Los Crestones
Laura McLaughlin
[pdf]
My muscles scream with exhaustion and the hill seems to stretch endlessly out and up in front of me. I curse myself for choosing to do this extra hike. We’d already climbed to the top of Chirripó, and now I choose to climb up almost as high a second time!
He runs up effortlessly in front of me, making me want to hit him for not struggling when air is so hard for me to come by, but at the same time pulling me up, higher and higher.
Los Crestones, glacier-carved outcroppings of andesite between Valle de los Conejos and Cerro Chirripó. [Click to enlarge]
We walk through a crevice between rocks and I think I can see the top. Coming out, the view that strikes me is incredible. Pastel-blue mountains extend to the horizon as far as the eye can see. But still, to the right, the trail climbs up along the ridge. I’m exhausted but I keep walking, up and up, to the peak.
There’s a register book where we all sign our names, becoming some of the many who have struggled and made it up to this point. But while we’re at the highest peak, we have yet to reach the Crestones. So we continue walking up and down along the ridge.
They come into view eerily looming and powerful against the fog. Massive stone structures; the fog whirls around them. We stand and stare for a minute — the view strikingly beautiful, but at the same time creepy and haunting.
We climb around at the top before beginning the equally long walk back down everything we had worked so hard to climb up.
Our school is sustained by donations to our scholarship fund. Over one third of our students are on financial aid. To start the 2008–2009 school year we will need approximately $50,000, of which we currently have only $36,000. We are blessed by a broad base of donors, each contributing a small amount. Each one makes a difference.
_____ $230 provides an 85% scholarship for one elementary student for one month
_____ $135 provides a 50% scholarship for one elementary student for one month
_____ $ 67 provides a 25% scholarship for one elementary student for one month
_____ $ 27 provides a 10% scholarship for one elementary student for one month
Your donations to our scholarship fund allow us to retain quality teachers, and buy books and supplies. Monteverde Friends School is grateful to our broad base of donors who allow us to provide the quality education we do to all eligible students regardless of their ability to pay.
If you are in need of a U.S. tax deduction you can send money to Monteverde Friends US at the following address:
Clara Rowe
Monteverde Friends U. S.
P. O. Box 993
Amherst, MA 01004
Checks can also be made out directly to the Monteverde Friends School and delivered here.
WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION!
