Ciudad Quesada: An Interesting Two Days on Our Way To The Mountains

Switching venues from the coast to the mountains only took us about a two hour drive.  Boy the roads around here are something.  When we get back to the states we will never complain about the road upkeep (not even in PA!).  Our new destination was Ciudad Quesada which is actually about an hour and a half north of San Jose.  The attraction here, besides the cooler weather, was Juan Castro Blanco National Park.

Odd thing, besides the constant mist in the air, was that this entrance to the park is privately owned by a hotel and restaurant.  The fee at this entrance was a bit cheaper than the one provided by the government.

On the way in we did not see the smaller people gate and managed to open up the livestock gate instead.  No harm done but that is how misty it was at the time.

Our first order of business was to have a chat with these two fine looking bovine specimens.  The cows in Costa Rica are very lazy so we call them 'vacas perizosos'

Our conversation was rather one sided as their mouths were full while chewing their cud!

We headed up 'trail #1' with the intent to hike the 3 miles up to the volcano summit.  Very strange and difficult trail as the ground was so muddy with a soft texture that when your foot stepped off of a root or a rock, it sank like in quicksand.  The trail also gained a good 2000 feet over that 3 miles.

Our feet generally stayed on the slippery root systems to these really cool and old trees but here you can see that one misstep sank my foot about 'a foot' deep.

Had to play 'limbo' a number of times to get under obstacles like this.  The vegetation is so lush though we paused often to admire it.  Vegetation growing on vegetation growing on vegetation etc.

After getting down from trail number 1 we headed out onto trail 2 and 3, each of which led to different waterfalls.  Took a bit of nimbleness to make it to the falls but it was worth it.

Nice spot for a small lunch whilst admiring the falls.  Of course the sign said no swimming.  Bummer.

What would a good blog post be without a video of a roaring waterfall?  So peaceful as we were the only ones there.

The last waterfall trail involved a small stream crossing.  The experienced 'forders of streams and rivers' we are, the rope provided by the park was actually more of a hinderance than an aide.  We felt like we should use it as someone went to the trouble of putting it there.

This falls was not as tall as the first but it seemed to have many layers much like a really tough set of rapids to kayak down.  Pretty and peaceful too.

Back at our Airbnb we found out what was making the racket between the window and the window shade.  Never seen a moth this big, or stupid as it could not find its way out of the open window without our help.

We decided to go to Sunday brunch at the restaurant that had the private entrance to the national park.  The half hour drive there along the ridge of a mountain range was spectacular even the second trip in two days.  Sitting outside enjoying a beer and the mist from being in the clouds made for great atmosphere.

Never would have noticed these spider webs on the porch if it were not for the mist in the air clinging to them.  Extremely pretty even though it was supposed to be an upscale eating establishment.

As seems to be usual, whether at Airbnbs or restaurants, or anywhere else for that matter in Costa Rica, we managed to make a canine friend.  Not sure who owned it but for the length of our meal, we were thoroughly entertained by him.  He would actually stand there on two legs for minutes at a time.  We figured it was his way of begging but it actually was not bothersome.

We left town the next day for another driving adventure on the roads of Costa Rica.  We pulled over to have lunch at one of the many roadside 'sodas' or small family owned restaurants and watched as this guy ran out of the house and hopped in the bed of the pickup truck for a ride to work we presumed.  Don't think that mode of transportation would go over well in the States.

A bit down the road we pulled over and parked to take a look at what is billed as Costa Rica's most famous waterfall.  The La Paz Falls had an impressive amount of water flowing over it but the fact that it was on the side of the road made us wonder how it is the most famous when we have seen so many nicer ones during our visit.