THE VOLCANO IRAZU IVJ 



The rain stopping for a short time, we turned aside at a 

 branch road 1400 feet above Tierra Blanca, where there is 

 a little stream, and watered and fed the horses and refreshed 

 ourselves. But all the rest of the way down there was a 

 steady and exceedingly hard downpour, and although we 

 followed the longer milk road to avoid the Tierra Blanca 

 hills, the road was steep and so slippery with the rain that 

 even our surefooted little horses could do no more than 

 crawl. It was consequently a long and tiresome ride down 

 to Cartago, but we managed to keep the cameras and plates 

 dry and in spite of the rain we were glad we had made one 

 ascent in the wet season. 



Our next visit to the volcano was in the dry season, when 

 we carried a tent and camped two days in the crater itself, 

 and in spite of some unfavorable weather were able to make 

 a much more complete examination of the volcano. Leaving 

 Cartago in the morning of March 31, with a guide and a 

 packhorse, we rode directly up to the crater, only pausing 

 in Tierra Blanca a few minutes to speak with our friend 

 Sefiora Brenes. In great contrast to our previous visits to 

 the top of Irazu in July and in September was the dryness 

 of the road for the whole distance, even through the forest. 

 This made our ride easier, speedier and more agreeable. 

 In the forest, we were sorry to see that a number of large 

 oaks by the roadside had been felled or burned since our last 

 visit, a destruction which has doubtless been in progress 

 for many years. 



About halfway in the forest we turned aside to fill our 

 water cans at a small and beautiful spring known as Chicoa. 

 Its altitude is probably near 9700 feet and it is the nearest 

 water to the crater, distant three or four miles. 



Not until we were about to begin the descent into the cra- 

 ter did the first clouds roll over us, producing intermittent 

 mist and rain. We selected a level spot, on the floor of the 



