Iceland: Land of Glaciers, Volcanoes, Waterfalls, and Fuzzy Horses

I've been obsessing over Iceland for three years. Several of my good friends have gone and had marvelous trips. Emily, Mike and I planned a trip for last September, but ended up having to push it back to 2016 due to a wedding. Psh! Other people's happiness... So, I finally visited and it was more amazing than I could have imagined. My dad and step mom decided to join us on this adventure.

After an overnight flight where we saw a glimmer of Northern Lights, Mike and I arrived early in Keflavík. Picking up the rental car was a bit of an adventure. The keys told us the car was a red Chevrolet Cruze. By red, they meant some sort of mauve gray. Mike and I walked the entire way around the building looking for a red Chevy. We found Dad, Lorrie, and Emily at the airport easily and went straight to Blue Lagoon for a soak.

Blue lagoon was delightful on our tired bodies. We explored the whole thing, basking in the warm milky waters and painting our faces and shoulders with silica mud. It was early enough in the morning that the lagoon wasn't too crowded. The sun was very bright though. The feel of the place is very cool. We drove toward our destination of Grímsnes. We stopped in a tiny coastal town to find food. It was about $15-18 for a simple bowl of soup with some bread.  

The landscape in Iceland is amazing: dried chunky lava covered in thick moss. It's basically plains and plateaus along the coast, with distant glaciers and volcanoes. Iceland is home to 130 volcanoes. It is 37,000 sq miles with a population of 330,000, 200,000 of which live in Reykjavik. We stayed in Grimsnes near Selfoss in a darling little cabin with a bedroom, kitchen, sleeping loft, and living space. Emily and Mike immediately went to nap while Dad, Lorrie and I went to the store in Selfoss to stock the pantry. I made dinner and we waited for the sky to be dark enough to scout the Aurora. We saw a light green glimmer before the clouds moved in.

We woke leisurely working through the jet lag. After breakfast, we headed out to explore the Golden Circle beginning at Geysir closest to the cabin. This is exactly what it sounds like. There is a geyser that shoots a big plume of boiling water into the air every few minutes. There were lots of tourists, but the view from the hills above was lovely.

The next stop was Europe's largest waterfall: Gulfoss, the Golden Waterfall. It was as crowded as expected, but powerful and beautiful. Absolutely worth a stop. We spent over an hour walking around and taking pictures.

Next Faxi Waterfall is a much smaller falls on the same river. This was cool because it was not crowded. A salmon ladder ran along one side and fly fishermen were casting below the falls. Beautiful! Afterward we stopped at the Secret Lagoon, a natural swimming pool. We walked around and checked out the geothermal greenhouses, but didn't feel up to paying the $25 each to swim.

Kerið is an amazing 6000 year old crater with so much beautiful natural color. We walked all around it and learned it is a natural amphitheater and is sometimes used for concerts. Based on the depth of the lake in the bottom, scientists can measure the health of ground water.

We completed the Golden Circle at Þingvellir National Park. This park is home to Silfra, a lake formed between the edges of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. The nerdy explorer in me demanded I dive those icy, crystal clear waters. The cheapskate in me said no way. The budgeter won out. :( Also in the park is Oxofoss waterfall.

Riding the fluffy Icelandic horses was really high on my list of things to do. They're everywhere, happy, furry horses (not ponies) in every color. I booked a two hour tour with Nupshestar for the whole family. I learned that Icelandic horses have extra gaits. One is a fast, smooth trot called a tolt. The other only some have. It's called pace, a flying, smooth gait about the speed of a gallop. We rode though a big valley with views of a river and Hekla volcano. It was beautiful! Definitely a highlight of the trip. The company does three day tours into the highlands. I want to come back and make that happen.

The Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon came highly recommended and the pictures of it are phenomenal. It was a 4 hour drive from the cabin so we packed up and left early. An hour into the drive we found Sjelandsfoss Waterfall, a towering beauty that you can walk behind. The sun hadn't yet kissed the falls and it was not crowded with tourists. Beautiful. We glimpsed Skogafoss and choose to save it for the way back.

The drive along the south coast is stunningly beautiful. It's a low traffic, peaceful, two lane highway into ever evolving plateaus towering over quaint little farms of white, red-roofed houses, flocks of shaggy sheep, and herds of beautiful Icelandic horses. Many of these farms were nestled under the most fantastic green cliffs with their very own waterfalls.

Jökulsárlón was immediately everything I had hoped for: huge chunks of blue and black-streaked ice towered out of the river leaving the lagoon. It was phenomenal, awe inspiring. We quickly jumped out of the car to stretch our legs and take a thousand pictures of the icebergs in the lagoon. We booked a zodiac ride to the glacier. They dressed us in thick, warm life jacket suits. The driver wore a Sponge Bob beanie and was kind of the strong silent type. He took us to a few big icebergs giving us some info before heading out to the glacier. There were harbor seals watching us bobbing up out of the water while we listened for the ice to break, hoping a piece would fall into the lake. The smaller icebergs are carried out to sea by the river. Some of them end up on the shores of the black sand beach at the mouth of the river. Its like a big, icy sculpture garden.

On the way back to Vik, we stopped at Fjallsarlon Glacier Lagoon, which is much smaller with no outlet. That makes the water surface perfectly smooth, which means awesome pictures! Vík is a thriving metropolis compared to most of Iceland, but probably actually no more than a village. It has a beautiful black sand beach that was used in Game of Thrones.

Right near the farm we stayed for the night was Skógafoss Waterfall. Skogafoss is a huge sheet of water that crashes down on the rocks. There is a hike to the top with a platform that intimidates anyone with a fear of heights. The trail then continues up into the highlands to a glacier. No one was interested in walking that far.

We spent the night on a farm called Stora Mork. It has two guesthouses with bunk rooms and kitchens. We had a full floor to ourselves. Everyone was exhausted from hours of car time, particularly Mike who did all of the driving (thanks, babe). Emily and I sat up with our cups of tea watching the stars and hoping the Northern lights would make an appearance. They did, faintly. Suddenly they brightened to full color rippling green and pink. We scrambled to wake everyone else up, but they missed most of it by the time they got dressed for the cold. Emily and I watched for another hour, but though they were present, they didn't flare again.

We had to pass the Seljalandsfoss waterfall on the way out. Everyone did their own thing that morning meaning we left later than planned. Since it was much later than when we'd passed it before, it was crazy crowded. Next to it is a hidden waterfall called Gljufrabui. We had to take the time to explore that one. It was worth it!

Reykjavik is the major city in Iceland, where most of its population lives. It's home to an iconic cathedral called Hallgrimskirkja, a shoreline sculpture park, and an amazing opera hall. We spend an afternoon exploring the beautiful city and had dinner at Glo, a natural food restaurant with food that was both delicious and vibrant (and gluten free). It was by far my favorite meal out on the trip.

My overall impression of Iceland is that I didn't have enough time to do everything I wanted to. A friend had said four days was more than enough time. I thought six days were far too few. If you're considering visiting Iceland... GO!! Rent a car, find some Airbnbs, and go exploring! 

Meteors and Fog on Mt. Saint Helens

Way back in February, some friends asked if we wanted to climb Mount Saint Helens, you know, that active volcano that erupted in 1980. Of course we did. It was on my bucket list. We drove down to the Climber's Bivouac where the trailhead is and spent a couple of extra days and nights doing a bit of exploring, but mostly eating and hiding in our tent from the rain and chill that made no sense for mid-August. The group visited the lower Ape Caves (huge lava tube) and this fun little trail with a tunnel to crawl through. I picked wild blueberries and huckleberries to throw in my oatmeal. Yum!

The goal for climbing the volcano was to start late at night, climb under the light of a thousand staaaaars (sorry, I had to sing that like Ed Sheeran), and enjoy sunrise from the rim of the crater. Seven of us were in the group including two teenage boys. We started hiking at 11pm Monday night. The first two and a half miles were on a fairly typical PNW trail through tall trees hanging with moss towering over burned and broken stumps. A huge mudslide is visible from parts of the trail. Wildflowers dot the brown earth as if the Mountain is trying hard to make one of her many scars into something pretty.

The tree line marks a stark transition into a boulder field of volcanic rock. Parts of the mountain that blew off in one eruption or another ring the volcano. The way up is marked by wooden posts with reflective tape wrapped around the tops. I won't say it's a path or trail at this point. We were simply looking for a reflective beacon to appear in the beam of our headlamps and finding a way to get there, scaling boulders and winding around ridges. That continued for about another mile and a half. Mike, mountain goat and monkey mutt that he is, decided to go straight up a ridge rather than follow a steep, but semi-defined track to the side.

Rain and mist, clouds and fog came and went. The weather was moody, constantly in flux. The group was damp and cold. We stopped among the boulders to rest and watch meteors streak across the sky during one period of clear skies. The stars were amazing! More than can ever be seen with all of the light pollution at home. The peak of the meteor shower was a few days away, but that didn't make the ones we saw any less exciting.

Shortly after this point, the younger of the two boys was freezing and struggling to move forward. The night had cooled to somewhere in the 30s with gusting winds. He and his parents opted to find shelter and hunker until light to warm him up. The other four of us continued on. Eventually, the mountain plateaued slightly and the boulders disappeared. The fog surrounded us heavily so there was no point in looking at anything above the ground. This is the last mile. It is an ash field with fairly defined paths. There's no getting lost because you just go up and up and up. It's steep, the wet sand sliding beneath my feet. I was glad to have my trekking poles. I strove for one hundred steps at a time.

Finally I reached the rim (first!). It was 515AM. The sky was beginning to lighten, though fog hung heavy and oblivious to the cold winds ripping through it. I bundled the older cold teenager up in a space blanket and went exploring. There was nothing to see, but it felt good to be doing something. At 550AM the sky was light and sunrise had clearly come though we couldn't see it. Now there was some detail in the frozen rim of the volcano. I could see icicles hanging from the glacial outcropping above the crater. It was time to head back.

The route down took less time, about 4 hours. The fog persisted until we neared the boulder field. At that point, there were clouds below and fog above. The view was breathtaking and disorienting. The clouds below appeared to be sloping downward into the volcano on the west side. On the east side, rays of warm morning sunlight stabbed through the cloud layer.

One particularly exciting moment was when a boulder I was standing on rolled out from under me and into the back of my leg. Somehow it turned a different way than I did rather than breaking my ankle. I have some solid bruising. Within a few seconds another rock above me dislodged and barely missed both me and Mike. No one was hurt, but it cleared our tired minds. The tree line and trail back to the bivouac were a welcome sight. The bright greens of the trees and mosses were almost startling after the lunar landscape I'd been staring at for the past 8 hours. I really want to do this hike again when it's a little warmer and a lot more clear. Last time the group we joined climbed St. Helens, the temperature was in the low 80s and it was beautifully summer. Next time, Ms. Volcano, let's see all the beauty you can offer.

*photos in no particular order or even relevance to the story. Sorry, but the first 2/3 of the hike was dark, and photos of nothing are not exciting.

Wine and Beaches in Westport, WA

When I moved to the PNW and started my first grownup job, I was assigned a mentor. Adraine was awesome. She knew how everything worked in the shipyard, was well-respected and had fantastic fashion sense. To top all of that, she was a mechanical engineer when women engineers were rare, pioneering the way for those of us to come. She's been through the sexism, the cold shoulders, the changing workforce, and thrived. I know I'm making her sound old; she's not. When she offered her Westport condo for a weekend, I couldn't say no. I rounded up some of my favorite ladies and chose a date.

Five of us, including Adraine, drove out Friday night to the beautiful Washington coast. Westport on the Sea is a condominium complex on the sea (obviously) next to a state park and the tallest lighthouse in Washington. It's home to lots of charter fishing, sandy beaches, and crashing waves. There are a whole bunch of these condos for anyone to rent as well as many that are privately owned.

I woke up early Saturday and went for a run on the beach and park trails right outside the condo, stopping here and there to pick up perfect little sand dollars and dip my toes in the frigid water. It was a dream! A foggy marine layer hung over the water and the waves thundered against the beach. Cathy and Melissa put together a delicious breakfast while I was gone. Three of us headed out for a beach walk while Kate and Adraine hit the gym. I think I walked about 8 miles that day. My neck and shoulders burned through the marine layer.

For lunch we visited the beautiful Westport Winery. They have delicious food with gluten free options (YAY!) and a ton of wines. Adraine and Cathy are members which means free wine tastings!! Splitting my samples with Kate meant I could try about 12 different wines. I like the reds, while she likes the dessert wines. Each wine had a sassy description and a song pairing. The Smoky Nor'wester was my favorite. It's description was "Maserati intensity, like a good spanking." The song: Life's Been good to Me by Joe Walsh. It was perfect for my mood and the weekend.

The grounds at the winery are gorgeous. There are different themed gardens, a large chess set, and a mini-golf course. I want to go back and play wine-drunk mini-golf. We wandered around the tiny town, checking out souvenir shops and buying candy.

Cathy, Adraine and I decided that we just had to pay a visit to the hot tub.  The pool was crowded with kids and vacationers, the BBQs well used and wafting grilled meats. Everything about it screamed SUMMER! After our soak it seemed totally right to practice our handstands on the lawn before heading back. We made a gorgeous salad for dinner and played games until the wee hours.

Sadly, we had to leave fairly early Sunday morning to go spend some time with our spouses, but I had the most fantastic time with good friends, having great conversation, and doing whatever came to mind at the moment. Many thanks to all the amazing women who joined me and especially to Adraine for her company and a great place to stay.

My First (and Probably Last) Marathon

I did it! I achieved one of my lifetime bucket list goals: to run a marathon. This actually feels like a great achievement not because I managed to run 26.2 miles, but because I spent four months steadily working up to it. I ran three to four days per week for FOUR MONTHS! Some people are amazing runners and that kind of volume is not a big deal. I am not. I run because I want to, because the time alone allows me to work through my thoughts without distraction.

Anyway, back to the marathon. Emily and I chose to run the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. The race started at the Space Needle, ran through the 99 tunnel onto the Via Duct and past Pike Place Market. We ran through Pioneer Square and Columbia City to loop around a beautiful park on the waterfront called Seward Park. Finally we ran along the water to the I-90 bridge, over the water and through the tunnel then back to the Century Link Stadium. The morning was overcast and cool with a bit of misty rain here and there, in a word: perfect!

Mile 15 was particularly powerful. It began with a series of pictures of people who had died of cancer or were dying of cancer, people who had runners honoring them. After an appropriate break were pictures of military men and women who died in service with their names, ages, and date of death. I forced myself to stop reading their ages and look only at their faces. So many were so young. They died before they even had a chance to live. The pictures were followed by a long line of military members with American flags.

Since it was the Rock 'n' Roll marathon, there were bands set up along the course. The most memorable were a drumming troop set up under an overpass which made the beats reverberate through our bodies, a mariachi band on top of an overpass, and the Army band set up at mile 25.5. The Army band had the greatest energy and totally made the last little bit of the race amazing. I crossed the finish line all smiles. (Our time wasn't 5:44, it was 5:17)

 It was a great experience. Em and I limped away from the race with sore knees and hips, but I couldn't have asked for a better running partner. She waited for me through numb feet and tight calves and we worked through some knee pain together near the end. Thanks sister for your patience and friendship. Much love!

Adventures in Costa Rica (Part 2)

Because this trip was long and exciting, I thought I should break it up a bit. Part 1 was coastal Costa Rica. Here is Part 2: the mountains, cloud forest, and San Jose.

Places visited:

Arenal (La Fortuna)

Monteverde

San Jose

Pacuare River

Activities:

Proyecto Asis

Arenal Oasis Night Tour

La Fortuna Waterfall

Sky Adventures Park

Rios Tropicales One Day River Rafting Tour

The drive to Arenal was up a steep, winding, crazy, narrow road through beautiful mountain towns. La Fortuna is a small town in the shadow of the volcano. The first morning, we went to Proyecto Asis, a rescue for wild animals that people have “saved” or tried to tame. They have peccaries (wild boar) of two varieties. Both are kind of cute hairy beasts, but smell horrible. They have a musk gland that shoots milky liquid 3 feet in the air. And people had these as HOUSE PETS! Whaaaaa?!! Next we saw spider monkeys. Jesica and Hercules are friendly. Jesica likes to touch people. Anyone near the cage can hold her hand or she will touch their shoulder or arm. We saw more spider monkeys, aggressive white face monkeys, a baby porcupine, parrots and macaws. They had a very cute, but mean grison which is like a weasel, some coatis and a racoon, along with a huge orange iguana that had been hit by a car. In the back, there was a baby sloth! He was so cute, just munching away on his leaves. Hummingbirds were everywhere and a small non-aggressive crocodile variety had moved into the pond. We fed the animals. The monkeys will always be there, but the birds, small peccaries, coatis, porcupine, and raccoon will be rehabilitated and released. Carlos was an awesome and passionate tour guide.

The night tour jungle tour we booked was unbelievable! It was led by Gerald of Arenal Oasis. The tour started with him teaching us about the noise blue jeans poison dart frogs make and where to find them. We saw three of the tiny frogs! Then we started up the trail finding an assortment of frogs, toads and spiders. When we got to a pond, Gerald stopped us and made us wait while he dealt with two fer-de-lance snakes which are highly aggressive and venomous. He let us see them in pairs and took some pictures for us. He chased off the male which was easier said than done. It bit his umbrella a handful of times while snapping at him, it’s body raised 3 feet in the air. The female didn’t move. He moved us to the opposite side of the bridge and shoved her with his umbrella. After a minute it became apparent that something was wrong. Her spine was broken a little further than mid way up her body. Gerald moved her to an island and we moved on. We saw four more snakes including another fer-de-lance and a banded snail eater that evolved with a single fang designed to dig snails out of their shells. There were see-through glass frogs, red-eyed tree frogs (one jumped on Mike’s face!) and a big crab. Near the end, the guide spotted a cicada in metamorphosis. Super gross. Best tour of the trip.

La Fortuna waterfall is very developed and commercialized. The path is a mostly paved staircase down to a huge falls with a pool at the bottom. The water pressure and current were strong so we could only be in a small portion of the pool. A smaller lower pool offered a different vantage. We took a dip then climbed the 550 stairs back to the car.

We drove the winding, dirt road to Monteverde. It’s not far, but at 25 miles per hour with rough roads and driving rains, it took 3.5 hours! The rains started right after our waterfall visit and continued all night. We found the farm I booked on AirBnb easily. The owner was very chatty (all in Spanish), kind and welcoming. She let us into our cabin, which had a small kitchen, two beds, bathroom, and eggs and tortillas for breakfast. We took a nap then headed out to see the estate.

Finca Lluvias de Gloria is beautiful. It’s about 7 hectares. Ermida, the hostess, grows all sorts of crops intermingled: potatoes, coffee, herbs, corn, fruit trees, beans, etc. She also has 2 pigs, a cow, and chickens. Her primary export is coffee, but she grows all sorts of food to sell at the market. We saw a male maut-maut bird. She made us a beautiful dinner of fish, potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, sweet potato, onion, tomato, avocado, plantains and these cool tree growing fruits(?) called tacacos.YUM! There was so much food. She and her daughter ate leftover, beans, rice, stewed meat and corn tortillas. Whaaat?

The following day was Sky Adventure day! The tour began with an hour and a half walk along a trail with hanging bridges accompanied by a naturalist who explained about how the cloud forest eco systems work. Dad would have loved it. We learned about Ficus trees that are hemiepiphytes, meaning they land on the branch of a tree and use it as a base while growing. Once it is rooted, it starts to engulf the source tree, strangles it, and feeds on it. This creates wild hollow trees. We saw a male Resplendent Quetzal bird. He was gorgeous.

Next was zip lining above the canopy. We took a tram up to an overlook with a view of the volcano and Arenal Lake. We stayed with the same group all day. They were really fun. There were two older canadian ladies and a group consisting of an Indian, an Arab, a Russian, and a Brit. Very fun. The longest cable was over half a mile high above the canopy. It was pretty much like flying. The tour included a visit to the herpetarium to see snakes, lizards and frogs. The side with the venomous snakes was closed.

We did a night walk with Kinkajou. It was ok. The guide moved really fast and we had crappy lights, but we saw an armadillo, two green pit vipers in trees, a stick bug, a tarantula, and three glass frogs. If you're looking at doing a night tour, choose Arenal.

We spent a day transitioning to San Jose, the capital. The following morning, we got up super early and walked a km to the Gran Hotel Costa Rica for Rios Tropicales to pick us up for rafting at 6 AM. The drive to the operations center was two hours. They fed us a typical Costa Rican breakfast while we waited for the group from Arenal.

It was another twenty five minutes drive to the put in site on the Pacuare River. Rios Tropicales split us into two groups, English-speaking and Spanish-speaking. Our raft included me and Mike, a German girl, a French girl, and two French Canadian girls. Our guide was great, 15 years experienced and loves the river. The four girls were neither experienced or strong paddlers. Regardless, we had a great time. The river was beautiful. Pristine jungle bordered both sides. We saw waterfalls, crashed through Class I-IV rapids, and generally had a great time for the three hours we were on the river. The water level was perfect, not too low, not too high. Lunch was served back at the operations center before a two hour drive back to San Jose.

The rain was POURING down in San Jose. We opted just to get soaked to the bone and walk back to the apartment since we were already damp and needed to shower anyway. My sandal broke part way back and I was glad I had my sneakers from rafting. It didn’t stop raining that night, but lightened a little.

The last day in Costa Rica, we went for a run to a park I’d seen on a map then headed out for breakfast on a busy pedestrian street in the city. We went for a walk to explore downtown San Jose a bit and bought snacks for the airplane ride. We decided it was time to leave and caught a bus to the airport. It was direct and so easy. Do not eat at the airport. Lunch was super expensive, disgustingly greasy burgers at Smashburger. We paid $27 for 2 burgers and one side of fries. Just don't do it.

If I had it all to do again, I would have planned to stay a night or two on the Pacuare River. It was just so beautiful. I would visit less places. We put 850 MILES (1380 km) on the rental car in 10 days. With a max speed limit of 80km/hour, that's a lot of drive time. Next trip, I want to go diving. There's an amazing island way off the coast with hammerhead sharks

Celebrating 30 in Costa Rica (Part 1)

Last month I turned 30. 30!? To celebrate, I wanted to go somewhere and do something awesome. So I chose Costa Rica, based on activities and ticket prices. I can’t believe 30 years of my life have passed already. It’s a good time to reflect on whether I am where I thought I would be at 30. The answer is a resounding no. In my childhood, teens and even into college, I never thought I would be as brave or adventurous or free as I am. I would have thought I’d have a boring engineering job and be wrangling a kid or two. Instead, I’m successful, highly independent, with a job I enjoy most days, a few great friends, and a partner who keeps me smiling and laughing. All told, I’m very satisfied with my first 30 years and I hope that the next 30 years bring as much adventure, variety and intrigue.

Because this trip was long and exciting, I thought I should break it up a bit. Part 1 is coastal Costa Rica. Part 2 is the mountains, cloud forest, and San Jose.

Places visited:

Playa Agujas

Dominical

Osa Peninsula

Manuel Antonio

Activities

Danyasa yoga classes

Nauyaca Waterfall

Corcovado National Park hike

Costa Rica Surf Camp lesson

Manuel Antonio National Park tour

The day we left, Mike and I woke up at 1:30 AM to catch a 5 AM flight to LAX. When we arrived at the gate in LA for the flight into San Jose, Costa Rica, the flight board read “Canceled”. The Turrialba volcano had minorly erupted, rocketing a plume of ash a kilometer into the air. As such, flights into its airport were being rerouted to Liberia, Costa Rica, about three hours Northwest. I called Budget and changed our rental car pickup to Liberia. Car insurance of $28 per day is mandatory. WTF. Below is a map of all of the places we visited and roads we drove in 12 days.

The roads in Costa Rica are two lane highways with speed limits that change constantly. No one really seems to care about them though. The drive from Liberia to Playa Agujas took about 3.5 hours in the dark. It was terrifying. Semi trucks with angry looking lights bore down on us. The road wasn’t recently paved and a little rough. Plus, passing on a two lane winding, jungle road is not ideal.

In Dominical, we found our resort after a whole bunch of U turns and backtracking. Turns out the road Google Maps (BTW, Google Maps Offline is the greatest!) wanted us to take was UNDER the highway. Villas Rio Mar is a great three-star resort at a really reasonable price ($69 including breakfast). The grounds are beautiful and immaculate with a variety of tropical plants and iguanas roaming free. We were upgraded to a suite in the back of the resort with two king sized beds and air conditioning. It was huge, much more than we needed. The resort has a nice pool, tennis court, concrete mini-golf course and an outdoor “gym”.

Checking out the town, we walked along the beach briefly and looked at some of the shops. A flash and a rumble later, rain poured from the skies. To escape we stopped at Tortilla Flats for ceviche, nachos and fried plantains. Afterward, we walked to Danyasa, a yoga studio in town to see about classes. There was a class in an hour. Yoga was a large class, candlelit, on a second story balcony with a tin roof and netting around the sides. The studio had mirrors on one side, fans, and cool overhead lighting. The class was excellent, taught by a student who was studying there for a month. Thunder continued to rumble through the class.

The following morning yoga class at Danyasa was taught by a girl named Serra who was everything an amazing yoga teacher should be: lithe, flexible, beautiful, with a septum ring and half her head shaved. The class was phenomenal, by far the best I’ve been to (and I have a few teachers I adore). She held poses long enough to make me work, emphasis on form was key, and she even sang a cappella for us in savasana.

On a recommendation, we found Nauyaca Waterfall. Since we had a 4x4, it was an 8 km round trip hike up a steep road to get to the falls. We saw the largest stream of leaf-cutter ants I’ve ever seen and a spotted paca, which is a weird little rodent similar to a capybara. The falls were incredible, double layered. Since we went so late in the day, we were the last people there. The upper falls are taller, stronger, impressive. They crash over large, faceted boulders, spraying mist everywhere. Mike had to climb all over the rocks, of course. The lower falls are beautiful, still powerful, but more demure with a big pond to swim in. Once we jumped in, the rain began to fall. It poured harder and harder until everything we brought was soaked. Climbing out, there were frogs and lizards all over the place. Once we were back on the trail, there was no more rain or even evidence that it had rained. Curious.

On my birthday, we caught a very early breakfast before jumping in the trusty Terios for a drive to the Osa Peninsula where there is a large, highly biodiverse national park called Corcovado. Once we finally arrived in Jimenez and found someone to talk to we learned that you need a permit to hike there and hikes start at 6 am. Luckily, we were given a map and found there are a couple of "community trails" to hike. Le Tigre was about 8 km down a dirt road into a town or village. There were cowboys on horses nodding to us as we passed. We passed a closed ranger station and ran out of road. At the ranger station there was an overgrown path leading up and around the back. A grizzled old man with a machete walked up to the car, told us “pura vida” and asked what we were doing. I told him we were going for a walk up the trail. He nodded and left. Strange.

Before I could overthink it, I grabbed my camera and headed up the trail. Within a short distance, I looked up from the trail to see a large black body hanging in a low palm. I followed it up to see the neck and head of what I believe was a rat snake. Eep! I kept a bit of distance and contiued walking slowly and quietly trying to see a sloth or band of monkeys. At the end of the trail is a lookout with nice views. We saw birds with red bodies and black heads and wings, little gold birds, lots of leaf-cutters, a few butterflies and some lizards, but no more snakes or mammals. The walk down was uneventful. Overall, it was a very sweaty, slow, quiet walk in the rain forest. 

By the time we made it back to the car, the thunderheads had rolled in and I was starving. We stopped at a cool patio restaurant (part of a resort) on the side of the road with amazing views of the Osa peninsula and a toucan in a tree. The rain began while we ate. It was lovely. That evening we caught our last Danyasa yoga class. It was all about alignment. Hard class, but well taught. As I lay in savasana, the rain pounded the tin roof, lightning flashed and thunder crashed around me. Powerful! I believe the next 30 years will be just that.

We booked a surf lesson in town for the last day in Dominical. It wasn’t until 1pm so we went back to the resort. Determined not to miss out on the amenities, we played tennis for an hour then swam in the pool. We chatted for a long time with a retired gentleman with a fascinating life story. He’d recently lost his wife to cancer and this was his first time back to Costa Rica without her. I may have spent too much time in the sun. All too soon, it was time for check out.

Costa Rica Surf School provided a fabulous surf lesson. Surfing was exhausting and fun. The sun was blazing over 3-4 foot waves. Our instructor was named Ezekiel. Mike was able to get up after a few tries and did his own thing for most of the lesson. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out when to paddle, when to stand, etc. I did ride several waves though. Yay me! The lesson was 2 hours with a 15 minute break for water, mangoes and bananas. We were exhausted afterward from fighting to get out past the break. Check out our sunburns!!

The next stop was Quepos, about an hour North up the coast home to Manuel Antonio national park. After Corcovado and reading reviews we decided a guide was worthwhile. Ours was not. His scope was handy, but he mumbled so softly Mike couldn’t hear him and I only caught about half of it. We saw bats, crabs, sloths, lizards, deer, white face monkeys, howler monkeys, and beautiful blue morphos butterflies with their drunken flight. We also saw a coati and a capybara. There were some adolescent white face monkeys wrestling on a lookout tower. The sloth picture was taken using the guide's scope. That cute little monkey in the picture below is pretty dangerous. They're mean little beasts. The one pictured was actually that close. The camera is not zoomed. Playa Manuel Antonio is gorgeous, crescent moon shaped with light lapping waves. There were tide pools on one side. Mike found a cool spotted eel swimming from an inlet to a pool and some sea slugs. My sunburn made being in the sun a little less than pleasant. We did a bit of hiking and headed for cooler climates.

On the road to Arenal, there was a sign with a crocodile on it before an overpass with a lot of tourists staring over the side. We decided to stop and I’m glad we did. The brown river below the overpass was full of huge prehistoric beasts! I counted 27. A group of college kids bought a bag of frozen meat and started throwing chunks into the water. The crocodiles churned over each other looking for a treat. The last bit of meat appeared to be a hip joint from a cow or other large mammal. It bounced off the head of one croc and another caught it. With a snap of it’s jaws, the joint shattered with a sickening crunch. They make dinosaur noises too. Scary!

Ragnar Zion: Running through the Desert

Last week I had a second chance to complete Ragnar Trail at Zion Ponderosa Resort outside of Zion National Park in Southern Utah. Ragnar events are relay races of both road and trail varieties. The trail events have a central village where everyone stays and three (green, yellow, red) trail loops of varying degrees of distance and difficulty. Last year, Mike and I met up with a group of friends to take on this race. Mother Nature slapped us down good and hard with torrential rains that began about 10 hours into the event and didn't stop until the trails became dangerous muddy slip-n-slides and the race was called off. This year was different. It was 86 degrees and sunny on Friday and a bit cooler on Saturday. Perfect! I was runner 7 and Mike was 8, which means we were the last two in the lineup. It also meant that we cheered our first runner out of the gate and had about 8 hours to wait until I could go do my first loop.

In Ragnar trail runs, each team has to provide a volunteer. Ours has been my awesome mom for the past two years. Since we had so much time, the three of us drove into the National Park to do a bit of exploring. We hiked up the Canyon Overlook Trail which had phenomenal views of Zion with shear red rock cliffs bracketing a surprisingly green desert valley. Beautiful! On the way back to the car we walked up a dry riverbed for a bit more secluded hike and enjoyed the less dramatic, but equally interesting scenery.

My first loop was green which you would think would mean it is easy. No. That is not at all the case. Green is a hilly, winding 3.4 mile course down into and back out of a canyon. It traverses out to a great view of Checkerboard Mesa then starts long switchbacks down. The switchbacks aren't nice long downhill sections. They're hills, up and down and up and down. Who planned this trail!? The run ends with tight uphill switchbacks that 95% (72% of statistics are made up on the spot, right?) of people ended up hiking. I completed the loop in 44 minutes, which was longer than last year. In 2015, green was the only loop I completed before the race was canceled. Boo.

One of our runners has a bad back, but thought she might be able to complete parts of the race. She jogged her long (red) loop with her fiancé as a pacer, but had to give up her green and yellow loops. Another runner sprained her ankle. Therefore, Mike, Jessica and I each ran an extra 3-4 miles for a total of 18.5ish miles.

The second loop I ran was red. It's about 8 miles. I started my run in the dark and scared Mom half to death by jumping on her for a hug while she was volunteering. I'm sweet like that. The run was exactly what I wanted. It began with amazing stars and moderate inclines for a few miles. Then the sky turned dusky and slowly brightened until I was running into a gorgeous firey orange sunrise. I decided at some point I should run rather than stopping every three minutes to take pictures, so this was not the full grandeur. I completed the loop just as the best colors faded. Mike took the bib for back-to-back green and yellow loops while I went back to the wagon for a tiny bit of sleep. Sleep isn't really a thing in Ragnar since the race goes through the night until all eight runners have each run all three loops. Their motto is "Run. Camp. Sleep? Repeat." Pretty spot on.

 Because the injuries slowed us down, the last six runners ran in pairs to finish in the allotted time. Jessica and I ran green. A mile in, a big fat snake decided to make his move across the trail before someone stepped on him. I panicked, turned around, and ran smack into Jessica who laughed at me, rightfully. Since the snake was taking his dear sweet time in disappearing, Jess led me in a wide arc through the woods. My hero! We had some good adrenaline for the next half mile.

At the transition point, Jess passed off to Heather and I continued on the yellow route (4ish miles). Yellow is the loop that has the best views. So I was very put out at having missed it last year. Heather and I run similar paces and did a great job of pushing each other through the heat while keeping an eye out for snakes. The views were everything I had hoped for. It was a beautiful run with some good up-hills and fun down-hills.

We passed off to Mike and Matt to run the last red loop. Mike was feeling better and killed it, finishing a half hour before he thought he would injured. We ran across the finish line as a team. It was a great experience and my team mates really helped make it so. They're such impressive man and ladies. Who knows, maybe we will be back next year.