Guatemala Days 2-3
Phew I’m tired
Yesterday I left Antigua with OX Expeditions to go hike Pacaya Volcano, one of several active volcanoes around Antigua.
Yesterday we drove up to the trailhead and hiked about 3K to the base camp. I was completely unprepared for how much the elevation was going to affect me and how out of shape I am.
After hiking probably less than 500 ft I was completely winded. We were also carrying big backpacks with all our equipment in it which I thought was the issue, but even after someone helped me with my backpack I still could barely walk.
You’d think I would’ve learned this after Peru, but altitude sickness really is no joke.
I ended up paying one of the guides to carry my backpack the rest of the way up to camp because I didn’t think I could make it.
When we finally made it to camp, we were engulfed by clouds. It was very weird. We camped there for the night.
At 3:45 this morning we woke up and began our climb to the volcano summit. From sea level to the base camp it was an elevation gain of more or less 2,000 feet. The summit of the volcano was a little over 8,000 ft., to give you an idea of how intense a climb it was.
We didn’t have to carry any gear at least, but it was still definitely one of the most physically difficult things I’ve ever done in my life. We hiked for about 2.5 hours through sharp, unstable, volcanic rocks and deep volcanic ash that was like walking through sand or snow. And it was straight up.
The rest of the people in the group were very physically fit (2 personal trainers from Florida and a family of hikers from Denmark) so I lagged pretty significantly behind everyone else. I had to stop and catch my breath probably every 2-3 steps and my legs felt like they were made of cement.
One of our guides, Willie, was so extremely patient with me and climbed behind me the entire time and caught me a few times when I started slipping. There were also multiple occasions where he literally dragged me up a particularly steep section.
I was almost 40 minutes slower than everyone else but I made it up to the top!
At the top we watched the sunrise and looked into the volcanic crater. There were no lava flows today but there was sulfur and steam everywhere and the ground was steaming hot. It was really really amazing.
We were also very lucky with the weather because frequently there are so many clouds you can barely see a few feet in front of you but we were able to see for miles.
The summit was very windy so we climbed down a little ways and had breakfast, then began our descent. It took us about 2 hours to get back to the trailhead and it was so much easier than going up. The only hard part was trying to slide down through steep ash and sharp rocks without falling completely down the volcano.
It was definitely more of a 2.5 hour controlled fall than a hike. Like those penguins that slide down glaciers or something.
When we got back to Antigua it was only 10am but I’d been up for 7 hours already and was so tired. I had some food and konked out for the rest of the day.
I think I’m either dehydrated or have some lingering altitude sickness from the sudden changes in elevation, my hands have been numb and tingling all day. When we were in Peru the altitude was more than twice this but we had trained for months by hiking a lot and we gave ourselves a week to adjust to the altitude before attempting any hiking. Also Peruvians have coca leaves which are an amazing natural remedy for altitude sickness.
I was totally unprepared for the altitude here, so I think that’s why it’s affecting me so much.
That’s what I get for only planning this trip a few weeks ago, but that’s all part of the adventure I guess.
The next two days I’ll spend exploring Antigua some more. It’s a lovely little city, very typical Spanish colonial. Emily will be flying down in a few days to spend a week or so with me before I continue the rest of this trip solo.
Hasta luego,
