Below is a series of photos from our EPIC hike up the Acatenango Volcano. A friend and coworker who was soon to leave town was kind enough to include me in her plans to scale the mountain. Altogether, we went as a group of fourteen and drove part way up the mountain via entrance to a private finca (farm). The road up was quite harrowing: extremely steep, uneven, and muddy...it was like Indiana Jones, only real.
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| View of Agua from the summit |
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| ACTIVE Volcan de Fuego |
From the parking area the hike was roughly 1.5 - 2 hours; ascending from pine forest to barren, volcanic rock. The last portion was rather difficult given the steep sides of the crater and loose soil. At nearly 13,000 feet the altitude also leaves you feeling short of breath.
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| Nerdy self-portrait |
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| Forest on the way up |
It was all worth it for the incredible views: Antigua, Ciudad Vieja, and Volcan de Agua off to one side, the ring of mountains surrounding Lake Atitlan on the other. We were also close to adjoining Volcan de Fuego, which is still active and occasionally let off a plume of smoke from it's angry red cone. Considering this is the rainy season, we were extremely lucky with weather. The skies were clear and blue for most of the hike and clouds didn't roll in until well after noon. When they did come, however, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped drastically. It was absolutely frigid.
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| Ascension... |
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| Super bundled and extremely happy on the top... |
The trip was probably one of the most amazing things I've done here to date. Though we didn't formally go through a tour company, the logistics of our excursion were organized by someone who works for Old Town Outfitters (
http://www.bikeguatemala.com/)...so I would definitely recommend them for anyone considering the trek!
