Among his goals is to find Irvine's body and the Kodak Vestpocket camera he is believed to have carried. Six months into writing the book, Summers found a trunk belonging to Irvine's brother last summer. It was a treasure trove of additional information about the 1924 expedition, including letters and photographs. It's been a mild winter, but for some snow outings, even mountain mild is too chilly without several warm ideas up one's sleeve, and Randall provides an abundance of techniques to stay warm. The guide is heavy on charts, photographs and lists that should lessen your learning curve.
Bears are big, smart and move a lot faster than most people believe.
Brown stresses avoiding encounters but if that doesn't work, what to do when you're eyeball to eyeball with a bear. The information is great, but the book's organization and packaging could be better. Try windsurfing on Lake Arenal at the foot of a volcano. Or delve into the country's diversity by investigating cINBioparque, a project involving the identification of all plant, animal an insect species in the country. A cave that's not for the faint-hearted is Cavernas del Venado with its bats, cave fish, crickets and spiders.