Day nine; perhaps the most difficult day we've had thus far.
We journeyed along the Tree Forests Trail once again.
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| Trying to hype ourselves up to hike that trail again |
Please check out this post Shawn made about the situation.
Shortly after passing them (they ended up leaving for the day after we passed by), we had to start bushwhacking our way. Becca and I were still carrying those huge packs as we navigated through and around patches of heavy bamboo. Bamboo, aka glorified grass, can have spines on their stalks and have spines on their shoots, and getting through it is a pain. At one point, Shawn declared that we had to get through more bamboo and I buried my face into the pack on my front, quietly screamed, then kept going.
We did not make it to our climbing tree until 3 pm. Honestly, we all began accepting that there may not be a camera going up that day.
I was determined though. For once, I managed a CAIP installation rather quickly even though I had an issue with my lanyard getting tangled in my ankle ascender.
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| The view from our new location |
The hike back started with getting lost near immediately. We were far down the Three Forests Trail and tried a new way to get back instead of the difficult path we hacked earlier. But it seemed every half hour we were lost again. Becca and I were also running out of light. My headlamp had turned on in my pack and drained, my phone was out of juice, so I was relying on a small flashlight. Becca's headlamp was low, too. Both of us wondered if we'd make it back to the house with any light and mentally compared the benefits of simply curling up on the forest floor and waiting for daylight.
We both made it back with light. And at one point when we made it back on the trail, we witnessed a pair of Crested Owls mating! The second we made it onto the patio, we all began singing 'We Are the Champions'. In the end, the day had been 13 hours long. Although thoroughly worn out, all of us were proud of what we did.
Miles hiked: 7.93
PB&J count: 47
Day ten was our last day with Shawn in the field until after the holidays. We hiked the entirety of the Three Forests Trail. Getting into Bosque Seco Lalo Loor (BSLL) was like heaven. The trails were so clearly marked - every 25 m there was flagging indicating how far along the trail we were.
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| All of the signage in BSLL is a welcome sight |
Fortunately, we also had a ride arranged to pick us up at the gates that evening.
Unfortunately, we were running low on time when we arrived in the reserve. All we ended up accomplishing was locating a few potential trees for CAIP installation. As we speed hiked out of BSLL, we encountered a Little Tinamou. We caught the bird off guard because the second it noticed us, the tinamou sort of tripped down the hillside.
Miles hiked: 6.66
PB&J count: 53
Day eleven - the first day of just Becca and me in the field. We now have a ride arranged to and from BSLL to save hiking time. When we arrived, the guard from the reserve was curious about our work and tagged along to see what we were doing. I love talking about my project, but I am still learning and felt more pressured having unfamiliar eyes on what I was doing. He was very kind though - he had worked in Coca with Woolly monkeys so he had a lot of questions about this project and my specific research questions.
While we did get a line in a tree and I did safely climb, a camera was not installed. Despite how many times I rerouted my lanyard, I could not navigate to where I wanted in the tree. The line was just too far.
With time running out, we cut our losses and decided to move to a more straightforward tree.
Miles hiked: 6.44
PB&J count: 55
Day twelve, on the hike to the tree, we encountered a Paca having a meal. We saw it as a sign that things would go our way today.
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| Wild Paca traipsing around |
Fate had other plans. We moved on to a new tree, fired the line, and on the third attempt, the bag got caught up down a cliffside. No matter how much we tried to tug the bag free, we couldn't get the bag to move. I made the choice to cut the line. Not the greatest idea. Apparently, the shot had taken a lot of fishing line with it and in the next shot we fired, the weight bag took off and took the end of the line with it.
Two weight bags were gone. All the fishing line off the reel was gone.
All we could do at that point is to look for the missing weight bags. We searched along a steep slope and into a gully without much hope of finding one. I was considering calling it a day at the one hour mark until Becca yelled out that she'd found one. A few tears of relief were shed.
Miles hiked: 6.77
PB&J count: 57
Day thirteen, we return to BSLL with an extra reel and extra fishing line. Both of us are determined that we will get a CAIP installed. And we did! After the second shot, we had a reliable line. I even found the missing weight bag from yesterday on my way to find the one we'd just fired.
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| The two retrieved weight bags |
We even had the time to go to the next tree and set another line. I was beyond thrilled with our perseverance.
Miles hiked: 7.53
PB&J count: 59
Day fourteen, finally our day! Our plan was to leave for the holidays on the 24th, so even if we didn't get two done today, we would be leaving for break. BUT, Becca and I both wanted to get the two cameras installed. Neither of us verbally said it aloud to keep from jinxing ourselves. We just kept a positive and goofy attitude about the day (soundtrack = Queen), and it all went according to plan (for once)! I was up in the tree by 10:30 am and back on the ground before noon. There was plenty of time to get another done, and we were hopeful.
The last tree of BSLL was challenging to find. In the midst of the dry season of the dry forests, the trees looked worse for wear. Most were in senescence (no leaves on the branches) and had termites in some capacity. After a lot of searching, we found a tree fit for climbing and Becca climbed our second tree of the day.
Day fourteen marked the first time getting two CAIPs installed in one day, which is something we had hoped to get accomplish several times before. I was speechless and immensely proud of what we had accomplished.
Now we can enjoy our holidays on the beach in peace.
Miles hiked: 5.45
PB&J count: 61
Total mileage: 80.78
CAIPs Installed: 11
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