At 3,280 metres Cerro Chirripó is Costa Rica’s highest peak, the second highest in Central America and the 37th highest in the world. The peak is the centrepiece of the 50,000 hectare Chirripó National Park which was established in 1975.
I climbed Chirripó twice –alone in January 1982 and with a couple of mates in March 1983. It’s not a technical climb but does involve an ascent of 2500 metres in elevation and when carrying a full backpack can be quite exhausting. The hike alone is quite spectacular as you pass through several life zones on the ascent so you’ve always got a change in scenery.
Midway up the mountain, the trail passes through virgin cloud forest with splashes of colour here and there.
It was very lonely on the summit when I climbed the mountain alone in 1982. I don’t recall seeing anyone on the trip except perhaps a park guard. Nowadays there’s a well-groomed path to the summit and I believe a cabin about 5 kms below the summit where hikers are required to stay. I just pitched my tent somewhere below the summit where I wouldn’t freeze.
Looking back it does seem quite adventurous to climb Chirripó for the first time on my own. Those were the days before GPS units and satellite phones and a gringo could easily stray off the trail or slice a leg with the machete. But in those days I never thought twice about going into the wild alone. I was an Eagle Scout and full of confidence in my outdoor skills. Travelling with a companion was too much of a chore for me and too restrictive so I always just took off by myself … and I loved it. I loved the solitude with nature and in Costa Rica’s national parks I had plenty of solitude in those days.
In this photo, taken on my solo ascent, I found a stream a kilometre or so below the summit where I decided to camp. An early morning ascent would mean a better chance of reaching the summit before the clouds rolled in. I remember that by late afternoon I knew I had the mountain all for myself and I would probably not see anyone till late the following day. Perfect time to practice my singing when no one could hear me. I stood by this little creek and just sang my little heart away to the amusement of the little birds that kept me company that evening.
In January 1982 I could still see scars from fires which raged through the páramo in 1976 and 1977. Eventually these fires burned out once they reached the lower elevations and the moist cloud forest.
As you hike up to the summit you pass through cloud forests between 2500 and 3400 metres and once you get above 3400 metres, the forest turns to ‘páramo’, which is the equivalent of tundra and is above the timberline. Just shy of the summit, you’ll find some the real gems of Chirripó – a series of lakes carved out by glaciers in the Pleistocene epoch 25,000 years ago.
The final ascent of Chirripó is a scramble across loose rock in the páramo.
In April of 1983 I returned to Chirripó a second time with a couple of my Peace Corps mates. David Wiesenbach (left) was from Oregon and worked with me at the Open University (UNED) but was assigned to write a book about Santa Rosa National Park. Denny Hildreth (right) was from Arizona and worked with the National Park Service in Braulio Carrillo National Park where he worked on a long-term plan for the park. This is my only photo from that trip which leads me to believe we were on ‘official business’ and the photos I took now remain with the university. We all got to be pretty good at coming up with reasons why we needed to travel to the national parks. In this case I think Denny convinced the powers to be that he had to visit Chirripó and get some ideas for writing national park management plans and I needed to come along to photograph what he saw and David had to come along to make sure Denny and I didn’t get lost.
