| Tallest peak struggled to become park,
yet still losing trees
By LARRY LEE
 GRACIAS, Lempira -- If
you take the considerable
time and effort needed to visit
many of Honduras' protected
areas, you might think once
you arrive that you're on top
of the world.
And that's exactly where
you'll be at Celaque National
Park. They don't call it a
cloud forest for nothing.
This is the home of Celaque
Mountain, the tallest peak in
Honduras. At 2,827 meters
above sea level, or 9,273
feet, it is much taller than the
highest point in the Smoky Mountains, Clingmans Dome at 6,643
feet, but lower than Mount McKinley in Alaska at 20,320 feet
and Argentina's Aconcagua at 22,834.
The climb isn't easy. Until this year, when Peace Corps volunteer
Bill Jackson of North Carolina and others helped by flagging to
the top of the trail -- getting lost themselves for two hours one day
in the process -- it was hard to find the way up.
Now that the flags are in place, the only problems are breathing
and keeping the legs and hands working to get you all the way to
the top, even crawling at times.
Celaque hasn't always been a national park, and it still doesn't
have the total respect of many who live in its shadows.
Deforestation continues, especially on the east, west and north, to
make room for coffee plantations.
Mountain-grown coffee may be the richest blend, but the loss of
the trees that have to be sacrificed for it will be felt for
generations.
Back in the 1960s, the mayor of Lempira, the late Pedro Iglesias,
fought for legal protection of Celaque. According to followers and
family survivors, he would fine people who came down the
mountain with a load of wood, making him not very popular
among several in the community.
In 1987, the National Congress created Celaque National Park.
Iglesias, who died last year, was able to savor the victory.
SOME STILL ANTI-PARK
The park is still controversial in Gracias, where some town
residents still don't want Celaque to be a park because they
believe they have a right to the lumber, said Miguel Ayala
Fuentes, the park watchman, Fuentes works at the visitor center
at the entrance, where he grew up.
Fuentes has spent nearly his entire 43 years in the incredible
natural beauty here, other than a year he worked as a bricklayer
in San Pedro Sula. "In San Pedro, it's like you're in prison," he
said, referring to the violence there that forces people to stay
indoors.
He also works as a park guide. He learned a lot a few years back
when he accompanied forestry researchers and biologists from
other countries and the national university, who made several
fact-gathering trips to the park over a two-year period.
Fuentes uses that knowledge to take people to the top or on
animal- or bird-watching trips. He charges Lps. 100 ($11) for the
entire day.
It's best to climb the two hours from Gracias to the visitor center
and spend the first night. Fuentes collects the $10 a person for a
bunk in one of the cabins there, which include a place to cook
food. Hikers should carry their own food and bedding -- it's cool
here. There is water but no electricity.
The next day, those heading for the top should leave by 6 or 7
a.m. The climb takes six hours or so and the descent another
three hours, although there are camps up above.
For the less-adventurous, the second night can be spent at the
cabin to arrive fresh in Gracias the next morning, or the hiker can
head on back, arriving in town just about nightfall.
31 CLOUD FORESTS
Honduras has 30 cloud forests in addition to Celaque. They are
characterized by high mountains covered with fog, sometimes
called horizontal precipitation, or rain -- or both.
Yet some areas as low as 1,000 meters or less can be classified
as cloud forests. They include some in the Río Plátano Biosphere
Reserve that are between 400 and 500 meters high yet contain
fog and flora consistent with that seen on higher mountains,
according to Gustavo Cruz, a biologist with the national university
in Tegucigalpa.
Honduras cloud forests, in addition to Celaque, are: Agalta, El
Armado, Azul Meámbar, Cerro Azul, El Chile, Corralitos,
Cusuco, Erapuca, Guajiquiro, Güisayote, Misoco (Cerro el
Volcán), Mixcure, Montaña de Yoro, Montaña Verde, Montaña
de Comayagua, Montecillos, Montecristo-Trifinio, La Muralla,
Opalaca, Pico Pijol, Pico Bonito, El Pital, Puca, Santa Bárbara,
Texiguat, La Tigra, Uyuca, Volcán Pacayita, Yerba Buena and
Yuscarán.
POSSIBLE LIFT-OUT:
Back in the 1960s, the mayor of Lempira, the late Pedro Iglesias,
fought for legal protection of Celaque. He would fine people who
came down the mountain with a load of wood, making him not
very popular among several in the community. In 1987, the
National Congress created Celaque National Park. Iglesias, who
died last year, was able to savor the victory.
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