I'm an Idiot
Augusta, Georgia, where I have lived for the majority of my life, is 136 ft above sea level.
Acatenango, a extinct volcano in Guatemala, is 13,045 ft above sea level.
Good...(eye roll)
Fully aware of these facts I pulled my body out of bed at 4 on Friday morning, strapped my 30-ish pound pack to my back and set my eyes on the summit of that bad boy. If you are an intelligent sane person you know that this volcano is no easy hike... It isn't a walk in the park. It isn't even a run in the park. No no, this beast is about as far away from the park as you can get. The park is probably where I should have been, but I wanted to climb a volcano... so I did.
I am not a trained hiker... I don't really have a clear workout schedule... Since I have been traveling the world I have let my exercise habits slip a bit. I made it approximately four steps up that thing before I felt light headed...
Good...(another eye roll)
Four steps in should have been the time I called it Quits and turned around, but I was determined to get to the top. The following five hours I fought for ground and air (yes, I am being dramatic and yet... not really). If I were a less stubborn person I would not have made it. After clawing my way up a ravine framed with barbwire fencing and forcing my feet up and over a thick rainforest all the way stopping for air every ten steps I swallowed my pride and let my Guatemalan friend take my pack for the last half of the hike. Shouldering his much lighter pack I made it to our camp site with less of a struggle.
Isn't it a beaut??? Oh wait... you can't see the most active volcano in the world, Fuego in this photograph? Me either... A thick unhappy cloud sat on the volcano as we set up camp. It was cold and all of us were wet to the bone. I looked out into the mist and laughed at myself... I hike a volcano to see a volcano and all my photo's up until this point look like I put up a white screen in my living room.
Clouds are white and fluffy in the sky, but up close and personal they become wet and oh so cold. They get caught in your hair and eyelashes and even between your teeth if you aren't careful. After setting up camp I slipped into my tent and fell asleep... An hour later I woke up to this.
The clouds cleared revealing Fuego.
As the clouds burned off, my companions and I headed for the summit. I won't lie... My body was exhausted; I didn't really want to go, BUT there was no way I had made it that far without actually going to the top. Thinking it was a 45 minute hike I gathered my strength, all the will power in the world, and followed the guide.
Two hours later...
I made it... almost dead... exhausted... freezing... but mostly proud of my idiot self.
The tour guide company offers a contest at the top of the volcano. If you are able to run all the way around the rim of the summit in less than 3 minutes your money for the hike is returned to you. The tiny person in this picture is in fact NOT me.
She made it in 3 minutes and 53 seconds. Close, but I was happy to just stand there and bask in my accomplishment.
Side note: Six people died on this very summit in January... Google it.
The next morning was glorious. The sun hit the earth then the clouds before peeking into my tent.
After breakfast we started our "EASY" day down Acatenango. I say easy because that is the word I told myself as I began my half walk - half slide little dance down. It turns out that it is pretty tricky to find your way without a trained guide. In no time at all we were lost. Once we were all convinced of this information we concluded that the ground sloping violently down was still a better option than heading back up to find the correct path back down. As we traveled down, the oxygen level in the air grew and I found it easier to breathe... but without the constant thoughts of how I needed more oxygen the more I realized how much my body hurt. I have no idea how far we walked... or even where we went, but I do know we were headed down and down meant closer to the time I could put my dang pack down.
We ended up in a privately owned peach orchard...
Well GOOD (My eyes are permanently rolling at this point)...
Those dear souls innocently harvesting their peaches escorted us to the gate and directed us to the road. It happened to be 3 km completely uphill. My body was shot at this point, but I was gonna make it... Because I had to.
With one kilometer left to go I stopped for the first time that day. My stomach was telling me that if I didn't slow it down I was going to throw up. Once again I surrendered my pack and stumbled the last little bit to the main road where we caught a bus towards home.
I am at home now; my body is terribly sore, but man, I did it. I climbed that beast.
And I have the pictures to prove it.
Next time I will do a few pushups first.
All for now through the eyes of a storyteller who wings it...