– Tuesday, January 8th.
We were up early at 6 am to get ready for our hike and meet our transportation that was arranged yesterday at 6:30. Marco is one of the only tour guides in town and only has a typical Toyota van, however, he was very helpful, kind, and eager to assist. He’s also the head of the local tourism board. An hour later and we were at the Visitor Center and about to begin a journey that neither of us were fully prepared for but greatly enjoyed.
Celaque is a pristine cloud forest and is the headwaters for 14 rivers in Honduras. A cloud forest is a forest where the peaks are usually always in the clouds, thus it’s damp. We began our journey along a wide path that followed the river by the Visitor Center and soon crossed a basic wood bridge. For 2 hours we hiked to get to an “area de descanso” (an area of rest) at 1800 meters, but this hike wasn’t for the faint hearted as it was steep and switched up the mountain (montana) making it rough travel through very old and tall pines and other trees. The next part of the journey lead along a path that crossed 6 small streams, each with some unusual little waterfall and this was equally as difficult, however, because we had to go down to get to the streams and then back up it didn’t seem like we were always climbing. We finally reached Don Tomas, an old clay structure, which now serves as a campsite at 2000 meters. Here we enjoyed peanut butter sandwiches, plantain chips, and 30 minutes of rest after the 2 hour hike from the first rest area.
The hand-drawn map we had said “wild growth” but we couldn’t imagine what that meant until we began to hike past the river again and upwards to the summit. The trees were covered in moss, bromeliads, and orchids and the trail was so small that at times we would have to look around for the small ribbons that marked the trail. The hike up was very steep but didn’t seem like so much work either because of the rest break or because the trail was much more pleasant and cooler. Wild growth meant dense jungle and there were two areas of the trail that created adventures – one area had washed away and we had to precariously cross over mud, rocks, and trees; the other area was where a large tree had fallen along the path and we had to climb on top of the tree for at least 30 feet. I should say that this whole area was an adventure because the trail was so narrow it was hard to find in most places. It was cool, wet, slippery, and exciting. By the time we reached the summit of this mountain at 2383 meters we were ready for a break. The view from the summit was awesome because we could see the whole valley below and the rest of the park that we didn’t have time to climb. The other trails led up to the highest point in Honduras at 2849 meters, however, this is a two-day hike and requires camping on the mountain in a very rustic manner.
From the summit it was mostly down hill, however, there were areas that required upward movement. The most exciting part of this hike was that we walked along the ridge of the mountain, which was so narrow that you had to always watch your footing or you could go tumbling down either side of the mountain quickly. The hike down was quicker, but did create quite a bit of excitement each time one of us would slip on the wet leaves and slide a bit, such as the time I slipped and went tumbling down the mountainside only being stopped by a small group of trees. We were both pleased when we would reach a somewhat level area because at this point our legs were so tired that it was beginning to be hard to walk downhill. The sound of water increased so we knew we were getting closer to the river, which meant being closer to the end of our hike. After passing a very pleasant grassy field we reached the river. A short hike further down and we were at the Visitor Center 15 minutes before our transport was due to arrive, thus we had time to rest in the grass, enjoy the quiet, and contemplate the fact that we were the only two people in the entire park. Talk about an experience.
Rest was required for at least 30 minutes upon return to our hotel, then showers, and out to dinner, where we enjoyed vegetarian enchiladas with chips and some great salsa. The food here is very flavorful, unlike that in Guatemala, which is very bland. I think we’ll be going to the hot springs tomorrow morning.
