Late Winter Pilot Mountain Hike

It was the first time this year I had the opportunity to hike outside of the Raleigh area. We met in the Chapel Hill area at 8 and carpooled out to Pilot Mountain, parking at the Corridor Trailhead parking along Pinnacle Hotel Road. We arrived a little after 930. Once everyone used the restrooms and got their stuff together, we started off on the trail around 10. Hiking across Pinnacle Hotel Road, we started on the red-blazed Mountain Trail. At the first intersection, we turned left to hike around the mountain.  This was my first time hiking Pilot Mountain in the winter, though it didn’t feel much like winter. The temperatures were in the 60s and it was unseasonably warm. But the lack of leaves made for lovely winter views. It had also been a while since I had hiked at Pilot Mountain. The last time I was here, several years ago, the Mountain Trail was different. Back then, it led from the Corridor Trailhead parking to Ledge Springs Trail. Now, the Mountain Trail wrapped further around the mountain, intersecting with Grindstone Trail, a half-mile or so below the split with Ledge Springs Trail. Additionally, another part of the loop leads from the Visitor Center at the end of Grindstone Trail back around to the Corridor Trailhead parking lot. Hiking up the flank on Mountain Trail, we could see the distinctive monadnock peak high above. There were also great views of the surrounding countryside.

In about 2 miles, we came to the rocky portion of the trail, below the cliffs of Ledge Springs Trail.

In the past, the Mountain Trail had terminated near here, but now it went another mile or so to end at Grindstone Trail. When we made it to the end, we turned right on Grindstone Trail to head up to the summit. Most people in the group continued on Grindstone Trail, but John and I took the more scenic Ledge Springs Trail.

Hiking below the massive cliffs and climbing over large rocks and stairs, I think this is the best trail in the park.

We saw a handful of rock climbers scaling the rocky cliffs and soon made it to Jomeokee Trail at the saddle between the Big and Little Pinnacle. We turned right on Jomeokee Trail and once over to the Big Pinnacle, we found a nice rock outcrop to sit and eat lunch. Across the saddle, we could see the Little Pinnacle Overlook with people enjoying the view.

After lunch, we made a quick loop around the Big Pinnacle. There are great views of the surrounding Piedmont landscape. The massive cliffs that make up the Big Pinnacle are quite impressive close up.

From a distance, you don’t get a good idea of how big they are.

We could see, but not hear, a raptor roosting high above. I also found a really cool tree growing out of the side of the cliffs.

Once we finished the loop, we started heading back. We made a quick stop at Little Pinnacle Overlook for great views of the Big Pinnacle and the Sauratown Mountains in the background.

Then we headed to the summit parking lot to take the Grindstone Trail back down. I stopped for one more picture from an overlook, then we started hiking down.

We followed Grindstone Trail all the way back down to the visitor center, briefly got on the Grassy Ridge Trail and then picked up the Mountain Trail back to our cars. Total distance was about 10.5 miles. The weather had been so nice, it was great to feel like spring was finally on its way.

New Years Eve Costa Rica Style!

Soon the bus came and we started making our way back to the capital. We stopped at one little road side shack for a bathroom break and a few people got some souvenirs and snacks. The people who owned the shack were grateful to Ro and gave him a bag with a couple little souvenirs. As we were driving back, Ro asked some Costa Rica trivia questions and gave away the souvenirs. I won a sloth key chain for being able to name the most Costa Rican provinces. Back in San José, we checked back into Hotel Auténtico for our last night in Costa Rica. For dinner, the whole group headed to Las Mañanitas, a Mexican place restaurant just a couple blocks from the hotel. It was different than the Mexican food we get at home, but really good. And I suspect for authentically Mexican. It was Tim's birthday so Ro talked to the owners and they brought out a cake and sang. Tim didn't want to celebrate his birthday, so it was a lot of fun! After dinner, a few people catching early flights went back, but most of us were going out to the clubs for New Years Eve. Another G Adventures group that just arrived was also going out. Ro had suggested going to El Pueblo, an complex with several clubs and bars connected. The other tour guide, however, insisted on going to another bar first, I guess because it was cheaper. This place, I didn't bother getting the name, was a little sketchy. The only redeeming quality was the great laugh we got over the “bathroom”. The men’s room lacked a sink, a toilet, and even a door! Soon, we convinced Ro that we should leave and headed to El Pueblo.

It was a great time of dancing and partying, ringing in the New Year. Ro said that New Years Eve is more of a family holiday than a party holiday so most of the locals stay home. We ended up being the biggest group and just had a great time dancing and drinking at the clubs. Around 2, we got a cab back to the hotel and went to bed. Friday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel with everyone who was still in Costa Rica. After breakfast, Sandy and I went for a short walk around Parque La Sabana one more time before our flight. The lake was very pretty.

A couple of people in our group had considered hitting the art museum before departing for the airport. It's right next to the park, so we swung by and it was closed for the holiday.

When we got back to the hotel, we hung out with our new friends until the shuttle came to bring us back to the airport. It was a fantastic trip with great friends, so it was sad to say goodbye. We gave Ro a big hug for departing for the airport. Fortunately, all the flights back were on time and uneventful.

Sailing Quepos Bay

Thursday morning, we checked out of the hotel. The front desk was nice enough to hold our stuff while we went on one more activity in Quepos. We drove down to the marina for sailing in a trimaran, similar to a catamaran but with three hulls. I wasn’t real excited about this as I'm not really into sailing, but Ro recommended it and the I wanted to spend time with the group on our last day. We arrived at the marina and checked in and then boarded the trimaran.

They had delicious rum punch, along with water and soft drinks, to drink while we were on the water. From Quepos, we headed to the Manuel Antonio area where we could see the beaches we had spent the past couple of days at.

We also circumnavigated the volcanic islands sticking out of the water off the coast.

The crew spotted some brown booby birds and said they're a good sign of dolphins. The birds scavenge for fish left by the dolphins and are a good indicator of where to find them. Follow the boobies! We sailed over towards them and soon we saw a pod of spinner dolphins swimming around the bay.

These dolphins are known for their aerial acrobatics but weren't doing anything today. They swam around the boat a couple times and then swam off. Then we headed over towards Playa Biesanz, where the boat anchored. The guides provided snorkel gear, but Sandy and I had brought our own snorkel and mask. We prefer to not use ones that have been used by others. We hopped into the water and swam over to a reef where a number of tropical fish were.

The majority of the fish were Pacific Sergeant-Majors, but we also saw a couple of Cortez Rainbow Wrasse and other beautiful fish. One of the guides gave us a piece of pineapple to feed them.

Holding a piece in the water caused them to go into a feeding frenzy right in front of us. It was a beautiful explosion of color.

After snorkeling for a while, I headed back to the boat and rode the water slide a couple of times and did a couple jumps into the water. Then, we had lunch on the boat.

They mainly served fish and I was going to eat it, though I don't care for seafood. But Ro was nice enough to talk to the guys and they made me chicken instead. They claimed it was a seagull they caught while I was snorkeling. After lunch, we started making our way back. We had all been drinking a bit, so the guys turned the music up and we had a little dance party on the boat as we sailed back to the marina. From here, we took a bus back to the hotel and get our bags. The bus to take us back to San José was delayed due to a flat tire, but the folks at Pacific Paradise were nice enough to let us play in the pool while we waited.

Manuel Antonio National Park

Wednesday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel. It was complimentary, but the continental breakfast consisted of some toast – not very filling. I learned my lesson and got the Costa Rican breakfast the following morning. After breakfast, we headed into town and met Ro at the entrance to Manuel Antonio National Park. It was incredibly crowded, but thanks to Ro, we were able to get in relatively quickly. Even early in the morning, it was very hot and humid so we picked up an extra water from one of the many vendors along the road heading into the park. Entering the park on the main road, almost immediately we saw some white-faced caphuchin monkeys frolicking about in the trees.

About half-way down the road, we took the Sendero Paralelo trail and saw a deer just off the boardwalk.

At the end of this trail, we came to the restrooms and the main beach in the park, Playa Manuel Antonio, and it was tremendously crowded.

Ro suggested we go to another beach, just a short ways away. There was almost no one here at Playa Espadilla Sur!

It was just great to have someone show us all the local tricks so we could concentrate on just enjoying our vacation. For an hour or so, we pretty much had the beach to ourselves. We dropped our stuff in the shade and headed out into the water to cool off. At least one person stayed on shore with our stuff while others were in the water. This was intended to ward of human thieves, but there was another type of thief at this beach.

A pair of raccoons came out of the woods and started going through unattended backpacks. They worked as a team and quickly got the bags opened and rummaged through them for food.

The raccoons were fairly aggressive, but would flee when sand was kicked at them. I walked around on the beach for a while getting pictures, taking a dip in the ocean when I got hot.

After a couple of hours on the beach, Sandy and I headed off on a hike around the park. We went to Playas Gemelas, a double beach separated by volcanic rocks.

While I was taking some pictures of the beach, Sandy found a huge black iguana.

We then continued on to the overlook for Playa Punta Escondido beach. The path leading down to water level was blocked off for safety, but we had lovely views of the small bay.

We then started making our way back. There's no food in the park and it was well past lunch time, so we were all getting hungry. I made a quick detour on the Sendero La Catarata, but this waterfall is seasonal and it was too dry to be flowing.

As we were almost out of the park, we saw some Costa Rican squirrel monkeys in the trees just overhead, picking fruit to eat.

They were really cute! We left the park and headed back to Gemelas for lunch again. They had good food and great service so we decided to eat here again, since it was conveniently close to the park entrance. After lunch, we got picked up to go kayaking in the mangrove forest. The driver took us out to the put in on Rio Paquito at Isla Damas.

There was a delay in transport, so we got started late and it was already nearing sunset. But the views along the river were absolutely gorgeous as the sunlight was fading.

Shortly after getting on the water, we spotted a beautiful white heron in the shallow water.

We paddled down a ways and headed into the mangrove forest. Our guide gave us some information about the different types of mangroves in Costa Rica.

We didn't get a lot of time in here before it got dark, so soon we started paddling back. As we were going, a large swarm of bats flew overhead. By the time we got back to the put-in, it was completely dark. We pulled our boats of the water and got back in the van and our guide took us to dinner at Rancho Leon. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. Sandy got a massage while I swam in the pool. Then, we started getting our stuff packed up.

Flying over Quepos Bay

Tuesday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and then packed up to leave. After two nights of poor sleep, I was ready to check out. A bus picked us up and we started making our way to the coast. Initially, we were on gravel roads and Ro had the driver stop at one point along Road 606 near San Luis with scenic views of the mountains around Monteverde.

Monteverde means green mountain and the reason for the name was clear from this view point.

After a couple pictures, we continued on, eventually reaching paved roads by the coast. It was still several hours to Quepos, so we stopped at a rather touristy gift shop for a break. Everything was overpriced, so we didn’t get any souvenirs. A little further on, we made another stop at Río Grande de Tárcoles. From the bridge over the river, we could see a number of large American crocodiles basking in the warm sun along the river bank.

Ro jokingly said this was a good river to learn to swim - you'll pick it up quickly. Fortunately, I already know how to swim, so stayed safely up on the bridge.

We then finished up the drive to Quepos, stopping at our hotel just outside of town. We were staying at Pacific Paradise Resort. All of our rooms weren’t ready yet, but they let us have a couple rooms so we could drop our luggage. Then we headed into town and had lunch at Gemelas right on the beach. After lunch, we headed out to the beautiful beach.

It was incredibly hot in Quepos so the water felt really great, perhaps a little too warm. We played in the water for a while and then I headed down the beach to the end. There was a river here and across was Manuel Antonio National Park. A sign indicated not to cross the river due to crocodiles in the water. I didn’t see any, but stayed out of the water anyway. There were some cool volcanic rocks sticking out of the water here that I could wade out to and climb around on. As the sun was getting ready to set, Sandy and I decided to try parasailing. The operators were booked, but Ro was able to get us in.

We took off from the beach and soon were flying high above. The views of the beach and surrounding mountains were just fabulous from the sky.

We could also get a nice view of the small volcanic islands just offshore.

The speedboat took us out past the bay and then turned back around towards shore.

As we approached the shore, the boat slowed down and we began to descend until we hit the water. We got out of our harnesses and a guy in a jet ski picked us up and brought us back to shore. It was our first time parasailing and we really enjoyed it. The views of the beach and sea at Quepos were stunning. Back on land, we packed up our stuff and took a public bus to El Avion bar. The bar was built around an old bomber jet that had been abandoned during the Iran-Contra scandal.

Guests could go into the old plane and there was even a bar in here.

The restaurant was perched up on a cliff overlooking the sea, we had wonderful views of the sunset.

Ro indicated this place was a little expensive, so we just had drinks here and would wait for dinner. We then caught a bus back to the hotel and checked into our room, then made a short trip to have seafood for dinner. I’m not a big fan of seafood, so I got chicken. Sandy greatly enjoyed her crab legs, however. After dinner, we swung by town to hit the ATM and give Ro money for our entrance tickets to Manuel Antonio National Park. It was the peak of tourist season and the park was turning away visitors after they reached the quota. Ro was going to leave very early in the morning to secure our tickets.