(Intro by Jason)
Well from what I remember from the stories is that you’re suppose to throw a virgin into a volcano when you get to the top. I don’t understand why you would want to do something like that. Something along the same reasons you have grape juice and a cracker at catholic mass I suppose. So when I got to the top of the mountain, Lisa informed me that she wasn’t a virgin, and thus I was not able to throw her into it. With her having a son Zane, I should have put two and two together. I am just a male after all and sometimes we miss things. There was no bubbling lava so I suppose it would have been fairly uneventful anyway. Just some tumbling, bruises and a very angry wife. Instead, there was lots of walking.. and then we turned around and walked back down.
(by Lisa)
…and that’s just what we did…for 9 hours, 15 miles (roundtrip) and 8000 feet of vertical gain. Jason and I hiked the Vocano Baru (11,400 ft., the highest peak in Panama) today while Zane volunteered at the animal refuge. It was a big day for all of us! We walked our asses off and Zane got to hire is first cab…in Panama none the less! Mission accomplished for all!
We started the day at 3:30 am, began hiking a litte after 5:00 am and finshed at 2:30pm. At the summit you can see both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Let me say that this was a HUGE day for me. Like a Cross Fit workout or a hard lead climb, I had to break it into pieces to wrap my head around it. I really wasn’t sure I was going to summit…my legs wern’t working very well for me in the beginning. I have to say that determination goes a long way for me. I just kept moving. Anyway, just wanted to you guys to know we are still suffering and working our bodies here in Panama…but right now I’m sitting on a couch with ice on my kneese drinking a very strong drink. Cheers!
(Jason again here)
You have to really like hiking to enjoy the Vocan Baru thing. It’s a constantly steep jeep road that really doesn’t have much scenery, besides a wall of forest. The road rarely flattens out, and doesn’t affor many view either until you near the top. I guess you can ascend it by the Cerro Punta side for a more adventures single track. You need a guide to do it this way, and hiring a guide to do something like going for a long walk would be hard on my ego. It was also a quickly planned adventure, so climbing it from the other side would have been much more difficult logistically.
We don’t really like hiking for the sake of hiking, and thus, although we are glad we did it, it’s not a walk I would like to do again. My knees and feet hurt, there was next to no wildlife, no diversity, and not much in the way of aesthetics. The hike up was long, and the hike back down felt even longer. We can say we did it now and we have a story to tell.
