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Kichuguecha to Quebrada Mari

Day 3 – March 19

Hiking – 11.6 km (7.2 miles), 467 meters (1,532 ft) elevation gain.

Kichuguecha

Not that Coroma was a metropolis (no stores, offices or really anything but gardens and houses) but Kichuguecha was as close as you could get to nothing and still be something.  The only building is the community house where people from the surrounding area meet to make decisions or celebrate events.

It’s simply a long platform on stilts with a thatched roof and a cooking box at one end but we were ecstatic to be invited to stay.

The Bridge (almost) Too Far

The vines between the hand cables and the foot cables helped stabilize the bridge
Cable bridge

Kichuguecha was the last outpost of civilization before the wilderness.  The cable across the river near the community house gave access to small garden plots and fishing on the far bank of the Río Coen but from there the trail only headed downstream and we’d be relying on our baqueano’s skills to navigate to the continental divide where we could join a national park trail in the heart of Amistad.

The guides weren’t thrilled at the prospect of crossing the cable in the first place then one of the locals started giving all sorts of advice about how not to fall.  We had all night to think about it right outside the long house and by morning there was palpable tension.

Chris and I have both been walking slacklines for a couple of decades so this looked like a piece of cake since there were hand high cables to steady yourself.  It was a little disconcerting when in the morning everyone from a 2 km radius showed up to watch the gringos land in the river from 30 feet up.  I don’t like thinking about things so I hefted my pack and walked across.

A couple of porters followed and cheers went up every time someone crossed.  Everyone was starting to wonder what all the fuss was when Andy went horizontal and his foot  slipped off.

Camp Quebrada Mari

Rare sunshine
Rare sunshine

I’ve been cooking on the same Whisperlite International backpacking stove for about 30 years.  It is one of the best pieces of back country gear anyone could ever hope to own and if you’re looking at liquid fuel stoves there is no point in even considering anything else.

I wish someone had given me that advice before I went to REI.  The only problem with the Whisperlite International in Costa Rica is that they don’t sell white gas stove fuel there.  I’ve found it in 47 countries around the world but in the 23 years I’ve been searching for it in Costa Rica I’ve only seen a single can that someone smuggled in their suitcase before the increased security of 9/11.

Along the narrow bank
Along the narrow bank

The sales person at REI was very knowledgeable and despite my misgivings convinced me that the Soto Muka was the new International and capable of burning unleaded gasoline instead of white gas stove fuel.  I bought two.

They worked fantastically when I tested them, really well in Kichuguecha for dinner on day 2, okay for breakfast on day 3 and died completely during dinner prep at Quebrada Mari on day 3.  Obviously despite their multi-level filtration and fuel injection instant on technology they were clogged by the buildup from burning unleaded gas which doesn’t burn as hot or clean as white gas.

Heavy
Heavy

At that point we had two $200 bricks because unlike the International which can be completely field stripped and rebuilt from a thimble sized parts kit the Soto Muka ins factory sealed and cannot be cleaned or repaired.  Fortunately they are very light bricks and I carried them home for a refund.

Because of the stove problems we ate lukewarm Potato Alu and semi-crunchy Mountain Meal Pad Thai.

Justin didn’t get his tent staked properly when he was setting it up and spent the night being dripped on.  I know the feeling as I’ve done the same.  You’re laying there thinking “there must be some angle I can contort my body into where the drips won’t hit me…I’m not going out there in this mess at 2:00 a.m. to try to fix it.”  Then by about 5:30 you haven’t had any sleep at all and wish you’d gone out at 2:00 but instead you have to get up and pack a tent that’s wet on the inside and out and get on with the day.

Go to Another Day
Caribbean – 0 – 1 – 2 – today – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – Pacific

Photo Gallery Day 3 – Kichuguecha to Quebrada Mari

Each of the images below is linked to a larger version with a detailed description

Northface tadpole - love this tent. It's nice and roomy as a solo and not too bad for two considering how light it is.
Northface tadpole
Gray sunrise
Gray sunrise
We knew if El Machete was concerned it was probably a problem
Audience
I didn't envy Andres having to cross after the dramatic tilt-a-whirl demonstration Andy put on, but he concentrated and strolled right across
Andres went next
Crossing the cable bridge
Crossing the cable bridge
Once Andy got a little unbalanced it was a few exciting oscillations from horizontal right, back to upright and over to horizontal left before he stabilized again. We shot some video but this still shows just how far he tilted
Way of kilter
Sunrise the morning of day three with mist over the Río Coén valley, Kichuguecha
Mist over Rio Coen
The vines between the hand cables and the foot cables helped stabilize the bridge
Cable bridge
Some things just don't come across in photos and just how high this wire was above the river and how fast the river was flowing are a couple of things you'll have to take our word for
Higher than it looks
Rio Coen
Rio Coen
Break time
Break time
Rio Coen
Rio Coen
Rare sunshine
Rare sunshine
After looking at several thousand pictures I've decided it's nearly impossible to get a photo that really shows how steep the terrain we were following was.
Steep
Scrambling over boulders and through knee deep water along the river's edge was a common theme on day three
Scrambling
One of the last signs of civilization we saw were small cocoa plantations. They appeared abandoned and this pod well past ripe for harvest was covered in small epiphytes.
Last coco plot
River trail
River trail
Rain clouds built up by late morning
Rain clouds
Sunny
Sunny
This giant tree had recently crashed down across the trail. It took about twenty minutes to work our way across and through the 100 meter wide jumble of branches and epiphytes that had been in the canopy a few days before
Giant tree fall
Hanging from a vine "rapelling" down a vertical mud face
Hanging from a vine
Crossing
Crossing
Filtering water - later in the trek high up in the Talamanca mountains I started to trust the water straight out of the streams and drank it with no ill effects.
Filtering water
Wading
Wading
River
River
The guides got a good laugh out of it when they led us around the corner of what looked like a dead end into a massive vertical wall and there was a tunnel right through the rock
Natural tunnel
Scrambling over a log jam. You can see the rainy season water level where the moss ends on the rock. If you attempted this in the wet months the water would be chest deep, not to mention carrying tree trunks the size of telephone poles.
Scrambling over a log
Crossing
Crossing
Heliconia
Heliconia
Ducking under
Ducking under
Caterpillars
Caterpillars
River rock
River rock
Break
Break
Glass wing butterfly
Glass wing
White water
White water
From above
From above
Talamanca mountains
Talamanca mountains
Valley
Valley
Muddy climb
Muddy climb
Waiting
Waiting
Red epiphyte
Red epiphyte
Step over
Step over
Big trunk
Big trunk
Stream as trail
Stream as trail
Hiking upstream
Hiking upstream
Bouldering
Bouldering
Along the narrow bank
Along the narrow bank
Bananas for lunch
Bananas for lunch
Heavy
Heavy

Go to Another Day
Caribbean – 0 – 1 – 2 – today – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – Pacific

 

Ray & Sue

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Over the Hill
  • Trans Talamanca Trek – How To
  • Over the Hill
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  • Kichuguecha to Quebrada Mari
  • Quebrada Mari to Fila Bugu
  • Fila Bugu to Catarata Ririgu
  • Catarata Ririgu to Rio Lori
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