Cloudy Day

We woke to a round of wind gusts and very cloudy skies. Today is our day at the reserve, but we wonder what the day will bring in these weather conditions.

Arriving at the reserve at an early 8 am, there is little activity. There is a guide sitting at the next table with several people and he gives a short comment on camera settings and a very detailed talk on the cloud forest, and what they will encounter in the next 3-4 hours. This talk is reminiscent of our walk at Monteverde last Saturday. Still no one arrives to direct us, and Pat and Pam #1 return to the hotel and the reserve office.

Sandy and I stay. Three volunteers from last week arrive and we don our rain boots--climbing until out of breath, it seems. We are almost at the observatory tower. My task for this morning is more raking leaves and clearing gulleys--just at a much higher altitude. Sandy takes on the task at the base camp of sweeping and clearing the entire handicap trail of branches and leaves.

After lunch, we return to the forest.

Back in town, Pat is working in the garden at the high school. She also dabbled in a little painting as evidenced by the paint on her pants. We are treated to cinnamon bread and coffee back at the Mar-Inn.