Volcan Irazu

This volcano, not too far from San Jose, was erupting in l963 when Laurie was here on his mission. People also remember that it began erupting the day that President John F. Kennedy came to visit Costa Rica.

It spewed ash, smoke, lava, and large rocks. There was so much ash that Laurie said they wore berrets to keep it out of their hair as far away as the city of San Jose. People had to shovel it off the rooves of their houses so the weight wouldn't cause them to cave in. It is over 11,000 ft. high.

This is looking toward San Jose. You can see that we were above the clouds, but it was clear enough that we could see a long ways.

Again, looking toward San Jose which is under the cloud cover. But it was sunny and nice at the summit. We ate a picnic lunch up there and I got a bit of a sunburn.

Laurie said the 10 missionaries in Costa Rica came together up to see the volcano when he was here. Of course there were no warning signs so some of the elders decided to descend down into the volcano. The hadn't gone very far when it started belching large rocks and they quickly climbed back out. Now there is a fence around the top and this sign.

This is looking toward another volcano called Tirialba. But the road to that one is just a dirt road and there is quite a hike to get to the top of it so we didn't and probably won't go.

This is looking toward the Pacific coast.

Another looking toward the Pacific coast.

Dense cloud cover, looks like what you would see from an airplane.

There are lots of transmission towers on the top