Happiness on a volcano

This post was going to be written the night I came home from the hike. That was the plan. But I have not been able to put what this trip did for me into words. Something changed, or I did. I don't know what it is or how significant it is, but I definitely feel different after coming back. It is not just the dead quads or the people I met. I wish I was more elequant. Oh well, here goes:

To spend the weekend away was a very last minute decision. On Thursday, Ken Grob (7^th grade science teacher, husband of my classroom's neighbor, adventure seeker, nice guy) casually asked me if I was interested in going with a group from a local climbing gym to hike a volcano (Acatenango). My initial response was that I already had plans (I had signed up to help at a CAG service day), but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go. So I made it work. I found someone (thanks Brian) to watch Sidney, informed the person in charge that I would not be attending the service day, and called Diego who was in charge of the trip (thank goodness he speaks English). At this point I just thought it would be a fun weekend away from the city.

At about 12:30 on Saturday, Ken and I walked from my condo to the climbing gym. I was a little nervous about walking there with a big backpack, which felt like a “please rob me” sign, but we make it with no issues. We hung out for a while waiting for everyone to arrive, and I found a magazine in their shop that had an article about the Colorado Running Company store in C/S. Crazy! I took it as a good sign :) We loaded on the bus about 1:30 and headed out to the hostel. Much of the ride involved us talking to a guy who was a graduate of CAG. He is now working for the UN as an interpreter (Spanish/French) for the Guatemalan army stationed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A very interesting guy.

We arrived at the hostel around 4 and spent time throwing a frisbee, attempting a slack-line (I managed three steps!), and getting to know people (at least the ones who spoke English). We had a pre-hike meeting around a camp fire where I managed to understand all the key points; thankfully their Spanish was slower than most :) After the meeting we ate a “tipica” dinner (eggs, refried black beans, toast, fried plantains) before we headed to bed. Bed was in a room of 10 bunk beds. It felt and smelled a lot like camp and was perfect!

Our wake-up call came at 3:15 and we were on the road by 4. Our transportation was a “chicken bus.” I do not know why they are called that, but they are these crazily decorated busses usually covered in playboy symbols and naked ladies. This particular bus also had flashy lights that came on when the driver used the breaks. At 4am, on a windy, dirt road, such lights are absurd and hilarious. We arrived at the trailhead about 5:00 am. At the trailhead I realized that my camera was missing (I had hooked it to my bag at the hostel and it was no longer there). This is a new camera I was given as a gift before I came. I am annoyed that I did not take better care of it :/

The "lead" group

We started hiking and split into three main groups. The entire group had 35 people and there was a wide range of fitness levels. I hiked in the front group with Ken, another guy we know from ultimate named Vince (he works for the UN), a number of Guatemalan men, and one other female. The morning was beautiful and I was soaking it all in. I spent a lot of the hike listening in on conversations and figure out what was being said. Whether or not I was successful was mostly dependent on who was talking and how steep the trail was.

At about 11:00 Ken, Diego, Vince, and I reached a false summit. We caught a glimpse of the true summit, and took a few photos before the clouds arrived. We did not see the sun again until near the bottom. In fear of worse weather arriving, we headed for the summit. The last part was steep with little to no trail, but our group of seven made it to the 3,976m (13,045 ft) summit with few issues. We enjoyed the “cumbre”, walking around the caldera, eating some snacks, waiting for everyone else to arrive, and hoping for the clouds to clear. Everyone that started, made it to the top, including two eight year olds. One eight year old was a guide's son; he has hiked Acatenango over 20 times, the first time at age 6. I was impressed.

One of the 8yr olds

The whole group on the cloudy cumbre

A break during the decent

After about an hour, we headed down. Towards the top, the ground is covered in a thick layer of soft, volcanic rock. It is sand like, and the best way to descend is to run and ride the slides. It was a blast and when I starting realizing how great this trip was. For some reason, when the ground got harder, the running didn't stop and it became the way to descent the entire volcano (I blame Ken). I was not wearing running shoes and had a decent sized pack, but was not about to let the boys have all the fun. So I just kept running. It was amazing. I spent most of the decent chatting with a guy named Julioandre who is another CAG graduate and the manager of the local North Face store (they were a sponsor of the trip). He is a very interesting guy who has been involved in trying to get more trail running and adventure races in Guatemala. It was a fun way down. We then headed back to the hostel, ate some soup and headed back to the City.

So, the trip/hike was really not unlike ones I have done back in CO, but it felt so different. Maybe it just meant something different. It has made me more confident in the fact that I can do what I want to here. It makes me more excited about being here and the adventures that my time here could hold. I have made some good friends at CAG, but I really wanted to find people that love what I love.; people who want to explore the area outside of the city, who want to sleep on old uncomfortable mattresses in a room with 20 other people, who will get up at 3am to climb a mountain. Maybe it is just the possibility that I have found these people. Whatever happened, it is now up to me to keep it going. I need to go outside my comfort zone and find more adventures even if I don't know anyone else going. It is not easy for me. I worry too much, and jump too rarely. I guess it is about time I fix that... :)