Santa Ana - Part 2 - Day trip to Cerro Verde National Park

Summary: A daytrip to Cerro Verde National Park with a guided hike up to the caldera of Volcano Santa Ana is worth the $11 (fees + transport) each. Great views, easy transport, an invigorating hike up to the summit of Santa Ana, and cool breezes. Here's the payoff photo.



Our destination on our second full day in Santa Ana, was the summit of Santa Ana Volcano in Cerro Verde National Park. Bus #248, 90 cents each, leaves at 7:40 AM on Mondays and delivered us to the Park entrance at 9:30 AM. The last hour of the ride is up, up, up with pretty good views of Lago Coatepeque from the right-hand side of the bus.

On arriving in the park, we paid a $1 entry fee each, then walked around the picnic area, miradors, and flower gardens that surround the parking lot until the guided tour started at 11:00. Great views of Volcan Izalco from the mirador.

At the start of the tour we were told that we would each pay an additional $8 during the walk: $1 for the guided tour which includes a police escort, $1 to the owner of private land we would cross, and another $6 entrance fee to the section of the National Park that includes the Santa Ana volcano. And that's how it worked out, and we got a receipt each time we shelled out $$.

After an initial 20 minutes of downhill, we briefly walked across the private land paying the $1, and entered the other section of the park paying $6. Here we were joined by locals who had parked at the cabins of Casa Crystal and had walked a few hundred meters to the park avoiding the other park entrance fee and the strip of private land.

From here it was 90 minutes of up, up, up at a steady pace with awesome views at every step until we reached the top of the caldera and were rewarded with great views of the greenish lake inside the caldera.

After posing for photos and snacking we headed down under cloudy skies and a cool breeze. Back at the 2nd entrance (the $6 fee one), we left the others, with the permission of the police escort, and avoided a 30 or 40 minute uphill slog to the parking lot by taking a right and shortcutting over to the main road via the entrance/exit road to the cabins of Casa Crystal.

Then we headed downhill on the main road, with more great views among the coffee, pines, and cypress, until miraculously catching up to the 3PM return bus #248. I'm guessing the driver was taking a siesta. And we arrived back at Hostal Cerro Verde just after 4PM.

Volcano Izalco from the parking lot mirador.


Sun-Ling making her way up Volcano Santa Ana with Izalco in the background.


Sun-Ling making her way up Volcano Santa Ana with a corner of Lake Coatepeque visible in the background.

On to La Palma

Another day, another border crossing - our 5th country in two weeks. More aggravation or no?

We were lucky to find a direct bus from Santa Rosa de Copan to the El Salvador border at El Poy. It's a through bus to San Salvador operated by Copaneco, but it stops at the Sultana office in Santa Rosa (adjacent to the main terminal) at 9:15 AM. The beauty of the direct bus is not having to change transport in Neuva Ocotopeque. In fact we could have taken this bus all the way to La Palma, El Salvador, but the fare for the 12 kms from the border to La Palma was almost as much as the fare for the 92 kms from Santa Rosa to the border. So the plan was to catch a local bus after crossing the border.

The ride to the border was very scenic and cooler with each passing kilometer as we headed mostly uphill. Much to our relief, this border crossing was uneventful. We got off the bus, changed our remaining Honduran Lempire to US dollars, the official currency of El Salvador, exited Honduras and entered El Salvador with no money requested or required. Sun-Ling's passport was examined thoroughly - it's really thick with lots of visas and stamps. ;-) We were surprised that El Salvador does not give you an entry stamp, they simply enter your info into the computer.

A short bus ride and we are in La Palma and take a poor room at a decent hotel - The Hotel La Palma. It's almost fully booked for a conference and we get the last room. But the wi-fi signal is strong, the air is cool (almost cold), and we sit alone on the peaceful veranda for one evening - the group will arrive tomorrow.

La Palma is known for a certain artistic style, that of Fernando Llort and there are many artisan shops around town; and almost every wall, including our hotel room, sports a mural. But the town has seen better days in our opinion. The murals are slightly faded and the truck and bus traffic on the main road from the capital San Salvador to Honduras lurches, rumbles, and growls through the center center on parallel one-way streets.

La Palma is less than 20 kms from the highest peak in El Salvador - El Pital at 8200 ft. So we catch the 8:30 AM bus to St Ignatio, the 9:30 AM to Rio Chiquito (which goes up, up, up) and at 10:30 we begin the 3km walk up to El Pital with our new friend James from London who we met on the bus.

We get some great views on the way up, but it's obvious that we are walking into the clouds,and sure enough there is no view from the top, just mist, a radio tower, and a summit marker (which also marks the border with Honduras). Even with no view, we very much enjoyed chatting with our new friend James, walking in the tropical cloud forest to Piedra Rajada, a huge cloven rock, and photographing beautiful vistas from below the clouds.

Back in La Palma it's a pupusa dinner (traditional Salvador dish) , a quick look at futbol matches on the town square, and then bed as tomorrow is another travel day - no border crossings so should be a tranquil 3-hour bus ride to Suchitoto.

The view from the bus as we head towards the Honduras-El Salvador Border. The pine is the national tree of Honduras.


At the highest point in El Salvador - El Pital.


Sun-Ling descending in the tropical cloud forest.


Near the summit of El Pital.


Below the clouds on El Pital.


John Chillin' on the veranda.


A mural in La Palma.


Another Mural.


A semi rumbles through La Palma.

Yosemite

Finally, we got around to Yosemite. Being in Patagonia last year really prompted us to start checking off the popular national parks in this country. Our visit to Yosemite was a little unusual, in that it was punctuated with high and low lights, instead of our normal even pace.

• Glacier Point Road opened three days before our arrival, one of the earliest in history.  It is unlike us to have such luck. 
• We left the park a day earlier than planned due to rain, forsaking the Upper Yosemite Falls trail.
• Due to thigh-deep snow, we had to scale back our Sentinel Dome area hiking ambition.  The trails were completely buried in snow and the park does not seem to subscribe to trail blazes.  We trudged over much snow, cross-country.  The 360-degree view from the dome was well worth the effort.
• The second evening at the Bridalveil Fall pullover, we were one-inch (literally and exactly) from being in a car accident.  An SUV from the far lane yanking a sedan in the near lane towards the parking spot in front our car, missing our car by one inch.  No one was hurt, but imagine the hassle... I had never been so relieved in my life.
• We had expected to get a little wet on the Mist Trail.  Instead, on the way down we looked like we had walked through a waterfall rather than by a waterfall.
• We squeezed in a peak at the wild flowers at the little known but highly rated Hite Cove.  Knowing there are supposed to be 60 some species, I was still awed by the variety.  Nature is amazing.
• And we saw a bear! Near the Mist Trail trailhead, therefore semi-habituated. But still very exciting!

The park was every bit scenic as we expected, though the ratio of pullover vistas to day hikes is a little high to our taste.

Mirror Lake


Heading up Sentinel Dome with Yosemite Falls over Sun-Ling's right shoulder.


View from Sentinel Dome with Half Dome and Nevada Fall in the distance.


Northern end of Yosemite Valley as seen from Glacier Point.


On the Illilouette Falls Trail.


Yosemite Valley with El Capitan at left, Half Dome way back in the middle, and Bridalveil Fall at right.


Bridalveil Fall at sunset.


Lavender - Hite Cove.


Some variety of Echeveria Succulent.


Yellow.

Big Basin

Spring Break with my nieces turned out to be very low key. By Thursday I was sufficiently recovered from jet lag and ready to stretch my legs. Big Basin Redwoods State Park had surfaced during our planning. The last time we visited had been 10 years ago. It's high time. The giant redwoods were every bit as impressive as we remembered. On the popular 10-mile Berry Creek Trail, we only encountered a total of four other hikers. The waterfalls were beautiful and mesmerizing. The real surprise were the hundreds of trillium on the Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail. I had my fill of trillium for this lifetime, haha.

Redwoods.


Berry Creek Falls.




Trillium.

Yongping and the Bonan Trail

We came to Yongping to hike the Bonan Trail, one of the old caravan routes, but the logistics of getting to the various start/end points without staying overnight in a village had us stumped. So we decided to just walk from town and take our chances with transport back.

The plan: take a 3-wheeler to Qudong and check out the Old Street and mosques, then walk the Bonan Trail, or the Gu Dao (Ancient Path) to Hua Qiao Village. If there is no transport in Hua Qiao, then walk back to Qudong.

A great walk! We saw more horse carts in action today, than in the rest of our travels combined. The people of Yongping County are relaxed and friendly, quick to respond in kind to a smile and greeting, and eager to help with directions. We found this refreshing after the quiet, cautious, expressionless locals of the upper Nujiang Valley. For example, a Muslim shopkeeper in Hua Qiao filled our water bottles and brought out stools. She also wanted to feed us.

When the one minivan in Hua Qiao wanted 50 RMB each to take us to YongPing - the locals pay 7 or 8 RMB each - we walked backed the way we came to QuDong and caught a three-wheeler back to Yongping.

The New Mosque in Qudong dwarfs the town and is very visible as it perches on a hill.


The Old Mosque is now a school.


Fried dough is always good fuel for a walk.


A newly paved section of the Bonan Road.


Sun-Ling walks a fairly well preserved part of the old road about midway between Qudong and Hua Qiao.


All the fields are ploughed the old fashioned way.


This very nice man helped steer us back onto the old road as he managed his three water buffalo and one donkey.




Typical horse cart with handbrake and seat over the left wheel.


Pack Donkey.


The old road meanders through the valley towards Upper Hua Qiao, the green spot in the distance.


Tie Chang - The village below Hua Qiao.


Hua Qiao's old city gate.


The old road in Hua Qiao.

BingZhongLuo

We arrived in Gongshan around 2:30PM after a so-so bus ride from Fugong featuring more riverside hydro-electric plants, churches, snow-capped mountains towards the Burma border, and villages flying red flags. After not finding a suitable hotel - we are real hotel snobs now ;-) - we decided to press on 45 kilometers to BingZhongLuo (BZL) the northern-most town in the valley.

We hopped on a local bus; that is, a leaves-when-full bus. But before I could sit down I had to move a live chicken out of my seat. Its owner was also transporting a pair of new rubber boots, a small engine stowed in a bamboo basket, 2 dozen eggs, and a large bottle of Snow beer (the world's best selling beer btw).

Finally, after a load of lumber was stacked in the aisle and various cargo attached to the roof, we headed north. Along the way more passengers piled in and stacked their cargo in the aisle. At the county border, the police poked their head in the bus and then waved us on.

About 5 kms before BZL there was a sign that said "Pay fee 250 meters". The bus pulled over, a man came out of a small builing, walked around the bus peering in, and then tapped on my window. "Come with me", he motioned. And I alone had the pleasure of paying the 100 RMB fee for entering the BingZhongLuo Scenic Area. It was indeed a pleasure because all non-locals are supposed to pay the fee, but he did not notice Sun-Ling sitting in the seat in front of me, so we escaped with only one fee between us; fairly benign "racial profiling" by the lazy ticket seller.

In BingZhongLuo, we found a suitable hotel run by the Border Military Police, with heat and hot water, and pleasant young staff, all military policemen. At dinner, we ran into another American, Hope from Philadelphia, who is also traveling in Yunnan and walking the various old trails. Many tips and stories were exchanged.

The next day, after poking around town gathering info, we set out on what became an epic hike with 1000 meters elevation gain, vistas, stupas, bushwhacking and calf-deep snow.

Heading up after starting in town below. Still below the snowline at this point.


Almost at the turnaround point. The far mountains are on the other (east) side of the river.


Passing some mines.




Great view of Bingzhongluo on the way down. Our hotel is on the main street - the only street.


Day Two: Rain. So just a short walk to the First Bend of the Nu Jiang.




Day Three: Walked 15 kms North along the river and back, crossing a muddy landslide (mudslide) on foot one way and in a 4x4 the other, walking part of the Tea Horse Trail, and enjoying the views as the valley becomes a gorge, then a valley, then a gorge, then a valley again.





On the Tea Horse Road with WuLi Village in the background.


International Women's Day basketball game in Ni Da Dang Village.


Day Four: Hiked up to the nearby Tibetan Temple. Then headed up the tributary that runs between the temple and BingzhongLuo with amazing waters, local woodcutters and bowmen, pigs, cows, and horses, and more snow-capped peaks.

The skies are clearing.


Tibetan Buddhist Temple.






Local Bowmen. They really do use crossbows to hunt game.