Sunday 23/10/2022 Route 926 – Soda Delicias del Pelado – Cerro Pelado – Solanea
Tilaran, Guanacaste Province
COSTA RICA
Participants: Beth Davies, Stephen Davies (Photos), Sue Davies (Report), Felipe Ureña-Araya, Pablo Ureña Vega, Cal Stewart, Kerrie Stewart and some Pablo Runners – Alejandra Aguileta, Jorge Araya, María Matamoros, Alberto Morales, Sofía Robles, Eli Urdaneta, Felipe Ureña, Ligia, Bryan
Our morning ridge top walk with a group of Pablo’s running clients required a 30 minute drive from Hacienda La Pacifica (Canas). Again this was a private trail that required payment for the walk and parking. I was surprised by how many cars were already in the car park when we arrived at 6:10am.
Max elevation: 661 m
Total climbing: 572 m
Total descent: -573 m
Average speed: 3.81 km/h
Total time: 02:25:41
The gravelly track starts out steeply in the forest, quickly gaining 170m of height before beginning its undulating path towards Cerro Pelado along an open ridge. Above the forest, there are fantastic views of the surrounding countryside.
A short side track climbs steeply up a tyre-reinforced staircase to a prominent knoll with 360-degree views, a must. From here there are a couple of steep sections where we made use of our hands for a little security.
Four of us opted out of the final summit assault for various reasons. The starting point of the final climb involved a scramble with some serious exposure, probably not the place for someone with a knee injury!
The views approaching the summit had some of us referring to Machu Picchu due to its shape. It has the characteristic shape of an extinct volcano.
Pablo Runners on Cerro Pelado trail
Once everyone was off the summit we convened on the next knoll for a group photo before returning to the cars to get back to Hacienda La Pacifica in time for breakfast.
The only wildlife we saw this morning was a single Owl-Butterfly.
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