Climbing Volcan Tajumulco

Looking at a bulletin board at Posada Qhia in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Mexico, I noticed a flyer for a group called Quetzaltrekkers. It claimed to be a volunteer-run organization that does hiking trips in Guatemala and Nicaragua, with the majority of profits going to help local school children in the area. The advertised climb on the poster was for Volcan Tajumulco, which it said was the highest volcano in Central America, at 4,220 meters. I quickly located the volcano on my map, and discovered that it was only a little bit West of LAke Atitlan. I had planned to go to Lake Atitlan anyway, so this wouldn't be too far out of the way. Maybe it is a bit of a male macho thing, but when I read "highest in Central America", I knew I had to climb it.


About three weeks later, I found myself in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, preparing to head out with the Quetzaltrekkers group for the Tajumulco hike. I did not even have the $400 Quetzales required for the hike, due to the ATMs in town being closed and my own lack of preperation. So I had to give them my passport as collateral until I could pay the fee. They had every type of equipment you may need available to rent, and I borrowed a warm sleeping bag, long underwear, gloves, and a light jacket. I opted to use my own backpack, which meant that I had to remove all my usual traveling gear and store it in a garbage bag temporarily. All members of the trek were required to carry a couple pieces of equipment for the group, as well as three bottles of water; two for drinking and one for cooking. With my pack fully-loaded, it was much heavier than what I usually travel with.

We rode standing in the back of a pickup to the bus stop, with freezing cold, early-morning air blasting our faces, preparing us for what was to come. After two very crowded rides on chicken buses, and a breakfast, we arriveed at the base of the trail. From here, you could see the peak of Tajumulco looming overhead. For being the tallest volcano in Central America, it actually didn't appear to be as big as I thought it would.But I later found out that this was because the point at which we were starting at was already very high in elevation. We set off, and almost immediately, you could feel the elevation's effect on your breathing. This, combined with a heavy pack, made for some slow progress. I felt as if we were pack mules loaded with huge bundles of supplies on our backs. The high elevation definitely took it's toll on us, and we were forced to take quite a few breaks. But nonetheless, the guides said we were one of the fastest groups they've ever had. Around 12:30pm, we stopped and ate a very healthy vegan lunch. Then we laid out and let the sun re-energize us before hitting the trail again. Quite a few locals passed by us coming down the mountain, who must have ascended to the top very early that morning. I was amazed at how so few of them had proper hiking gear; girls and women were wearing dresses, and some of them had only sneakers, and some even sandals!




After lunch, we got off to a slow start, feeling full in the belly, and a bit lazy. But our momentum picked up, and we could soon see the spot where we would set up camp for the night. Many of the trees on the hillside were dead, and the guides said this was most likely becuase of a few different reasons: One, there is a type of beetle that eats away at the trees, and two, the locals say that back in the 80's, the U.S. government had sprayed a chemical on the mountain in an attempt to destroy the coca plants that were growing there. We soon reached our destination for the night and set up camp. We brewed coffee and tea, then proceeded to climb up a small nearby peak to watch the sunset. The sun dissapeared over a sea of clouds that extended to the edge of the horizon in every direction. It was quite amazing.



After a dinner of pasta, we called it a night and prepared to get up early in the morning to climb the peak. We arose at 4:30am to the sound of fireworks and voices in the distance. Apparently, locals climb up the mountain very early in the morning to watch the sunrise. We gathered our sleeping bags and pads, and began to climb in the dark. On the way up, we passed a big, flat rock where the locals leave offerings. We reached the top just in time to see the sun come up, and there were already about twenty locals up there. Just as the sun had gone down, it slowly re-emerged from beneath the sea of clouds, revleaing the valleys and chain of volcanos that popped up from the clouds like little islands below us. The picture-taking began, with everybody asking others to take photos of them and doing crazy poses. One of the guides pointed out Volcan Fuego in the distance, which was actually erupting at that very moment. We could see a little puff of smoke on the distant horizon. I could also see Volcan San Pedro, which I had climbed just about a week earlier.



We eventually started the descent down the back side of the volcano. We circled around the edge of the crater, gazing down into the gaping hole. From this side, we could see the giant shadow cast by Tajumulco, spanning for miles over the valley below in a perfect triangular shape. When we got back down to camp, there was breakfast, as well as coffee and tea waiting for us. We enjoyed the breakfast, and started back down the mountain. Going down was, of course, much easier and quicker than going up. We reached the bottom and scarfed down some more food at a comedor, then waited for the chicken bus. Chicken buses are usually crowded, but I think this was the most over-crowded chicken bus I had ever ridden on. The bus was absolutely packed to the top, with people standing and hanging out the door. I didn't mind it though, as it made the experience all that much more memorable.

I definitely came away from the trek with some new realizations. Standing atop that volcano, I realized that there are so many amazing, mind-blowing things to be seen on this earth. I want to travel to every corner of the Earth, seeing and learning about them all.

Travel Story - "El Volcan"

Whenever I see an incredibly tall object, whatever it may be, I feel an irresistable urge to climb it. As soon as I spotted Volcan San Pedro from the boat, I knew I was going to climb to the top of it. Little did I know that it would be one of the most challenging and rewarding hikes of my life.

I started asking around, trying to figure out how long it would take and how difficult the climb was. I discovered that it was on National Park land, and that there was a hundred-Quetzal entrance fee. A guide was included in this price. Numerous local people kept trying to set me up with a guide, no doubt because they wanted a small fee for their services. "Why would I need a guide?", I asked myself. I have been hiking all my life, and there is no way I would take a guide unless it was an extremely difficult and dangerous trek. I figured I would pay the entrance fee if I absolutely had to, but I would definitely not take a guide.

I headed out the door the next morning feeling a bit more unprepared than I would have liked to have been. I didn't have a chance the day before to buy extra food and to locate the entrance to the trail. Also, the memory on my camera was full, so I didn't have a camera to use. So I packed the only food I had, which was a bag of granola, and headed out the door. I also picked some fresh oranges from a nearby tree, picled up some extra water, and started searching for the path. I could not locate the main entrance, so I just found a dirt road that led toward the base of the volcano. After the road ended, I continued on paths that led through rows of hundreds and hundreds of coffee plants. Every once in a while I would come across a local working in the fields, or hear voices in the distance. I followed these many trails, laughing to myself about the need for a guide or a hundred-Quetzal entrance fee. I came to a clearing atop a high ridge, and stood on a rock, looking out over the vast lake below. I thought about how much my life has changed in the last year. I thought back to when I was sitting in my bedroom in Santa Cruz, wondering what to do with my life, and dreaming about traveling the world. Now I was standing on a volcano, looking over the majestic Lago Atitlan in Guatemala. "Now I am truly living!", I thought to myself. It made me realize that you can do anything you could possibly imagine in this life if you really want to.

Eventually, the paths I was follwing came to an end, and I began walking through the rows of coffe plants. Then, the fields of coffee plants ended, and I was forced to look for another way up the slope. I spotted what seemed to be a dried-up waterfall. It was the only accessible path up the mountain,so I began climbing up the rocks. It started to get very steep, and I was forced to ditch my walking stick so that I could use both my hands to climb. I began questioning if I knew what the hell I was doing. I arrived at the top of the ridge and continued pushing my way upwards, even though there was no path. I pushed my way through the brush and tall plants, wishing badly that I had a machete. I was soon over-joyed when I came to a well-defined path. I was also very surprised when I turned a corner to see a local man hacking away at something with a machete. I said hello to him, and I think that he was just as surprised to see another person that far up there as I was.

Pretty soon, even this path became hard to distinguish. Sometimes I would find something that sort of resembled a trail, where some other crazy bastard, like myself, was also trying to hack a way to the top. The foliage became very thick and steep, and I grunted and clenched my teeth as I used all my strength to push through masses of vines and pull myself up steep inclines with loose soil. I began thinking how ridiculously insane this was, but there was nothing I could do except go up, and I was certainly not about to go back down. I just knew that if I could reach the top, I could take the main trail back down the mountain. There were times when I just wanted to give up, but my survival instincts kicked in, and I knew that I had to get back down before dark. I soon noticed that the sun had dissapeared, and when I looked up, I could see white clouds drifting through the treetops. This had to mean that I was approaching the top, and with this observation, I recieved a fresh burst of energy. The only thing that mattered, was going up. I barrelled straight up the steep slope, with disregard to everything except making the most prgoress in the least amount of time possible.

All of a sudden, I saw a clearing a few feet in front of me. I jumped out into the opening...THE TRAIL!!! I had finally made it, but I could not believe it. I used the last bit of energy I had to climb the remainder of the way up to the peak. I had never agreed with paying an entrance fee to parks...I mean, do they think they own the volcano or something? But now I seewhy they charge for it; it must have taken a hell of a lot of work to build that trail. I have built trails myself in the past, so I knew exactly what kind of work it entailed. And without that trail, you would need to blaze your own trail up the mountain, just as I did.

I would suggest taking the trail.

As I approached the top, I knew there was going to be a great view, but I could not have anticipated just how spectacular it would be. The tops of the trees fell away to give way to one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. It felt as though I was looking down at the earth from outer space! The lake appeared to be miles and miles below, and the only company I had there with me were the surrounding clouds and the two neighboring volcano peaks. It was one of the most incredible views I have ever witnessed in my life, and I didn't even have a camera! I laughed aloud at this realization, and thought that maybe it was better that I didn't have one, because there was no way the magnificence and beauty of the sight could have been captured on film. I carved my name, "Zig-Zag", into one of the rocks, finished off the last of my food, and decided I had better head back down before it gets dark.

I passed two guys on the way down who were camping out, probably to see the sunrise in the morning. They probably saw me and thought, "crazy gringo", as I went rushing by. I had about an hour and a half before it was completely dark, and the sun was going down fast. I was basically running down the mountain, and my legs felt like rubber. My survival instincts were the only thing that kept me going;the fact that I had no warmth and no light. Whenever I thought I must be getting close, I would come to an opening in the trees and see the lights of the town miles below me. I was using the power of the mind to override what my body was telling it. My body was saying "stop", but my mind was saying "must keep going."

I came over a little hill and suddenly there was a building in front of me. The lights were on, and there was a man inside lounging in a chair. "What is this place?", I thought. My brain was not even functioning enough to think that it might be the ranger station. My water had run out long ago, and so when I spotted a water fountain, I went straight for it. One of the men working there came up behind me and started asking if I had a ticket, and if I had payed. I said no, and explained how I had went up a different route. They asked me to pay only fifty Quetzales, and so I did. I figured it was only fair, since I used the trail coming back down, and now I knew how much work had been put into making it.

I started walking down the nice, paved road back to town, and a car stopped within three minutes to give me a ride. I knew that the first thing I wanted to do when I got back was to get a giant burrito and a cerveza from Jarachi'k. I definitely learned a few good lessons from the adventure, such as:

1) Be more prepared.

2) ALWAYS bring a light, extra food, and a layer of warmth, because you NEVER know what may happen.

3) Don't be so stubborn; use designated paths when you don't know the area, and follow the guidance of others who have gone before you.

4) Don't be a cheapskate. Show respect when somebody provides you with a service, and pay up where money is due.

Until the next adventure, this is Zig-Zag signing out.