El Volcan Tajumulco

This weekend, I hiked the tallest mountain, which also happens to be a volcano, in Central America - Tajumulco. It was an absolutely amazing trek. It's 4,223 m (13,854 feet) high and some claim it is still active, however none of those recent eruptions have been documented. (A volcano has to have had no eruptions for 500 years to become officially dormant.)

My housemate and fellow Primeros Pasos volunteer, Marissa, and another friend Fernando and I went together on the trek, guided by Quetzaltrekers. Quetzaltrekers is a non profit that leads trips with volunteer guides. All proceeds of the treks go to Escuela de la Calle and Primeros Pasos. We were all really impressed with the guides, the food and the organization of the trip. (this picture is of Marissa and I with Tajumulco on the right and the other peak on the left, base camp was in the middle)






We left Saturday morning at 4:45am at the Quetzaltrekers office and then took a pick up truck to the bus terminal. We then took a chicken bus ride to San Marcos, had breakfast at a small comedor, and then got on another bus to the trail head. At the trail head, there was another group getting ready to trek up - they had mules to carry their water, tents, food and sleeping bags. We called them slackers. They also had a police escort.

At around 10am we started hiking up and after a few breaks, a nice lunch (homemade by the quetzaltrekers) and a snack, we arrived to base camp around 3. There were 8 other participants, 4 guides and 2 11-year olds from the school that Quetzaltrekers supports. We were all extremely impressed with the 11-year olds, and extremely jealous with the amount of energy they appeared to have! The guides kept telling us that our group was one of the fastest they had ever had and I loved how we all stuck together. The weather was pretty cloudy, so we couldn't see any of the views around us and had no idea how high up we were or where we were.

(This a pic of Fernando and I on the way down, a little out of order, but you get the idea) Base camp was on the saddle in between the top of Tajumulco and another peak to the side of it. After setting up the tents and having some hot drinks, because it was getting quite cold. The plan was to then see the sunset from the peak that is to the side of Tajumulco. We hiked up there around sunset, but the peak was completely covered in clouds, so we didn't get to see a thing. Nevertheless it was a nice hike, and nice to be without our packs. We then had dinner, and were all in bed around 8:00pm!

The next morning was another early one, but well worth it. We all woke up at 4am and hiked to the summit to watch the sunrise. This was the most challenging part, because we were all still half asleep, the terrain was the most challenging and it was pitch black dark. As we started hiking up, for the first time we saw how high up we actually were and it was incredible. The cloud was breaking over the towns in the valley below us and you saw the city lights and a blanket of cloud cover.

We got to the summit, pulled out our sleeping bags and watched the sunrise over the clouds. Words can't describe how amazing it was, so here are some pictures. You might not be able to see it in the pictures, but in the background is the tip of Santa Maria (the volcano near Xela), Sant'Agito erupting next to it, and Fuego (near Antigua) erupting in the distance. It was an incredible hike, and I didn't want to come back down! At the top with the shadow of Tajumulco and Tacana in the background: