The Mountain Of The Three Crosses

A few weekends ago, I joined eight other students from The Spanish Language Institute and hiked up a mountain outside San Jose. The unofficial name of the mountain, which is what everyone calls is, is 'Mountain Of The Three Crosses'. Or,' Montaña de las Tres Cruces', en espanol. We met at 6:00 am to get a good start on the day, took a bus to the base of the mountain, and began the ascent.

The trail began easily enough.

 The view became more and more spectacular.

 Mossy.

The first cross!

 

 See the National Stadium? The big white building in the center.

 

The trail had some intense moments.

Cool tree.

 What is this? It looks like a cross between a tree and a bunch of yucca plants.

 

The second cross!

 The whole group! Good cameras with timers are a great thing.

 Continuing the hike.

The trail got a little rocky ...

 ... and a little muddy.

Tree pictures: there's going to be a lot of these.

The third cross! We made it to the top of the mountain.

And yet the best was still to come.

 

Down through a trail of ferns ...

 

... to the ridge.

 Middle Earth? The Lord Of The Rings soundtrack started playing in my head.

 

We hiked down the other side of the mountain, aka the long (but worth it) way.

 Seriously, cue some epic music here.

 

 Lunch!

 I think a Hobbit could comfortably make a home in this tree.

 Well hello!
Finally we met some of the cows whose evidence along the trail made us watch our feet.

 Fancy, natural fences. We're getting back to civilization.

 A quaint and lovely cottage.

 It was a great hike.