Costa Rica: The Coastal Challenge
Day 1: Woohoo, what a day!
Jacqueline Windh / 27.01.2008
We started in the touristy town of La Fortuna, and headed south and then west, first on a paved road to get out of town, then along a gently rising gravel road to the first PC, 5 km in. Then the fun started!Climbing up Cerro Chato was just great. We started on a wide track through treed pastureland. It was overcast and humid – warm, but not hot. I had been uncertain about my choice in clothing, going for the CW-X support tights. Only two other runners wore tights, everyone else was in shorts, and some looked at me like I was alittle bit loca.
Soon we turned off the track on to a narrow muddy path, ascending steeply through the jungle. There were lots of roots, and stairs made from logs holding the mud back that seemed to be designed for giants. I had been slogging along on the road, holding my own just past the middle of the pack, but once we got on to this terrain I felt great – just like home! (I live in Vancouver Island’s coastal temperate rainforest – the jungle of the north). The total ascent for the day was nearly 1000 m, almost all of it along this path, and I found myself passing people here. We got to witness cloud forest firsthand – it was raining everywhere except for on our path, as the mist condensed on the tree leaves. See All Event Posts
