Tajulmuco Volcano

Hello all! I believe it was the weekend after my birthday that I decided to try something out of my comfort zone and climb Volcano Tajulmuco. It’s not just a volcano. It is the tallest point in Central America! I did go to the Rumba for a little bit the Friday night before the Volcano but not for long because I really wanted to be rested for the Volcano. Only about….eight people from our group/University went on the Volcano trip but overall I think there was a group of about twenty of us, because I think I explained that the activities are open to everyone at Celas Maya and sometimes even other random people because the people that lead the tours are a part of Celas but also their own independent tour company called Icaro Tours. Any who, we met at Celas at 8:00 on Saturday morning. I had no idea how much stuff I should bring. We got a list from the leader which included 4 liters of water, chocolate (for the altitude and energy), very warm clothes, good walking shoes, etc. We were required to bring our big travel backpacks. It was a somewhat expensive weekend trip, about 370 Q (7.8Q to the dollar). My bag ended up weight probably close to or more than 30lbs, because it included all of the stuff on the list plus the things that the tour group provided: food for meals, a sleeping bag, and a mat. I was nervous about having too much stuff in my bag but I was a little more reassured when I saw that everyone elses bag was just as heavy as mine.
After we were all packed up we took about a 2 hour bus ride to San Marcos which is where the volcano is located. Right when we got out of the van I knew why they told us to pack warm clothes, the air was already cool and blowing. I wore one pair of spandex, one pair of long johns, and some hiking pants. On top I wore a t-shirt, a long sleeve t-shirt, a fleece, a sweat shirt, and my north face fleece on top of that (I didn’t bring a winter jacket haha). As we starting walking I ended up taking layers off because even though the air was cool, the walk was really difficult so I was sweating up a storm. It was the hardest hike I have ever done. At times I had to be “in a zone” to force myself to take it step by step or else the want to turn around and go back would overwhelm me. The walk got steadily steeper as we got closer to the top. At points I was literally stepping or climbing up big rocks with my huge bag. We did take a lot of breaks, which was awesome because my body was out of shape! After about 2 hours we took a longer break and the guides Juan and Oliver made us a fantastic lunch. I had no idea that they or should I say the group (everyone packed lunch for the group in their bag) had brought that much food. They brought tomatoes and onions to put on our sandwiches. The sandwiches had ham, cheese, and then cheese spread or bean spread. There we chips and other things as well. After lunch, the last part of the hike to the summit was almost easier because I was getting more used to the altitude. We finally arrived to the campsite which was the summit of the volcano around 6:00pm. I think it took us about 6 hours to hike the volcano in total. We started gathering wood for the fire. Our tents and dinner food we not yet there because they were being brought up by horse! I’m pretty sure there was a miscommunication because the tents and dinner food didn’t arrive until 8:00pm! So, at the summit of the volcano it was FREEZING, like really really really cold. Definitely below 30 degrees Farenheit. We set up our tents in the dark and then the guides made us soup and spaghetti for dinner. Overall I was very impressed with the food. The pasta was starchy but when you are freezing cold and on a volcano anything tastes good. We slept sardine style in our tent to keep warm! I don’t think anyone in the group got more than 2 hours of sleep that night. We went to bed around 10ish or 11, but then had to wake up at 3:00am so that we cold hike the final part of the summit and see the sunrise. I was really scared when we climbed the summit because I had my blanket and sleeping bag around my shoulders because it was going to be even colder at the top. I was scared because it was pitch black and climbing the a steep summit and cold only see the light that my head lamp provided. But I kept on going in the line of people. It was even colder at the peak so we huddled and cuddled together and waited for the sunrise. When it came it was stunning. The sky when from a clear dark night starry sky to a beautiful orange sun. I was basically amoung the sea of clouds because we were up so high (I’ll soon load pictures on my flicker! Check them out!)). It was a VERY beautiful site! Even though the whole hike down my knees were shaking and the trip was one of the hardest things I’ve done it was definitely Vale la Pena (it was worth it!)!