Trails Around Laguna Apoyo
After riding loaded bikes day after day, it’s always a relief to ditch the kit for some lightweight trail riding. This time I convinced Jenny to forfeit one of her precious ‘rest days’ and join me on the MTB trails around Volcan Mombacho and Laguna Apoyo.
[iframe height=’405′ width=’590′ frameborder=’0′ allowtransparency=’true’ scrolling=’no’ src=’http://www.strava.com/activities/85602470/embed/7c0c58124bb9695d354b60999befcba1863ece33′]We rode south out of Granada towards Mombacho on tree covered dirt tracks before crossing the highway towards the south side of Apoyo. After climbing up to lip of the crater, we decided to abandon our planned route and explore a steep hiking trail leading down to the shore of the Laguna Apoyo. This turned into a very sweaty and slippery hike-a-bike descent through the jungle. The howler monkeys seemed to be laughing at us as we stumbled down towards the water.
It was worth the effort though; we reached the lagoon and found an easy route along the shore. We followed a scattering of expensive eco-boutique lodges until we found Comedor Elisabeth at the junction in the road. After our blood sugar levels were replenished, we tackled the paved 200m climb back out of the crater, followed by a long, easy descent back into Granada with beautiful views of the crater and Mombacho along the way.
We followed tree covered dirt tracks towards Mombacho Volcano and around Apoyo Crater…
…through some banana plantations…
…and some nice thick tree tunnels.
A few passers by on the only semi-paved section
Most of this route was public dirt tracks, but I must admit we crossed a few fences here and there.
As we approached Apoyo crater, the trail narrowed …
… and then this happened! We doggedly schlept our bikes down 200m hiking trail to reach the shore of Apoyo Lagoon …
… but it was worth it for the ride along the beach!
Jenny contemplating the final 200m climb back out of the crater after lunch
It’s a long, gentle descent along the northside of Apoyo crater back towards Granada. I’m not quite sure what happened with this photo. I shot it whilst riding and everything is blurry except for Jenny!
A quick stop for some shadow puppetry
The final stretch of dirt leading back into Granada with Mombacho Volcano in the background