primary colors that adorn the scarlet macaw left us staring in awe for a while - regardless of how many times we had already spotted them during the trip we couldn't peel our eyes away. They are truly gorgeous creatures.

Upon leaving the jungle

The cat never appeared, but we did follow it's tracks for quite some way. The trail wove in and out of the jungle some more before depositing us in a beautiful cove that had us playing on rocks jutting out of the sand and watching pelicans as they dove for their breakfast. After a quick attempt at baseball by the guys (using rocks and beached wood) we followed the shoreline for a couple of kilometers. We started to get hot and so tried moving further from the water and closer to the trees and to our pleasant surprise we stumbled upon some tapir tracks! Apparently they like to hang out on the beach too! We followed the tracks for a while and then took a mid morning break devoted to munching on sweet treats and taking photos.

Tapir track

Once we were good and rested and bellies content we moseyed on along the waters edge once more. The ocean is hypnotic and easy to follow and had it not been for the sighting on a coati hunting along the treeline we would have missed our turn back into the jungle. We paused and watched as the coati climbed a downed tree and pulled bark off of it in search of protein filled goodness. It didn't seem to care that we were watching it so we relaxed and enjoyed the moment. When the coati disappeared into the jungle so did we. 

Coati in search of food

As we continued along the trail we crossed a couple of more streams and enjoyed more beautiful views of the Pacific coastline. One stream left Kevin with wet feet after a day of successful dry crossings and at our final river crossing we all plunged into the narrow but deep crossing. After our final crossing we we delighted to find white faced monkeys hanging out right alongside of the trail. They were sprawled out on branches within arms reach. They were simply looking for an escape from the heat of the day. Stretched out along a branch with its legs and tail hanging below one caught a brief cat nap. Noon was quickly approaching and so we pushed a little harder knowing that the Leona ranger station wasn't far off. The number of people walking toward us was steadily increasing (including a group of nude hikers cleverly holding their shorts in front of their private parts - we really saw all sorts of wildlife during the trip!) and we were ready to be away from them.

White face monkey hanging out

We arrived at La Leona shortly after noon and claimed the station picnic table for our last meal of tortillas, peanut butter and jelly, dulce de leche, gumdrops (backpacking requires a lot of fuel!) and a lot of water. With our energy levels restored we took to the beach, sans shoes, and started the three-ish kilometer walk to Carate, the town (i.e. landing strip and visitor station/bar) where we would pick up the bus to Puerto Jimenez.

Walking to Carate

The remaining distance kept us in awe. We watched as white face monkeys jumped from tree to tree and others as they dug their hands into a hollowed out coconut to pull its fleshy innards out for lunch. A pair of scarlet macaws took flight and swooped out over the ocean much to our delight. Flocks of pelicans flew overhead. Crabs scurried out from under our footfalls. The warm ocean water washed over our tired feet. As we started to wonder where Carate might be we spotted a horse drawn wagon crossing a small stream. We asked the driver if we were in Carate and he said yes. We crossed that stream and walked to the visitor station where we played some dice and talked to other park visitors. 

White face monkey grabbing coconut meat

The "bus", a cattle truck with some benches, showed up a couple of hours later and we climbed aboard for the hour trip to Puerto Jimenez. The time estimate was severely wrong (as is usual in Costa Rica) and after about two and a half hours we arrived at our destination. We then went in search of a place to stay. Pablo (the guide we had met) directed us to the hotel where his group would be staying. We stopped in and started talking to the owner. She informed us that she didn't have space but we continued talking anyway as she had called around to find us space elsewhere. When we told her we were volunteers she said, "but you aren't from Peace Corps, are you?" we were able to make her evening by answering yes. She had hosted a volunteer back in the 60s when Peace Corps first came to Costa Rica! The place that she had called for us never got back to her and with rumbling bellies we took our leave and found space at Oro Verde. It was clean and that was all we were asking for. We dropped our packs and went in search of food, not worrying about the fact that we smelled.

We ate delicious veggie pizza in an open air pizzeria located at the end of the downtown stretch. We got our fill of veggies after a sugar filled couple of days, paid our bill and went to clean up before crawling into bed for the night.

The night was short and the following day long. We arrived at the Puerto Jimenez bus terminal shortly after 4:30 to find that all of the seats for the 5am bus were sold out. Needing to get back to our sites we took the only option, we agreed to stand for the eight hour ride back to San Jose. It was tiring, but we all made it back to our sites that evening. 

Operation Parque Nacional Corcovado = success! We highly recommend that you take a stab at the park if you find yourself in Costa Rica and have the time to travel to its southern-most reaches!

For more photos of our adventure, visit here or here (photos from our friend Kevin - he's a much better photographer!).

Corcovado National Park [day 1]

Another year, another adventure. We were fortunate to be able to spend the first week of 2012 with our friend Kevin at Corcovado National Park in the southern-most region of Costa Rica. We all met up in San Jose on New Year's Day and caught up over homemade veggie tamales (thanks to our host mom, Maria) and a couple of rounds of Amish Dice. 

On Monday morning we got up bright and early and caught a taxi to the Puerto Jimenez bus stop in the northern part of the city and ate some pinto (traditional rice and bean breakfast) while waiting for the bus terminal to open. Shortly after 8am the bus was headed south and we enjoyed some more conversation when we weren't enjoying the view, trying to keep the seat springs from puncturing our bodies, listening to podcasts or sleeping. Roughly eight hours later we arrived at our destination, La Palma, the former home of several previous Peace Corps Volunteers. We stayed at Cabina Baljay (owned by the host family of said volunteers), a cozy little place in town and enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a seafood place a couple of blocks away. The day of travel had tired us out and so we called it an early night, knowing that we would have an early morning.

We were on the road by 6am as we chose to walk to Los Patos, the ranger station located on the north east side of the park. We enjoyed several parrot and toucan sightings as we left town and then entered the more rural communities outside of La Palma. We passed a taxi driver on our way and he asked us if we were going to Los Patos. When we said yes his response was "es muy duro." We shrugged it off as we had heard that the station was about a 4 kilometer hike. Now I'm not so sure where that number came from as it ended up being 14 kilometers, most of which were spent crossing back and forth over the same river. But, that's how adventure happens, right? I think if we had known better we too would have opted for the taxi ride to the station, but we enjoyed the cool water on our feet and as an added bonus we met a guy who was walking to the park to pan for gold [note: this is illegal]. So, for those of you planning your own trip to Corcovado, you can walk to Los Patos from La Palma, but it is 14 kilometers of river crossings, but you just might meet some interesting characters along the way. Or, you can take the taxi and save your legs (and feet!) for the actual 20 kilometer trek into La Sirena, the ranger station that lodges visitors.

We parted ways with our gold-seeking friend and checked in at Los Patos. We ate some dried cherries and granola bars and then went on our way. With one more crossing of that same river we finally entered the jungle. The trail started with a steep climb up some stairs and surprisingly kept going up! For a peninsula this place has quite the elevation gain! We stopped occasionally when our ears caught the sound of some creature or another making its way through the surrounding tangle of greenery but did not have much luck spotting anything until we passed under a tree in which three pair of scarlet macaws were having a mid-morning snack, their nut shells hitting the ground around us as they fell from above. The rest of our morning consisted of random sightings of lizards, frogs and a variety of smaller birds.

We crossed yet another river and settled in for lunch along side a German family that was being led through the park with a guide (they had passed us earlier in the morning in the back of a taxi, so we were pretty happy to see them). We chatted a little bit about animals that we had seen (or not seen) and were told that they had spotted a peccary, which was most likely what we heard but didn't see as we are pretty sure that we smelled it (they smell like urine, or as the guide told us, they smell like urine that has been sitting for a couple of weeks). We received advice that if we came across a pack of them that looked like they were going to charge we should drop our bags, climb a tree and save our lives. Then they said good-bye and left us to fend for ourselves.

With our bellies full we left the banks of the river to what we were sure was a peccary-infested jungle and kept an eye out for trees that would be easy to climb. In observing these trees we spotted a monkey new to us, the spider monkey. We watched them swing overhead for a while, enjoying the differences in their motion from white-face and howler monkeys. While enjoying the animals above we almost missed the sighting of one below, an agouti that raced across our path, almost taking the guys out by the ankles! It was like a stray bullet crossing our path and a reminder that we should always be aware of our surroundings in the jungle!

We continued on our way and saw some wild turkey-type birds and a couple of grouse-type birds. At one point blue morpho butterflies magically appeared on the trail, shocking us with their bright blue wings as they took flight out of the decaying brown leaves that covered the trail. It was one of those moments when you almost laugh out of pure joy. After about four of them took their leave we were once again amazed by the appearance of Costa Rica's rarest monkey, the squirrel monkey. These little guys seemed to float among the branches overhead, barely making them sway with their weight. They appeared and almost as quickly disappeared leaving one to wonder if they were ever really there.

The rest of the day consisted of more stream and river crossings and more sightings of the same types of animals. We could hear the howler monkeys in the distance, but could not spot them. The wild turkeys cried out in fright, worried that we would cause them harm and the grouse were occasionally flushed out, startling all. We were glad to arrive at La Sirena Biological Station, remove our wet shoes and stake our claim for tent space on one of the platforms. With dusk quickly approaching we walked down to the beach with hopes of catching the sunset. We missed sunset, but we did have beautiful views and then headed back to set up our tent, eat some dinner and take (unexpected) showers.

We had an enjoyable time talking to a nice Canadian family that has traveled all over the world and a gentleman that was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Congo in the 90s. We were ready to settle in for the night when someone spotted a tapir hanging out near the tent platform. It was moseying along eating some leaves and tree bark. We tried to capture it on film, but you can only do so much in the dark when someone bumps your elbow as you're patiently holding the camera still (the handy tripod we carried with us on the trip was sitting patiently in the tent for us to come and grab it, but we forgot all about it in the excitement of the moment!). It moved along and so did the crowd. The area quickly became quiet as everyone climbed back into their tents and sleep overtook the days adventures.

Check back soon for Day 2 in the park!

Parque Nacional Chirripó

Last week we took our first official vacation (four consecutive nights out of site) during Peace Corps. We went "home," at least as close to home as any place is for us, we went to the mountains.

Monday we packed gear and prepped some trail food and Tuesday morning we got an "alpine start" and caught the 4:30am bus to Puerto Viejo where we caught the 5:30 to San José, in San José we took a bus south to San Isidro del General. We ended up getting to San Isidro with more time to spare before our final bus than we had anticipated , so we called our friend and fellow CYF volunteer, Kari, who lives in the area and we caught up and ate some delicious Peruvian food for lunch.

After lunch, we headed to the central market/bus terminal to catch our final bus to the community of San Gerardo and the start of our climb. Just as our bus was pulling out, a crazy gringa yelled for the bus to stop and climbed on the bus with a large backpack. When she boarded the bus, all the other passengers knew it because her voice only went to eleven and her b.o. was hovering around that level too. The young Ticas sitting behind us snickered and held their noses. It was one of the many moments here where we wish we didn't look the way we do. We were sure the gringa loca was going to be heading to park with us, but fortunately (or not) she was an ex-pat who owned a farm in area and got off the bus before our final stop, but not before joking with a Tico in really bad, super loud Spanish.

When our bus arrived in San Gerardo, we decided to ride it to the end of the line where we thought our hostel was instead of getting off at the park office and walking to the hostel with our packs. When we got off the bus, we found out that our hostel was another 1.5K up the hill and the office was about a K behind us. Since we had about an hour before the office was supposed to close we headed to hostel to drop our packs. We got to the hostel, met the owner dropped our packs and headed down to office. We got to the office a little after 4:00 to find the gate locked. We upe-ed, but it appeared that no one was there, despite still being more than 20 minutes before closing time. Although we had already made reservations and paid our entrance and lodging fees, it is necessary to check in at the office and get a ticket to show at the shelter and the office wouldn't open until 6:45 the next morning, well after our desired start time. Thankfully, a ranger had forgotten some paperwork (in his haste to leave half an hour early?) and had to return to office. He let us in and we filled out the necessary forms, with the magic ticket in hand we were finally officially ready climb some peaks. We trekked back up to the hostel and then went out for casados. After dinner, we reorganized our gear and chatted with the hostel owner, a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Mali, about Peace Corps and Costa Rica.

the start of the trail

We got up at about 4:30 and were on the trail at 5:15. The trail starts just below a mile above sea level (1520m) and gains more than a mile over a little less than 15K. We had perfect weather and pretty good trail conditions so we were able to make it to the shelter by 11:00. We checked in with the ranger, ate lunch, finalized plans for the afternoon, and moved essential gear and snacks to our summit packs. We were back on the trail at noon.

After a pretty level one and half mile hike to the Valle de los Conejos we began a steady climb north to Cerro Chirripó, the highest point in Costa Rica at 3820 meters (12,532 ft) above sea level. After crossing some passes between unnamed peaks, we were presented with some gorgeous views of the Lagos Chirripó and the summit of Cerro Chirripó. The weather was so clear, we could easily see the sign and flag atop our destination. After a quick snack and a change into hard shells, we were ready for the final ascent. The last part of the climb was on a fairly exposed ridge line, with a little bit of scrambling, it was great. Once atop, we took in the incredible views, signed the summit register and snapped a few photos. The weather was perfect, it was so nice I opted to descend in just my short sleeved shirt. From the top we were able to glance our next destination, the Valle de las Morrenas, a collection of glacial lagoons. About forty minutes later, and one slip by Tarah, we were standing among the remnants of ancient ice. We just stood in awe of the spectacular landscape, including the backside of Cerro Chirripó, and the perfect weather we were being blessed with.

the highest point in Costa Rica

Tarah making her way to Valle de las Morrenas

After a few photos, we were ready to head towards the shelter for the night. We climbed out of the valley and passed below Cerro Chirripó on our way to the Valle de los Conejos where another lagoon was tucked away. Unfortunately, I had remembered the beta for Laguna Ditkebi incorrectly so when we weren't seeing the water that I thought was just off the main trail, we wisely decided to wait for the morning to find the lagoon. We got back to the shelter with plenty of daylight and changed into warm, dry clothes and got  ready to make dinner.

After seeing many alcohol stoves on the AT and Matt using one during our Laguna Hule adventure, I constructed a small alcohol stove to use while we are in Costa Rica and our Jetboil is in North Carolina. We were able to warm instant potatoes and soy crumbles for dinner and enjoy a little dulce de leche for dessert. We made it an early night, since we had hiked about twelve hours and it was pretty chilly outside our sleeping bags. We once again set the alarm for dark and early and tried to get some shut eye. I ended up being too warm with my layers and summer weight bag, so I had a pretty miserable night until I finally got up to go to the bathroom and shed most of my clothes. The last couple of hours were much cooler and much more pleasant.

homemade stove

We ended up hitting the trail a little later than anticipated, but were still hiking a bit after 6:00am. Our first destination for the day was, Cerro Ventisqueros, the second highest peak in Costa Rica at 3815 meters (12,516 ft). The trail for Ventisqueros left the main trail well before the Valle de los Conejos and cut steeply through the mountain vegetation. We weren't sure which summit was our destination, and it seemed like we were going to be making turn at the looming ridge and head down through a saddle before climbing back up, but we were pleasantly surprised when we crested the ridge and saw our summit waiting above a technical, exposed ridge line. The hike wasn't along a knife's edge, but you didn't want to slip either. The climb felt a lot like our times in Baxter and Grafton Notch State Parks in Maine, needless to say it was great. Again the weather was pretty great so we were able to see a ton, unfortunately our new adventure camera doesn't take as nice of photos as our old one, so the photos aren't that spectacular. We were able to see the Pacific Ocean to the south, volcanoes in the central valley, and a number of lakes, communities and fincas. While trying to take 360° video, the camera battery died and that is when I realized that I had left the spare in the shelter. Instead of heading directly to Laguna Ditkebi from the summit we had to backtrack to the shelter to grab the extra battery.

Tarah making her way to the summit of the second highest peak in Costa Rica

us atop Cerro Ventisqueros

The detour ended up being for the better as the weather was changing and it allowed us to summit the remaining two peaks and get off of exposed rocks (almost) before the storm rolled in. After grabbing the battery we headed up Los Crestones, the symbols of the park. We knew from some prior research that there was bouldering and climbing options on Los Crestones, but being out of practice and not having any protection, we decided to just do some scrabbling. We took in the views and pondered possible climbing routes before heading for the nearby summit of Cerro Terbi. As soon as Tarah had finished signing the register atop Cerro Terbi, it started spitting. We hightailed it down to the Valle de los Conejos and set off in search Laguna Ditkebi. Not making it to the lagoon the night before, turned out to be blessing in disguise as we it meant we didn't need to rush and were able to enjoy the hike in and the splendor of the hidden lagoon. We ate a leisurely lunch under gray skies and then headed back towards the shelter. On the way back to the shelter it started raining again, so we decided to seek refuge at the shelter and wait a bit before hitting the final trail in the park.

heading to Los Crestones

Tarah getting down

us at Laguna Ditkebi

After ditching unessential gear, we decided that we only had limited time in the park and quality rain gear, so there was no reason not to explore the last trail that the park had to offer, after all we wouldn't be summitting anything, just heading down to a grassland. Like most of the trails in the park, other than the one for Cerro Chirripó, this trail didn't appear to receive many users or much maintenance. The trail wound through a variety of trees and plants and was covered in tapir scat in spots. We passed on the lookout point since the sky had started to rumble and called the hike bastante when we reached a sketchy river crossing in the Sabana de los Leones. We returned the way we had come and just when we thought the storm was going to pass and we would be able to climb to the lookout point, the sky got noisy again and we decided we would just need to try and plan another trip to the high peaks of Costa Rica.

the end of our trail

When we got back to the shelter we changed into our dry, warm clothes and got in a game of canasta before dinner. We ate some burritos with beans and crumbles for dinner and some burritos with peanut butter and dulce de leche for dessert, both were delicious. After dinner we prepped a few things for our hike out the next morning, but since we were wearing and/or sleeping in most the gear that needed to be packed we couldn't do too much. We set the alarm and both slept better than the previous night.

all bundled up and ready for bed

We got up before 5:00 and ate a simple breakfast while most of the other hikers in the shelter were being served a catered meal and waiting for the pack animals to arrive to carry their gear down. We were packed and on the trail by 5:30. We had another day of great weather and were able to see a couple of different types of birds on the way down. We got to town around 10:00 and set off in search of pinto. We struck out at the first couple of places, but eventually found some gringopriced [read: overpriced] pinto that was pretty tasty, though we didn't receive our plantains or tortillas. We freshened up in the bathroom and caught the 11:30 bus back to San Isidro del General.

breakfast

on the way down

We weren't able to take the first bus to San José as a bunch of Ticos were heading to the city for the weekend, but we were able to catch a bus at 2:00 which got us into Chepe a little after 5:00. There was a little mishap on the way to San José, when the bus stopped at rest area, a little boy either climbed on the bus or didn't get off like he was supposed to, so about two minutes down the road we turned around to return the little stowaway. By the the time we got to San José it was raining pretty good and we had about a ten block walk from the bus terminal to our hostel. We made it to the hostel smelly, wet and hungry. We took hot showers and headed out in search of hot cheap food. We ate some delicious fish casados at a soda we had eaten at before and then made our way back to the hostel to crash.

The next day was an uneventful bus ride back to Puerto Viejo where we ate at our favorite pizza place and picked up some groceries to get us through the week.

You can find more photos and some videos HERE

AT Days 13-22

The following are Tarah's journal entries from our final ten days on the trail. Entries from our first twelve days on the trail can be found here.

May 14 – Day 13 ~21 miles

Today felt great! Still have tired feet at the end of the day, but they are feeling better for longer each day!
Met some interesting people today – a ranger and a ridge runner, some old school hikers and their light weight friends (some miles apart of course) a couple of guys (Big Foot & Green T.) that started their hike in March, some people without a plan, and a guy (Tom) who started the hike with his brother – but his brother has since ditched him.
We’re staying at the Icewater [Spring] Shelter tonight- perhaps our only one this trip – but we made numbers 6 and 7 so camping wasn’t/isn’t really permitted. We’ll see how it goes. :)
Today we also did Clingman’s Dome – the highest elevation on the trail – does that mean it’s all downhill from here? I don’t think so!

May 15 – Day 14 ~21 miles

Holy hail storm! This afternoon we hiked through quite the storm. It chilled me to the bone, but I was already wet, already cold, and on the trail anyway so we kept on moving – at least that way we generated some heat!
Made it to our shelter in about 10 hours – despite the rain it was a wonderful day! My feet didn’t even bother me much when we got into camp – maybe it all the river walking!
Last night after settling into bed Cargin and Scott rolled into camp. We saw them again and this morning they admitted we might just keep seeing each other. We discovered that they started on the 4th and are planning their summit a couple of days after ours. Today they got into camp about an hour and a half after us (they waited out the hail storm).
We have quite the characters staying at the shelter tonight – and thankfully we are tenting! There is a group of 5 in from Shelby to see the plane wreck and they have enough supplies to outfit a circus! We started the evening with them going out to find firewood. They tried roping it down from trees – then they tried cutting one down with one of their many machetes – they had success there and seemed to just keep on chopping! Anyway a fire was started and I think we came to the tent as the party was getting started.
Despite their many offerings of making room for us in the shelter, I am glad to be in the tent. :)
Also here tonight – Moe King.

May 16 – Day 15 ~21 miles -> $17.75

We started the morning with a quick hike out of GSMNP and made it to Standing Bear Farm for our resupply by 12:30. Standing Bear was a great environment – I can see how some people may get sucked in for days at a time! They had a nice library, Internet, phone, showers, washboard laundry and of course our reason for stopping – a resupply “store”. Everything was reasonably priced – so we’re set until we get to Hot Springs (plans to meet up with mom were also finalized at S.B.)
We were happy to have a banana with lunch today – yay fresh fruit! Then decided S.B. taints their food to make you want to stay! We were rather sluggish those first miles back on the trail! They also tried to get us to fill up on water. We figure they taint that too, to get you to stay for a couple of days. J Of course now we are at camp and there isn’t water like our data says (unless you count the stuff falling from the sky). So goes a day on the trail…
Here’s hoping for a slight break in the rain so we can scarf down some food before hitting the sack. :)

May 17 – Day 16 23.3 miles

Long rainy day into Hot Springs. We’ll meet up with Mom and Ashley tomorrow morning – change out some gear and do a resupply. I’m going to check out some shoes to see if I can make my toes happy.
Good long day – good pace! In tent by 9:00pm – started 9:00am and took an hour water break today.

May 18 – Day 17 ~11 miles -> $14.50

Today was a relatively slow day. We met mom, dad, and Ashley shortly after 8am in Hot Springs. Since the outfitter didn’t open until 9 we went for breakfast despite the fact that Chris and I decided yesterday that we didn’t want to go out to eat – but we kept it light – I had an and egg and cheese biscuit and Chris had some home fries – much less than most hikers eat (for instance Cargin and Scott each had about 3 entrees).
Any who – went to the outfitter, but they didn’t have shoes so we supplemented mom’s resupply for us with a couple of other things. Heaviest resupply so far, but it will last us awhile.
Got things settled and were on the trail by 11:30 (2 hours later than intended). Also got a new bite valve today (thanks dad). Ashley made sour cream chocolate chip cookies – yum and we got some Neiman Marcus cookies from Chris’s mom – woo hoo!
11 miles to shelter – did laundry – and a party showed up. Maybe 15 people around now. More reason for a big day tomorrow.
Money rundown today:
$14.50 spent
$6.00 breakfast thanks mom & dad
$6.00 bite valve thanks dad
$20 donation from dad – Thanks!
Partial resupply already – priceless
Thanks :)

May 19 – Day 18 ~23 miles

We were second out of camp today. Moe King left about an hour ahead of us. It was nice to get moving like we would on a regular day – after yesterday it was doubly nice. With a big day planned it was good to be out of camp around 7:30 – and before most people were up.
We made great time today, covering the first 4 miles at roughly a 20 minute pace. We made it to the first shelter of the day around 11 and had a snack before moving on again.
We had a beautiful exposed ridge hike today. There was mental stimulation for the footwork, some nice views, and it was just all around good hiking. I think it was my favorite section of our hike so far!
Made it to the next shelter shortly after 2 and had lunch with Moe King and Kermit. Then moved on to our lovely campsite for the evening. After last night at the shelter it is nice to be just the two of us.

May 20 – Day 19 ~21 miles

Today was a not so good day. I felt sluggish and slow and climbs felt like they lasted all day. I got frustrated with my pace and pushed on past a shelter and took my decision out on Chris. All in all – not a good situation.
We talked about whether or not we need to leave the trail – if our hiking styles will make this a bad trip for our relationship. We’ll give it some more miles, but our relationship is much, much more important than any trail.
Positives for the day included some amazing views and meeting a few more people. Also – being outdoors, no matter how uncoordinated I felt – leave it at this, if I didn’t have trekking poles and closed toe shoes I would probably have a broken nose and ten broken toes, so huge positive – trekking poles.

May 21 – Day 20 ~20 miles

Not really sure how far we trekked today as I’m not sure where exactly we camped last night. Stopped earlier than we would have liked since there doesn’t appear to be any place to camp between this shelter and Beauty Spot Gap. This will make our next resupply either at the very end of tomorrow – depending on how well we get moving in the morning or first thing Saturday.
Today was a much better day. The pace felt relaxed and yet we covered good ground and would have gone further had trail conditions appeared like there would have been good camping in the next 3 miles as opposed to roads.
Any who – happy trails, happy journeys and happy thoughts.
* Power music today: Queen (Bicycle Race), Talking Heads (I’ve got a Girlfriend), Kanye West (Amazing), Girl Talk, and a random church hymn,

May 22 – Day 21 ~22 miles + 1.2 miles to resupply -> $28

This morning we managed to roll out of camp at 7:15! Our biggest challenge has been actually getting out of our nice, warm sleeping bags each morning, it seems. However, some mornings the call of nature gets me moving a little faster!
So, got out of camp – and after Chris got going in the right direction he caught me and let me know that overnight the toe monster had gotten him and that after 3 primarily foot problem free weeks a strange sore had popped up.
We stumbled through Beauty Spot (not the name I would give it) and up Unaka Mountain to decide his foot needed a rest. After squeezing some junk out of his toe we moved on to the shelter to reassess.
With a decision to hike in Crocs we managed to make our resupply and move on to the next shelter! What an afternoon!
Happy in camp and here’s to happy toes.

May 23 – Day 22 ~17 miles?

So, we are set up in the middle of a cow pasture right now – somewhere between the summit of Hump Mountain and Doll Flats. We started climbing the mountain with looming storm clouds and after walking through some thick mist for a while we decided to abort our mission to get to Doll Flats. Isn’t that what a thru hike is all about?
Started our day going up, up, up to Roan High Bluffs and then walked down some annoying cobbles and then onto the balds. We had 4 balds today, and until we got on Hump Mountain, they made me think of the Sound of Music – all green and stuff – it just needed Maria singing. :)
So here’s to a squishy, hilly, some sort of night! Happy hikers and feet tomorrow. :)

May 24 – Day 23 ~16 miles -> $10

Today we woke to a dreary fog/mist on the top of Hump Mountain. Made our way to Doll Flats and filled up on water. After walking a couple more miles we had a discussion that led to us deciding today would be our last day on the trail.
Some may say that was a hard decision or that it was giving up – but in our minds we have spent 90-95% of our journey talking about everything else we want to do. The other times we talk about random stuff or about how we have had better times in Acadia with the views and technical hiking. All in all, what is the point in hiking 2200 miles if it isn’t enjoyable? We aren’t ones to do something just so we can say we did it.
They say it’s about the journey – not the destination. We’ll see what other adventures present themselves this summer and accept that as the path God has intended for us.
And – we hiked 400 miles in 23 days. I think that’s pretty good stuff.
Tonight we’re at Abby’s Place and tomorrow we’ll meet mom and dad for the drive to NC (just when we though we were through with the state for awhile!).
Sweet dreams & here’s to a whole new adventure!

The AT Days 1-12

The following are Tarah's journal entries from our first twelve days on the trail. Entries from our final days on the trail will follow shortly.

May 2, 2009

Today we started the AT. Mom and Dad dropped us off at Amicola Falls State Park and then hiked about 3 miles or so with us. We started around noon after signing in as hikers 667 and 668 for the 2009 thru year.

We arrived at the summit of Springer around 4pm. It was really anti-climactic – but after a couple of photos we took our first steps on the AT! Yay us! We stopped around 7pm, roughly 5 miles past Springer – around 14 for the day.

May 3 – Day 2 AT ~16 miles

Today started with waking up in the rain and it looks like we are going to sleep in the rain. However, the day was mostly dry and the sun even came out for a little while!

We saw a variety of creatures today including: red lizards (about 4 of them), a million different centipedes of all different colors, a variety of birds, squirrels, and chipmunks. We also saw several humans. We played tag with a group of 4 for a couple of miles and they did not catch up again in the end. Perhaps we’ll see them another place, another time. There were about 3 other people we passed and 2 ultralighters that passed us.

We had our first hot dinner tonight, with Chris’s mac and cheese exploding and mine turning into soup. Thankfully we have 2200 more miles to figure it out!

For now – rain and occasional thunder – tomorrow Blood Mountain and Neel’s Gap.

May 4 – Day 3 ~17 miles ‡ $2

We started today with a break in the rain, it even seemed promising enough that we took off our pack covers in hopes of things drying out! Then the mist rolled in and so we covered everything up once more.

Stopped at Neel’s Gap for lunch and that’s when the rain came pouring down. After comments from other hikers on our tenacity, we took off into the rain for six miles of singing through bear country and a trail that turned into a river!

All in all, a good day – even if it was a bit damp. Now that camp is set up it appears we’ll have a dry evening – maybe a dry day tomorrow?

May 5 – Day 4 ~11 miles

Today we started out in our crocs because our shoes were still wet from yesterday’s downpour. I ended up changing into my wet shoes because I started getting a little rash on my foot. The little rash turned into a big rash that is now covering both of my feet 0 oh joy! Thankfully it doesn’t itch or hurt so I’ll keep taking benadryl and hope that it goes away.

We had a low mile day today so that we can go into Helen for a resupply tomorrow. If all goes well we’ll hopefully make it to Tray Mountain Shelter (and maybe my feet will clear up!)

May 6 – Day 5 ~13 miles (trail) + 5 miles (road) ‡$16

We started the day with a loud thunderstorm and loads of rain – and some magic! We were walking into Helen to do a quick resupply and after 4 miles of road walking (where the store should have been) a nice man picked us up and drove us the other 2 miles (he had already taken the Swiss guys to the store and they told him they had met us on the trail – and he came back!) After our resupply we walked about 1.5 miles and a couple of women picked us up to take us back to the trailhead. What fabulous magic! We were able to start hiking again by the time we wanted to leave town!

*A quick side for memory sake – one of the women may have been trying to get us to buy pot … hmmm …

*Additional note: for those who have watched Northern Exposure, the old man that picked us up reminded me of Maurice – in looks and mannerisms

Anyway here we are, about 5.5 miles past our original plan and we’ll hopefully make it to NC tomorrow!

May 7 – Day 6 ~17 miles (79.3 total)

Today we made it into North Carolina! And, North Carolina means business – almost as soon as we entered the state we went up, up, up!

Feet felt a little better today, just a little tender at the get go – but the couple of blisters I have are feeling OK as of now.

It was nice and sunny today – a great break from the rain. Tomorrow we’ll see what the trail has in store for us!

May 8 – Day 7 ~19 miles

Today we had a pretty easy day in North Carolina. There were rolling hills and occasional views – and of course that one pesky thunderstorm that was right over our heads (literally no time between lightning and thunder) and drove us to a shelter for about an hour. There were about 10 of us there waiting out the heaviest part of the storm – and we were the first out when things lightened up a bit.

We gladly added 3 miles onto our planned day when we arrived at that campground by 5pm. Chris would have driven me crazy with that much daylight left and there was a crazy, growly dog there.

*As a side, there were also two hikers who had told us in the morning that we probably wouldn’t see them again – they were planning the shelter where we are now – as of right now we passed them twice in the morning but have yet to see them at the shelter – and we have been here for about 2 hours. Maybe we’ll see them in the morning.

Another shorter day tomorrow and a resupply!

Oh! And it seems that every time I say it’s just a 5K we climb up, up, up!

May 9 – Day 8 ~20 miles

So we skipped our resupply today in favor of going to the NOC tomorrow instead where we won’t need to go off trail for goodies.

Had a late start today but good miles through early afternoon when we were thwarted with a very cold rainstorm. Regardless – we stayed on track and are at the shelter for the night – and made our fist 20 mile day.

May 10 – Day 9 ~16 miles ‡ $12

Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Birthday Ashley!

We are camped out at the shelter before the NOC. We got in about 5 – Chris ran (literally) to the NOC to get a couple of days resupply food and I set up camp and started laundry. When Chris got back we did baths and water and all that hullabalu to get clean for the next couple of days – week – whatever :)

Today was some nice hiking – ups and downs with quick views – kind of like Maine. For me it has been my favorite section of the trail so far, even if my feet TOTALLY disagree.

This evening after setting up camp Cargin and friend came through headed to the NOC. For people we weren’t supposed to see again we sure have seen them a lot. Not sure when exactly we passed them – but apparently we did. Who knows when we’ll run into them again!

Happy trails and Happy feet :)

May 11 – Day 10 ~ 17 miles

Up, up, up! That’s what we did today – I’m sure we went down a little here and there, but mostly I remember climbing when I think of today! We had some nice views over the Nantahala Gorge and from Cheowa Bald. It stayed pretty cool most of the day.

This evening we got to the shelter and there was a man there with dogs. He told us that if we were going to eat the dogs would beg – but we could just ignore them. My advice to hikers with dogs – put them on a leash.

Settling in now and ready to get warm! Chris has found that we are camping on nature’s Tempur-Pedic. If he shifts just right his bum goes in a hole and straightens out his spine! Just what you need after a long hike :)

*Additional note: The privy at this shelter was missing its walls! Just what you want when you have two unleashed dogs roaming the area…

May 12 – Day 11 ~13 miles + 2 road miles ‡ $45

Today we had a pretty relaxing day. We lazed in our tent until around 7:30 and left camp around 8:45. With only 13 miles to Fontana Dam we figured there wasn’t much of a rush.

Saw some crazy millipedes congregating on a tree and Chris spotted another snake that I just happened to walk over without notice – this makes 2. I better start noticing them, I don’t want to irritate a poisonous one!

Made it into Fontana after chatting with some crazy hikers. They were 2 older men who have been sectioning for a while – they’re finishing up the south this trip and then have Maine left. One likes Pennsylvania because of the road houses at every gap – the other thinks his friend wouldn’t know a good vista if you told him it was right in front of him :)

After walking to Fontana Village for resupply we partook in some magic from some ’08 thru hikers and a section hiker named Xanadu. Now we are at the Hilton (shelter) – there were free showers!

Tomorrow it’s onto the Smokies!

“I do not impact nature – Nature impacts me” – Tunnelvision this AM :)

May 13 – Day 12 ~23 miles

Enter the Great Smoky Mountains National Park! The first part of our day flew by with gradual up-hills and gradual down-hills. The trail was reasonably wide and pretty level. We reached our halfway point around 1.

Our second half was a little slower with a climb up Thunderhead Mountain and slightly rougher terrain on a little tired legs and feet – feet much more so than legs.

We made it to a full shelter after about 12 hours of hiking and after dinner and a little deliberation, happily pitched our tent (* you are only supposed to sleep in shelters in the Smokies, unless they are full).

Today’s excitement included interrupting a climbing lesson between Mama and Baby bear just before lunch and then about 45 minutes before getting to the shelter we heard a nice little growl before what I assume was a bear ran down the mountain.

Happy trails :)

Leaving the Trail

After three weeks and 400 miles, we have decided that we have way too many interests we want to pursue, to spend three and a half months walking in the woods. Instead we are going to spend the next few months traveling around the country seeing friends and embracing the outdoors in many more ways than just hiking one trail.

A tentative schedule of our upcoming adventures and when we'll be in your part of the world to come soon.

Thank you all so much for your support, thoughts and prayers,

Chris & Tarah

P.S.

Pictures and thoughts from the trail coming very soon

Trail musings...

Tuesday 5-12
Thoughts from 11 days on the trail:
Georgia: Lots of switch backs and pretty clear trails. Lots of rain!
North Carolina: Up, up and away! You actually climb up mountains here
but it also appears someone has stollen the switch backs.
Bugs: lots of cool centipedes of all sorts of colors.
Other critters: noisy squirrels, quiet snakes, birds that try to fly
up your pants.
People: interesting - some I would like to talk to more - some I enjoy
passing because they underestimate me since I am female.
Days: 11
Miles: 164
Money: under budget
Life is good - back to the trail!
Sent from our iPod

In a pack and on the back

As we roll into the month of March I am getting more and more excited about the journey that lies ahead. I am reading about individuals who have already begun their trek on the Appalachian Trail, about those who have successfully finished, and about those who are trying to put it all together so that they can make the great journey. I look forward to the day when I move beyond the "putting it all together" stage.

This weekend we received a well-timed message at church, "Packing and Unpacking." We explored what is really needed when you are out in the wilderness, and thankfully we have a little more time to put together the elements that we "need" to survive. It was this message that gave me the motivational shove to see what it is that we have been talking about taking on our backs and to see if indeed, everything would fit in our packs (without making us bend over in pain!)

I feel like the list of things to take is long, but at the same time I realize that in order to be comfortable (to a modest backpackers extent) at the end of (and during) the day I will need to take some gear. Chris and I have our tent, sleeping bags, sleeping bag liners (to try and minimize the damage to our actual bags), sleeping pads, backpacks, food storage system, cooking system, water purification system, LNT garbage system, first aid / personal hygiene system, trekking poles, clothes, shoes, gaiters, camp shoes, camera and tripod, an iPod (for desperate moments,) a compass (for more desperate moments!,) a leatherman, SPOT, and headlamps - and of course clothes (layering systems and raingear) - and it all needs to go on our backs. For more detailed information about what these items are, check out our AT Gear List. The short of the long of it though, is that it looks a little haphazard (and maybe a little scary) when it first comes together. Now it is just a matter of actually getting it to be transportable in a way that won't require pack mules.

As I was pulling stuff out of our gear room (formerly an extra bedroom until we realized we had that much gear) I was really wondering if I could make it all work. Sleeping bags seem to grow as they hang and air out and even after the list is surveyed and cut back upon, you just can't keep clothes from taking up space. Then I realize that yes, I have a compression sack for my sleeping back, that I will be wearing some of these clothes all of the time and some of them most of the time, and some of them some of the time, and occasionally I may be wearing all of them at the same time. I realize that all of the little things can fit into little spaces such as the hood on my pack or the stretchy stow pockets or the nifty zippered section on the stow pocket. I realized that between Chris and I, I only need to carry half of our tent. I know that I can shove my "camp clothes" and bag liner into my sleeping bag's compression sack. After a little time, and not too much effort I made it work - even better, I have room to spare!

To prepare for our hike we have been "climbing" the stair stepper at the YMCA with weighted packs. At last weigh in I was training with a 30 pound bag, and my loaded pack weighs less than that (based on the oh so scientific method of picking up a "weighted" pack (Chris's which weighs in at 33 pounds for training) and then my "loaded" pack). Granted, I do not have the weight of 4 - 5 days of food or a full water bladder, but I think I will still weigh in under 30 pounds. To the left you can see Chris's compact "weighted" pack from training and my "loaded" pack for this summer.

In then end (or you may still call it the beginning), I have realized that yes, I can comfortably (I say from the comfort of my home) put it all on my back and that I have everything that I need. So now I can sit back (when I am not on the dreaded stair stepper) and wait for May 1 to arrive.

MMVIII

Now that we are well into 2009, I thought that it would be fitting to do a recap of our 2008 activities. iPhoto makes it quite convenient to remember when different adventures took place, so here it goes.

New Year's Day: We enjoyed our new outdoor equipment and went snowshoeing in Camden Hills State Park. We climbed up to the top of Bald Rock where we could look at at the islands of Penobscott Bay. We also enjoyed a delicious meal of Ramen and played with the panorama feature of our new waterproof/freezeproof camera.



January 6: More snowshoeing

January 13: Took in a BodyVox production

January 20: More snowshoeing

February 2: Camden WinterFest - We carved ice sculptures in support of the nonprofit organizations that we each work for. Unfortunately, all of our cameras lacked batteries with any power so there are no photos, but Tarah's organization (S.T.A.R./5 Town CTC) carved an adult holding hands with a child and Chris's organization (The Teen Center) carved a tree on a base of a heart, because everything that the Teen Cener does is "rooted in love".

February 3: We watched the Super Bowl at our friends Dave and Eri's house and ate tons of delicious sushi and other Japanese food.

February8: Attended the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour


February 9: More snowshoeing

February 16: First longish (10 miles) run in preparation for North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler

February 23/24: Winter camping trip in Acadia National Park


We don't have any photos or notes from March, but I'm guessing we probably snowshoed and Chris ran miles and miles and miles (mostly inside).

April 5/6: Shoulder season camping and Cadillac Mountain summit sunrise hike


April 12: North Face Endurance Challenge in Bear Mountain New York
Tarah runs/hikes the 10K, Chris runs/hikes over half of the 50M Chris makes it into the ad for the the 2009 series


April 20: Explored new (to us) trails in Acadia National Park


April 26: Chris went solo in Grafton State Park hoping to knock out the Grafton Loop Trail in a weekend. Little did he know there was still a ton of snow so his attempt was thwarted, but he got to use his orientating skills and get home early to spend his b-day with Tarah.


May 3: We are introduced to the world of rock climbing and the joys of a Dan Deacon Concert



May 11: Shopping for outdoor gear, including climbing gear, in Freeport and Portland

May 24/25: Back to Grafton. We knocked out the 40ish mile loop in two days


June 7/8: Participated in National Trails Day in Baxter State Park by being eaten alive by black flies and clearing a trail with other volunteers

June 14/15: Worked on "defining the corridor" that is the Wadleigh Brook Trail in Baxter State Park, our assignment for the Trail Stewards program

June 21/22: Back to Acadia National Park, this was the trip that we decided that we needed to hike all of the trails in Acadia before we left the area.


June 28/29: Back to Baxter, this time purely for pleasure. We poked around the south end of the park on Saturday and then got up early Sunday and climbed Katahdin in the rain and fog.


July 4/5/6: A long weekend in Acadia National Park. We avoided the holiday masses, except to watch Bar Harbor's fireworks from atop Cadillac Mountain, and hiked everything that we could on the "quiet side" of Mount Desert Island.


July 12/13: More trail work in Baxter and the Traveler Loop, in under 7 hours


July 26 - August 2: Vacation in Iowa (and Nebraska) Our "tax credit" went to plane tickets to the plains. We enjoyed a wonderful at week with the family, chilling at home, hanging at the Iowa Great Lakes, and seeing the sights at Henry Doorly Zoo. A few highlights were the water park at the condo, the wooden roller coaster at Arnold's Park, winning plush roses playing "Ice Ball", cruisin' on the Queen Mary, the Grotto at West Bend and the butterfly garden at the zoo.






August 9: Bouldering in Acadia



August 11: We celebrated our first anniversary with a lobster dinner and came home to carrot cake from Sweet Sensations.


August 15/16/17: Camping and hiking in Acadia once again


August 23/24: Final trip to Baxter. Corridor definition, canoeing and swimming.



August 30 - September 1: Wrapping up Acadia's final trails on Mount Desert Island.


September 14: We knocked out Acadia's only miles on the mainland, Schoodic Point


September 20 (&21): We got up before the sun and hopped a ferry to Isle Au Haute to hike the final 18 miles of Acadia's trail. Unfortunately we missed the ferry back to the mainland and had to spend the night in the ranger station. The bright side is that we got to take in a few more sights on Sunday morning.



September 28: Pancake 5K in Belfast. Chris won his age group and Tarah set a PR



October 4: We volunteered at Camp Sunshine's Maine Pumpkin Festival were we got to hang out with one of Tarah's corps members. We even found the jack-o-lanterns that Tarah carved and a Huskers one too.



October 11/12: Grafton Loop Trail, again, this time in reverse and in record time.


October 19: MDI Marathon. Chris and Tarah both set PRs.



November 8: A rainy, quiet day in Acadia. We also practiced our leaps in case we ever needed to jump over a raging river or a babbling brook.




December 5: Peace Corps interview.

December 13: Cadillac Mountain summit sunrise hike.


December 31: Surprise visit to North Carolina to see Tarah's family