Being warm year-round, Costa Rica has an abundant assortment of animals, birds, insects, reptiles, and all sorts of wildlife. I was expecting to see sign of more mammals, but monkeys were the only abundant animal around. We did see a sloth in the wild, and a coatamundi, plus a few snakes and reptiles.

On the other hand, birds and butterflies were abundant! So were insects.

Here is a sample of the fauna along the trail.

Just in time for Christmas for you or that hiker you know!

I published SHT4U2NO - 150 Super Hiking Tips For You To Know this summer. Tips and advice from my thousands of miles and hundreds of nights spent on long trails. It includes examples of when I used tips on my treks.

Last month, I finally published Trail Tales #1 - seven fictional short stories for young readers, inspired by my Arizona Trail thru-hike. It took a few years, but it's done!
The stories feature Scout, a boy that can talk to animals, and how he helps animals in need while demonstrating good outdoor ethics.

And, I just published Trail Tales #2 - the second book in the Trail Tales series, this one based on the Superior Hiking Trail. This coming year, I will finish the next two books and the series is scheduled to have 10 books in all.

Hey, go to early church on Sunday so you can visit with us about our Camino de Costa Rica hike in Room 102 of Hanson Hall on U of Minnesota campus at 11am. See Midwest Mountaineering"s Expo site for details.