Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Volcan Acatenango

I woke up in a state of panic, a flashback to our honeymoon 10 years ago after we had climbed Mount Kinabalu and promised ourselves we would never go through that again.  The pain, the exhaustion, the altitude sickness - for us the reward just wasn’t worth it.  Why, then, were we planning on climbing Volcan Acatenango?

Now there are a few differences between Mount Kinabalu and Volcan Acatenango.  The latter is 200m lower for a start.  Unfortunately at almost 4000m it’s still high enough to cause altitude sickness.  On Mount Kinabalu all we had to carry was water and snacks for the day, whereas for this climb we had to carry all our water and food for both days plus all our camping equipment.  This wasn’t the hightech lightweight designed for hiking camping equipment either, it was the cheap designed for car camping equipment.  Mount Kinabalu is almost a never ending staircase, hard on the knees but easy to keep your feet.  The majority of the climb up Acatenango is on volcanic scree and ash.

We were committed though, and not going to back out now.  Throughout the hour long bus ride to the start of the trek I flitted between believing I could do this, to being sure we had made a horrible mistake.  Once we were off the bus and had managed to attach the very bulky camping gear to our packs, it was time to start the ascent.  There was no gradual introduction, the path was steep and covered in knee deep ash and scree.  With each step our feet slipped down the volcano, our muscles tensed as we tried to stay upright and moving forward more than backwards.  

We were breathing hard, and our muscles were already complaining when Jason started falling behind.   His face contorted with pain, but he kept pushing himself not wanting to be the weak link in our little group.  He paused every few steps, bending over in an attempt to relieve the pain in his side.  I forced him to stop, rest for a minute and take some aspirin.  There was no glory in pushing through at this point if it meant we never reached the summit.  After a few minutes he was ready to go on, and we continued making our way up the slope.  When we finally caught up to the group we were greeted with high fives and lively conversation. There were only 6 people in our group, and they all seemed to be there to have a good time, rather than trying to set a speed record for the ascent.  It was helped that our guide was perpetually happy, frequently reminding everyone “Don’t worry, be happy.”  

After that first break, the aspirin kicked in and we found ourselves well paced with the rest of our group.  At times someone would struggle with the altitude, cramps, or just exhaustion.  But the mood was continually upbeat, just what you need when pushing your physical limits.  After 4 hours of hiking through an ever changing landscape of farmland, cloud forest and pine forest, we reached a large flat clearing where we collapsed in various states of exhaustion.  When it was time to move on our guide assured us it was flat the rest of the way.  We cheered, one more hour on flat ground sounded doable.  He lied.  It was no longer the continually uphill slog, it was worse.  Constant ups and downs.  We weren’t gaining elevation, but my legs assured me it was anything but flat.  Then there was the added mental anguish of knowing the next day we would have to do this again.  

Shortly after 4pm we arrived at our campsite, a small flat area cut into the side of the volcano, with the most magnificent view.  Fuego was just in front of us, so close it felt like you could reach out and touch it.  Volcan Agua was to our left, with Antigua between it and us.  The clouds had been mounting for the last hour so we quickly set up camp and got the fire going.  Throughout the evening the clouds came and went, at times obliterating Fuego, at other times encapsulating the two volcanoes so we had a clear view.  A lightening storm started, and we watched the storm move around us.  Amazing red lightening bolts lit up the sky, accompanied by the occasional eruptions from Fuego.      

As night fell our guide set up a speaker and there was singing, dancing and enough rum that we were just a little tipsy.  It was at that moment that Fuego erupted shooting lava and rocks high into the air, whilst we looked on astounded.  

Eventually our little party ended and we tried to get some sleep before our 3:30am wake up call.  We didn’t really succeed as it was bitterly cold without the fire and rum to keep us warm, and we were on alert knowing we didn’t have long to sleep anyway.  The morning ascent was brutal.  We were tired, sore and feeling the impact of the altitude.  With no view for distraction it became a simple matter of one step at a time, trying to find purchase on a slope that continually slid down beneath our feet.  The sky gradually lightened and we turned off our headlamps continuing in the grey pre-dawn light.  I reached the summit and turned to see the first rays of sunlight cross the horizon and forgot all the pain.  The sky turned hues of yellow, orange and red.  We warmed our cold hands in the steam vents of Acatenango as Pacaya erupted to our left, Fuego erupted in front of us, and yet another volcano erupted to our right sending a massive ash cloud up into the air.  This was why it’s known as the Ring of Fire.


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