A group of Costa Rican mountaineers and scientists entered the jungle to the north of the Irazú volcano and found on the expedition a natural waterfall of hot springs water, with a drop of approximately 130 meters, so it would be among the highest in the country, if not the tallest.
In the vicinity of the colossus is the tributary of the Río Caliente, a stream of hot springs located a few kilometers north of the crater of the volcano that flows into the Río Sucio.
Great Thermal Waterfall, Rio Caliente is 130 meters high
Although these waters are frequented by local tourists and people from the area, the north face remained as the dark side of the Moon, since there had been no signs of people reaching the base of this pair of hot water falls; one of 40 and another of 130 meters high.These arise from infiltrated water of the volcano that is born by high slopes and then several springs accumulate.
However, mountaineer Javier Elizondo and an expedition group, including Roberto Rojas, Maria Daisy Ureña and Felipe Fischel, found on the cartographic sheet what looked like a waterfall in the middle of the jungle and decided to venture on an expedition only suitable for rappelling experts, Elizondo said.
With permits to enter through a private farm on the old road to the dairies in San Gerardo de Cartago, they entered and made a walk of moderate difficulty, however, to reach the base of the first waterfall, they had to abseil more than 100 meters with professional equipment.
Also, to protect this fragile ecosystem, access is restricted
“The water in this area changes color easily, when you walk on the river bed, it has a yellow layer but then it changes from blue to green,” said the climber of The Waterfall Trail.
Tributary of Rio Caliente
The geologist Alejandro Argüello also accompanied them on the tour to study the region and the formations in the area, who assured that he did not know of any records of waterfalls as large as this one.
“Each thermal water, with its temperature, chemistry, pH and other analyses, can show how the relationship between the waters and the volcano is,” said Argüello.”Due to the flatness in the region, it is possible that these waters have direct contact with the interior of the volcano,” he added.
These studies will make it possible to find the correlation and understand the behavior of water and land, for example the location of underground faults or fissures.
The geologist also explained the reason for the color change in the water
“When the water is heated, the minerals are diluted and loaded with components and upon contact with atmospheric pressure and cooling, it precipitates certain minerals that are deposited on the surface, these result in interesting colors and formations, rich in carbonates and that appear to be formations similar to the dissolution of carbonates that occurs when caves are formed”, argued the geologist who, although he carried out analyses, still does not have a formal study.
The purpose of this journey was also to unite the scientific community, contribute to the knowledge of the natural areas of the country and give strength to the project that aims to save the falls in the country, in addition to strengthening eco-friendly tourism.Although the country lacks documentation verifying if this is the largest hot waterfall in the country, it is definitely at the top of the list.
