Cerro Amigos — Where the Puddles have Whitecaps!

4 March 2009

The wind continues unabated, now well into the third straight day. Even the sun is having a hard time beating back the mist at this elevation.

The wind isn’t constantly pounding, only intermittently so. Right now it is about at its calmest. Several minutes might pass when it is only audible in the distance (but inside in our flat through closed doors). Then, suddenly, a big gust will come through and pound the building. It’s most reminiscent of living close to an airport runway, or maybe living close to an el or a freight rail line. The building shakes and sometimes there is a percussive bang or various rattling sounds from the flexing of the building’s frame and members. At night, the winds have been stronger than during the day and on several occasions I’ve been woken by the noise.

I hiked today to Cerro Amigos. This the third attempt and the second “summit.” It is probably 300 m elevation gain in about 3 km of hiking (each way). There are sustained pitches that I’m sure must reach 15% grade or more. The path is on a narrow dirt road that I can’t imagine going up even in a normal 4 wheel drive. I’ve seen an ATV make the climb. At the top are television transmission towers. There are also a few houses at the top. On a clear day, one can see Arenal, the active volcano in Costa Rica that we are visiting (from the other side) in a few weeks. We haven’t been up there on a clear day. There probably hasn't been a clear day on the east side of the ridge since we've arrived in Monteverde!

Today, it wasn’t too windy on the lower part of the trail, I think because it sits downwind below a steep rise relative to the summit. But it was wet because of the persistent mist and frequently rainy conditions over the past several days. Near the top, things got dicey. The flat pitches were puddly (with ripples, but whitecaps sound more dramatic; see photo at the top). The steep pitches were muddy slick. I either walked on the vegetation edge or, failing that, looked for spots of recently turned over dirt from a big yellow machine that made the passage recently. There wasn’t much to see at the summit today, but the walk was interesting anyway.

Last week, the three of us hiked the same route under much better weather conditions. (However, Arenal was still not visible; the weather was only better to the west.) At the top, we were greeted by a few ticos who live up there. One manages the TV transmission towers. His neighbor was wearing a Cal jacket!