Santa Maria - The Idea and the Climb

This is probably easier if I split it into sections, since I took so many photos and the trip consisted of different experiences.

The Idea and the Climb.

The idea came to climb a volcano comes about as soon as you arrive in Guatemala since they are everywhere and you can climb pretty much all of them - the original plan had been to climb Tacamulco, which is the highest point in Central America, but since there were no trips up last weekend, me and Simon (a friend from Spanish school) looked into Santa Maria, which although about 400 meters lower than Tacalmulco, is considered to have a much better view since it is much closer to Lake Atitlan and Antigua. It is also literally right beside (they're almost touching) Santiaguito - which is very active - erupting about once an hour.

We left Xela at around 10:30AM and arrived at the base of the volcano (I keep starting to type mountain. . .) at just after 11, and started hiking up. The trip we did was an overnight - camp on top - so we each had our large backpacks stuffed with warm clothes and camping gear. Our group consisted of me and Simon, three girls from America, Australia, and Austria and our guide. Santa Maria, although not as high, is considered to be much more challenging than Tacamulco since there the trail winds around the volcano, while on Santa Maria, you just go straight up.

And that's what we did. We climbed for just short of five hours (with a break for lunch) straight up, by the time you get close to the top where the air is thinner the trail is so steep that I was literally climbing - pulling myself up by my hands. But the view is amazing the whole way, the forest is thin most of the time and there are viewpoints everywhere where you can look straight back down to where you started.

We also had a little added company - at the bottom we ran into a stray dog who padded along with us for a short while - then after a short break the dog stayed lying in the shade while we moved on. About an hour later, the dog showed up again - and at this point, beeing thoroughly impressed, I named her Trooper, and we continued on and eventually left her behind. As I mentioned, near the top the climb becomes extreme - with Simon a little up ahead and the girls a ways behind with the guide, I was bent over catching my breath when Trooper, with a quick glance back, trotted past me on up the path. To say I was amazed would be an understatement - the volcano is at 3,772 meters up, Xela and the surrounding area is around 2,300 roughly, so that means about 1500 meters of climbing - and this little dog (did I mention she was a little pregnant) went the whole damn way. It was incredible.