Cerro Chirripó is the highest peak in Costa Rica at 3,820 meters above sea level (12,533 ft). A few years ago, I told Mike I wanted to go, but I had never planned well enough in advance to get a permit while visiting Costa Rica. People have told us that you have to book your reservations at least a year in advance (It’s actually six months). Turns out, Mike got our spot three weeks ago. Most likely because it is the rainy season here… Anyways, we had to get our winter gear from San Jose out here to Uvita beach where we are currently living. Fabi was kind enough to put everything in one suitcase and send it our way on a bus via “encomienda”, so we didn’t have to drive back to San José! Thank you Fabi!
We booked 3 days, 2 nights at Crestones Base Camp. We had to come check in the day before, so it was technically 4 days in the San Gerardo/Chirripó area. The drive from Dominical/Uvita area in the Pacific to San Gerardo de Rivas is only about 1 1/2 hours. We found a beautiful Airbnb in a property right next to the “Registration” office to climb Chirripó. There was a beautiful river right on the property and everything was absolutely gorgeous there. This place is a bird watcher’s paradise.
We checked our bag in so the horses would take it to the top for us, then drove up to the entrance of Chirripo so we knew where to go and where to park the car. Trust us, you definitely want to park as close to the entrance as possible.
Most people were telling us that you have to start your climb at 1 am, but we did our own thing.
Day 1: 14 kilometers (starting altitude 1,520 meters/4,987 feet)
We started our day at 3:45 am with Yoga to stretch and then a big breakfast (which is recommended, but not that great for climbing).
After we parked our car close to the entrance, we started our climb around 6 am (we planned to start at 5am but oh well) with wonderful weather and full of energy and enthusiasm! We got to the first marker for Kilometer 1 after 1 hour of hiking. We looked at each other and said “Shit, if it took us one hour for 1 k, we would get to base at 8 pm!!!”, so we had to pick up the pace. After a while, it was taking us 20 to 40 mins per marker.
You get to the midpoint at just past kilometer 7, and you can rest there, use the restroom, refill your water, buy food if you want and decide to keep on going or go back.
We kept pushing through and enjoying the breathtaking views and nature. There were little birds along the rugged path just showing us the way, you could hear the buzzing of the bees engulfing you, and if you are not careful you will eat mosquitos along the way… I breath through my mouth, so it was especially easy for me to remember to use my nose… jejeje
You can only use your own life experience to try to describe the scenery and the feeling, so bear with me and try to imagine the most beautiful tall trees wrapped in vines and covered in moss. Deep red bromeliad nested on trees; and rocks and tree trunks covered in a pear, baby green moss, the smell of damp earth and wild flowers everywhere. All of a sudden you realized that the fog that just a kilometer ago was all around us was a cloud we left behind. The piercing sound of thousands of birds and insects surround you, and you take deep breaths as you put one foot in front of the other.
To put it into perspective for our friends in the Bay Area, it will be like hiking Mount Tam about 6 times in a day. At times, it seemed like Hawaii’s Na Pali Coast with its red dirt, roots reaching out to trip you up, and wet rocks everywhere. At times, like Patagonia: harsh, windy and cold.
After 9 hours of hiking we got to the top at 3,393 meters/11,132 feet, that’s 6,145 feet of elevation gain! We were so happy to see the Crestones Base Camp that we forgot the pain. We ate our scheduled lunch and bought a delicious cheese “empanada" with “agua dulce en leche”.
Base camp was pretty nice and clean, and I had a cold shower (I believe they use the frigid water from the glacier lakes), but it felt good on my tired feet and toes.
We thought about resting for a bit before heading to dinner, but fell asleep and didn’t start our day until 6 am the next morning.
Day 2: 5.5 kilometer to Chirripó summit
After a nice breakfast, we decided to head out to the summit. Again, most people had left before dawn, including our roommate. But we went at our own pace starting at 7 am.
We went through what I can only describe as a wild garden called Valle de los Conejos “the Rabbit’s Valley”, it was hard to keep walking, I was stopping every so often to smell the violet wildflowers and check out the little creeks and waterfalls. The birds there were not afraid of people, just jumping along the way with us.
About half way, and before you start the last climb, there is an intersection with what looks like a bus stop with covered benches to sit, catch your breath,consider the choices in front of you, maybe contemplate your choice to make this hike in the first place. There were about four choices for experienced hikers. We just thought going to the summit was plenty enough for us.
We started our ascent in the freezing windy harsh environment but after a while, you just had to take layers off. Every high peak we saw along the way, we thought we were there, but the trail kept going. After a few hours we reached the base of the summit and you just had to climb rocks to get up there. There is no real path, just dirty rocks from the climbers before you that you hoped led in the right direction. Mike was helping me along the ascent, and taking my hiking poles because you need both hands for this part.
At the end, when we saw a tip of the flag at the top, we gathered all our energy and happiness and laughed because we knew it was all worth it! The clouds cleared for a second and we were able to see both lakes and some of the surrounding peaks!!!
The peak is at 3,820 meters/12,533 feet so we ascended another 1,401 feet in 4 hours.
After another 3 hours we got back to camp, and ate again (it seemed to me that’s all we were doing… eating). There is wifi at the base camp, so we were able to take our first official Peace Corp live meeting for Guyana! It was great seeing all the volunteers that are going in a couple of months with us.
That night, we heard wolves!
Day 3: 14 kilometers, the descent - 7.5 hours.
Going down for me has always been more difficult, and yesterday was no exception. We started our descent around 7 am, and even though we took our time, it was pretty strenuous, especially because we believed it rained the day before. We almost couldn’t recognize the terrain, it had changed to a muddy river mixed with rocks. So, it was pretty rough going down. At mid point, we rested for a bit, but I just wanted out. So, we headed down a bit faster and more determined.
On the way up we stopped at every kilometer marker and took pictures and kept track of how long it took us to get to each. On the way down we weren’t as consistent and were pleasantly surprised when we looked up and saw the numbers skipping as we went down. It seemed like we went from 14 to 12 and 4 to 2 and missed a few in between. Maybe we were so tired we just forgot, but when we saw the 2k marker we were energized, well as much as we could be with our knees, feet, back and hips hurting.
The last kilometer was the worst. I don’t believe it’s actually a kilometer, it took us forever to reach the bottom. But once we saw the entrance again a joy overcame us and we were just thinking about the vegan place we had lunch three days before and some ice cold coconut water and a wonderful meal…
Here is a short video of the hike:
Here are some useful links, in case you feel tempted to climb as well:
Base Camp Reservations: https://www.chirripo.org/
Chirripo, step by step guide: https://jameskaiser.com/costa-rica-guide/hiking-chirripo/
Tips (Spanish): https://conozcasucanton.com/turismo/10-consejos-a-tomar-en-cuenta-si-quiere-subir-el-chirripo-13795/
What to bring (Spanish): https://quebuenlugar.com/consejos/que-llevar-al-chirripo/
Love it!!!