www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Has anyone done any 2-3 day hiking journeys in CR?

Any recommendations if so?

HEH HEH HEH....... I forgot you were down here doing that when you were here last. I can suggest some 2-3 day trips, but the only sites you will see is that of a sweet chica.......

I will ask around for ya too...


the DR

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“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity"

Haha, thanks dr. I got a lot of shit from you guys last time over those comments.

A sweet chica is certainly one of the many fauna of costa rica I plan on seeing next time im down there.

Haha, well done.

I haven't been there myself, but Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula is the most popular place to do a multi-day unguided backpacking hike, it has a network of developed though primitive trails. The reports I've seen say it's a great wildlife-watching trip, including lots of snakes.

The hike to the summit of Cerro Chirripó at Chirripó National Park is very popular one-night trip.

There is also the huge La Amistad International Park that is shared with Panama, but it is an undeveloped wilderness and one would need to have a guide, but otherwise would be great for a long multi-day trek.

HikerTom summarized the main options fairly well. The only thing I'd differ with him on is regarding Chirripo as a one-nighter. This hike can certainly be done as a one-nighter, HOWEVER having done it hike myself I'd strongly advise others to budget two (day 1 to the Crestones Shelter, day 2 to the summit and back to the shelter with maybe some shorter day hikes in the area of the shelter and day 3 back down to the base). I did it in just 2 days and was sore as hell afterwards. Plus even if you do the hike itself in just 2 days, you'll need to budget AT LEAST 1 extra night somewhere (probably in San Gerardo) because of the time it takes just getting between SJ and the trailhead (and maybe 2 extra due to bus schedules on the return). Of course, the same issue of travel time just getting there would apply even more so to Corcovado. For more information on Chirripo and Corcovado hiking you can check out my posts in this thread: http://costaricaticas.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13642

Another great hike, that I'd add to the list, while not actually a multi-day hike, is Rincon de la Vieja. It is at least definitely a full-day hike but again would require an extra night out of SJ due to the travel time just to get there (making it a 2 nighter). If you take an early bus from SJ on day 1 you could probably get in some shorter hikes in that area the day before the big climb (or the last morning before your return to SJ). Actually, as long as you're gonna be travelling that far, I'd actually recommend even an extra night beyond that to take fuller advantage of the many things there are to do in the area. If you did that this would actually take about the same amount of time away from SJ as climbing Chirripo, but would not be nearly as ambitious. Another possible advantage with this trip (depending on your viewpoint) is that you get to spend all the nights in a comfortable hotel room AND because of that you don't have to lug any overnight gear on the hikes themselves (or freeze at night as in the case of Chirripo).

Thanks a lot, really helpful post.

I did Rincon de la Vieja twice when I was in Costa Rica, then once around the lower trails. I was on one trail that said it led to a ranger station, but as I got on I ran out of water and was starting to get quite thirsty. When hiking up north water isn't a huge concern as if you run out there is plenty of drinkable river or lake water to be found just about anywhere in the woods, obviously not the same in CR.

How did you find the nights temperature wise? I read some reports by a group of Americans in which they stated that the stay at the station was one of the coldest nights they had experienced.

Google Osa Aventuras. They do multi-day treks in the Osa. I've done 1 day treks with Mike Boston. Great guide but they also offer 3 - 4 day hikes through the jungle. Am actually headed back down there next week.

I'm originally from Maine, so IMHO "the coldest night experienced" would be a relative thing. It is certainly much much colder than anything you've ever experienced elsewhere in CR, or ever would expect to, but not nearly as cold as it gets outdoors at night up north during the winter months. I had on thermal underwear, a t-shirt, a regular shirt and pants, heavy socks and a sweatshirt inside my sleeping bag and I still spent most of the night curled up in a fetal ball shivering and trying to keep warm. When you rise early in the morning to make your final ascent, don't be surprised to see frost on the ground instead of the morning dew. Is that cold?

Sounds similar to every morning for about 7 months of the year where I live.

Question...
Here is an interesting idea for you on hiking in Costa Rica. There is a group of Indians that live on the CR/Panama border outside Puerto Viejo called the Bri Bri. They offer tours of the reservation with overnight stays where you learn how they go about life in the 'old' tradition. I'd bet for a small amount of money, they would gladly take you on some really neat hikes through their part of the jungle. Know you'd see an amazing amount of wildlife and nature along with an Indian guide that could probably give you a lot of interesting info on what you encounter. Just an idea from 'outside the box'.

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The only thing that matters is happiness in all it forms...

Awesome suggestion man, your advice is always very helpful.

Any idea what the tour and overnight stay would cost?

I agree that PuraVida made a great suggestion.

If you want to traverse the Amistad NP, that is actually the only way you can do it. The people you need to contact is the Asociación Talamanqueña de Ecoturismo y Conservación or ATEC. Their hike that traverses Amistad requires extreme fitness, takes 6-15 days (a bit longer than what you were looking for) and costs $750 for 1 to 3 people. (http://www.ateccr.org/index.php/tours/description/transcontinental_hike/)

I suspect that may be a bit beyond what you were looking for but they also have 1/2 to 2 day hikes to local waterfalls and other places of interest ranging from $35-$60/pp (http://www.ateccr.org/index.php/tours/description/waterfall_hikes/). If you're looking for something a little longer but not quite the 1-2 week long transcontinental adventure, I'm sure that they'd also be happy to put together a special hike for you not listed on their website that falls somewhere in between, just as PuraVida suggested. I'm guessing you could probably assume similar daily pricing as for their listed trips (perhaps a bit more if you're only a group of one or a bit less if you can find others to split the cost of the guide).

BTW, this outfit also offers a bunch of other interesting tours in the Puerto Viejo area, including the usual "adventure" type tours like surfing, fishing, horseback riding, biking and hiking, "cultural" tours such as a chocolate tour, caribbean cooking class, an eco-agro farm, etc. as well as wildlife tours including turtle watches in season(http://www.ateccr.org/index.php/tours/). All of their tours are very reasonably priced as they are a non-profit organization . And in addition to saving money vs. using the more commercial tour operators in the area, more of the money you pay goes to directly benefit the local indigenous communities (payments to local indian guides and support for community programs such as ReciCaribe—Talamanca’s recycling association and CoopeTalamanca—their new bio-fuel initiative). http://www.ateccr.org/index.php/who_we_are/. Even if you don't go on one of their tours, they seem like a wonderful organization to support. I don't know whatever happened to the ill-fated CRT Group Charity initiative but for those interested in donating individually to a worthy organization helping one of the poorest communities in all of CR, you should check out http://www.ateccr.org/index.php/donate/

Thanks Prolijo. Another excellent suggestion. Certainly sounds like something I will be interested. I have never done a trek that lasted for more than 6 days, perhaps I will partake when in CR.

I plan on doing as much hiking in Cuba, Costa Rica, and Panama as I can/feel like. If anyone has any hikes to suggest in Panama, or is interested in doing a hike, day or multi-day, in CR I'll be around late April to early September.

Btw, Prolijo, I'll be in Tampa mid February, and it looks as if I will have 2-3 days off. Any cool places you recommend checking out?

Question,

I must start by confessing that I know far less about Panama than I do about CR, having only been to Bocas del Toros (which is not exactly a good candidate area for multi-day treks, unless you're willing to swim or boat from island to island, it being an archipelago). However I do know of a few possible multi-day treks you could do elsewhere in Panama.

Western Panama: This 1st one is 3-day trek known as "El Camino de Tres Noviembre". You can read one detailed (albeit at least 15 year old) description by one person who made this trek at http://retina.anatomy.upenn.edu/pdfiles/Backpacking.pdf. BTW, for you or anyone else seriously interested in hiking opportunities anywhere in Central America, I strongly recommend the original book that this article was reprinted from (Backpacking in Central America by Tim Burford). I should warn you though that it goes into incredible detail on each hike that makes my writing seem like a tweek. Any way, this trek starts near Boquete, crosses the Cordillera Central and ends up in Chiriqui Grande on the Caribbean side.

This might be an easier alternative to the trans-isthmus trek we were talking about in CR since it starts at a pretty high altitude and takes only 3 days as opposed to the full week or more that the CR version takes. Another nice thing about it is that, unless you were planning on going to Panama City in Central Panama any way, it can be done as part of a much shorter "Panama Loop", which could include travel to Panama by the Pacific route (with perhaps a stop for an additional trek in Corcovado along the way), a visit to Boquete (a pleasant town in the mountains highly popular destination for gringo expats that is a half hour north of David), where you might also want to do a day hike up Volcan Baru, then after the trek you could visit Bocas del Toros before also stopping in the Puerto Viejo area on your way back to San Jose.

The other "major" "Western Panama" hike that you could do is practically all the way to Panama City (near the town of Chame about 50 miles before the capital, so is more one you might do en route to there. It runs between El Valle and Altos de Campana and is a 2 day hike.

Central Panama: There are a couple of 2 day hikes you could do in Central Panama. The first is the Pipeline Road (about 18km dirt road) through Soberania Nat'l Park (on the east side of the canal between Colon and Gamboa). The other (also a 2 day hike) is the Camino Real through Chagres Nat'l Park from Lago Alajuela in the center of the country to the Atlantic coast (either near Portobelo or Nombre de Dios).

Eastern Panama: The 2 words you need to know here are "Darien Gap". This is the only gap (51 miles wide) in the Panamerican Highay that runs from Prudhoe Bay Alaska all the way to Cape Horn on the southern tip of South America. This is a region that has a notorious and dangerous reputation as a haven for Colombian Guerillas, drug trafickers and other smugglers. The US State Dept. warns U.S. citizens not to travel to remote areas of the Darien Province (see http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_994.html for more info). Of course, IMHO, the US State Dept. can often be overly cautious and alarmist about such matters. I've spoken to some Panamanians who have told me the Darien area is really not nearly as dangerous as its international reputation would have it and, in fact, each year a couple of hundred hikers ignore those warnings and use it to cross over between Panama and Colombia with few incidents. OTOH, we as gringos probably stand out more and make more attractive targets for criminals than those Panamanians would who have told me it is really not that dangerous to hike there.

If you do decide to go here, definitely do not travel alone and even hire a local guide, stick to the lower elevation river pathways (rather than hilltop areas where cocoa may be being grown) and in general keep as low a profile as possible and, of course, its not like you absolutely have to hike all the way to Colombia and can simply avoid the most dangerous areas closest to the border (another trek you might take in the Darien is a coast to coast one (in the footsteps of Balboa, rather than the country to country one). One old article has said "the biggest danger in making this trip is your effect on the local people" (the remote and isolated Kuna and Choco indian tribes) and that is actually one of the main reasons why the PAH was never completed for this section. One last factor to consider is time of year as, even if one decides to chance trekking in this region, it is generally recommended only to try that during the dry season (roughly Dec.-Mar.), which rules this out for you anyway. Finally, for those who would never in a million years consider hiking between Panama and Colombia at any time of year, they could always look into taking the recently restored Trans-Darien Monorail to make the crossing http://www.goodtimebob.com/monorail.htm

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I've just started a fresh consulting contract which should run until May or June, but am considering taking a break between gigs for a trip to CR in June for more dental work and might consider extending it to do some hiking. As for your visit to Tampa in February, by interesting places do you mean hiking or something else. If the former, I go hiking regularly around the area and could make several recommendations. If you had something else in mind, I suggest you (or any other CRT'er planning a visit to the Tampa Bay area) just contact me or Lionking when your visit approaches and we'll be even happy to show you around the bay area's adult nightlife scene ourselves.