My Legs are en Fuego!!- Our epic volcano adventure
Co-written by Phillip LaPalme & Willow Coyle, Edited by Willow Coyle, Photographs by Willow Coyle & Phillip LaPalme, All Rights Restricted.
On one of our last days in Antigua we decided to make one last visit to one of our favorite haunts, the Selena Hostel. Selena quickly became a favorite of ours due to its multiple cozy hangout spots (including a full-size quilted mattress/swing under a canopy of vines), amazing food, awesome bar with occasional live music and wonderful service. More importantly, we enjoyed Selina because hostels are the best place to make friends when traveling. On this particular night we just decided to have a couple beers, check in with one of our acquaintances (a Selena veteran who hosts meditation classes), and lounge by the pool. While we enjoyed our local cervezas, we watched and listened to a Salsa class being conducted in the bar — The music inspired us to dance ourselves by the light of the moon and the few soft-lit fixtures around. In a moment of spontaneity, Phil tossed his hat into the bushes nearby to lean in for a kiss and continue to dance. After the song was over we wanted to lounge some more and finish our beers but first we needed to find Phil’s hat… This was an issue, as his hat was green and so was the foliage, so locating it immediately proved difficult — To add to the stress was the fact that Phil had stowed his wallet and cash inside the Kangaroo Pouch of the hat. As the tensions mounted and continued searches proved fruitless, suddenly a friend appeared as if he were sent to us by the universe. A tall, enigmatic Brazilian man happened upon us and asked if we needed anything. We explained the situation and he readily offered to help us. As Phil went to the front desk to ask if they had seen a green hat around, Willow and our new friend got acquainted while hunting for the hat. Apparently our new friend had taken an impromptu holiday from Brazil to Guatemala and was just looking to enjoy the area. Upon Phil’s return, we all got to chatting and we were quickly invited to join a tour of some nearby volcanoes. Shortly thereafter, one more investigation into the bushes yielded the hat we’d been searching for. Serendipity? Perhaps. We were wrapping our time up in Antigua and were about to head to Quetzaltenango (also known as Xela or Xelaju in Mayan), and decided we would go for one last adventure to see the magnificent volcanoes up close — we wanted adventure and got more than we signed up for…
There are volcanoes galore in Central America... 37 of them dominate the landscape of Guatemala. Antigua Is surrounded by four major volcanoes: Agua, Pacaya, Fuego and Acatenango — Pacaya and Fuego are quite active and semi-dormant Aqua is a looming threat due to mudslides (one mudslide entirely covered Guatemala's original capital in 1541!) The formidable (and semi-active) Acatenango, with its two peaks and Fuego form a chain referred to as Tres Hermanas (Three Sisters) and the complex is known as La Horqueta (The Pitchfork). Devilish, indeed!
We signed up for a tour that would involve us hiking to the top of Acatenango’s Pico Major (Highest Peak), so that we could observe the activity at Fuego, which involves gas and ash eruptions every 15-20 minutes and occasional explosions involving a spray of lava, rolling magma and a sound that can only be described as Thor’s anger — A loud crack, a thunderous sound, a rumble beneath your feet and the crackle of debris landing on the surface of the volcano and rolling down.
Lovely pastoral scenes greet you at the base of Acatenango
Our journey started at the Selina Hostel, where we awaited our shuttle to the base of the volcano. We ventured off at about 9am not realizing we were the only two people on this particular tour — Although we were hoping to have others along (including our surprisingly absent new Brazilian friend), we decided it would be nice to have a more intimate experience. Upon our arrival, we waited for our local guide who would bring us up to Acatenango’s highest peak and before we knew it, we were off on our volcano adventure. The hike was immediately at a steep incline (we would soon realize the entire journey would be this way). We passed other hikers as they completed their journey and every one of them seemed equally ecstatic about their experience and relieved to be done with it as it turned out to be more rigorous than they had realized (much like we would come to know).
The Cafe is a lovely welcome and good place to grab a few last-minute munitions before the long, arduous trek. Make sure you have plenty of H2O!
Shortly into the trip, you reach a cafe which we realized serves as a point where you can turn back before entering the actual park, should you find the incline to be too much. Travelers and tourists from all over the world gathered to either prepare for the trip or have one last refreshment before leaving. This is the point where Willow decided it would be wise to get a horse for the remaining ascent due to her bad knee.
We ventured on in good spirits but with some anxiety about what was to come. Acatenango comprises four different levels which helped us gauge how far we had hiked — First you go through the farmlands, then the tropical cloud forest with beautiful and abundant flowering plants and bushes, which eventually gives way to ragged, high alpine forest and finally the volcanic area made up of ash, sand and rock.
The hike up provided some amazing views of the towns and cities below as well as the adjacent Volcán de Agua — a Stratovolcano, a 12,300+ foot volcano that resembles the quintessential volcano many conjure in their minds.
As we ascended, Willow’s horse "Katerine" experienced some issues with motivation and Phil experienced the pain of hiking the incline — Both having a hard time adjusting to the altitude and constantly being out of breath. As beautiful as the journey was, it seemed to just go on and on — Phil was experiencing cramps and spasms in his legs but chugged along with a sweet donkey named "Pica" and some stray dogs as his only company save for the guide’s occasional presence.
We would occasionally meet up on very short breaks before continuing on and a quick lunch was our marker of the halfway point. The wild dogs were a captive audience as we ate our chicken sandwiches. After about 3 hours, we finally reached a point where the terrain somewhat leveled out and we were only about 30-40 minutes from our base camp; we were so relieved.
Willow made it to camp first (with the four faithful doggo companions happily dancing around) and patiently awaited Phil’s arrival, as she took in the magnificent view. When he got to the entrance of the base camp, which required just a tiny bit more incline, Phil had no choice but to retch into a bush — But alas, he made it.
Our view from base camp was stunning! You could see dozens of miles into the distance — From nearly 13,000 feet up, the cities looked so tiny, you could see far-off weather formations and Volcán de Agua appeared as a foreboding, god-like mountain. The best part however, was Fuego… Every few minutes the volcano would spew ash and smoke, sometimes with a rumble and crack and as the evening went on, the sights became more spectacular.
At base camp, our guide offered an add-on to our tour — The opportunity to hike to Acatenango’s second peak, Yepocapa, which is the closest place to view Fuego and its apocalyptic eruptions. Despite our fatigue, we gladly accepted the offer as we could not pass up the opportunity to see the ancient volcano up close. We took a quick nap and then set off to see Fuego at 6pm. We started out on a trail that wrapped around Acatenango, leading us towards the valley between its two peaks. Along the trail we traversed a precarious “bridge” consisting of 3 logs and a few spaced-out scraps of wood that went along a rock wall on one side and a steep drop on the other. Willow cringed, as she knew we would have to cross it again in the dark...
We pushed on and began descending into the valley. This is when we saw tiny colorful bits all in a winding line on the second peak — They were people hiking to the top. It resembled a scene from an ancient pilgrimage, and certainly looked intimidating. This is when we realized we had quite a way left to go to get to our destination. The reality began to set in and doubts were cast about our ability to achieve our goal. Willow wanted to stay at the bottom while Phil and the guide tread on, but the guide reassured her that we would go slow and it wasn't all "up, up, up" since there were switchbacks. With quite a bit of apprehension we pushed on, past giant mushrooms right out of faery taies.
The sun was setting, so we equipped our headlamps and began the ascent to the summit of Yepocapa, passing other hikers along the way who assured us that, despite the difficulty, the trip was well worth it. As we got closer to the halfway point, we heard an explosion and looked up to see a spray of lava over the horizon on Yepocapa. It was truly a sight to behold and it caused us to wonder how it was even possible to be that close the such a violent blast!
As we continued, the temperature began to drop and we donned our hats and gloves, gripped our trekking poles tightly and sallied forth. We witnessed a couple more eruptions on our way up and upon summiting, we felt an enormous sense of relief that we could finally take an extended break. We were then walking on loose volcanic soil on a narrow path towards the viewing area and at this point it was fully dark — The best time to view the lava. We waited patiently with the freezing winds whipping us, watching the tip of Fuego glowing orange and occasionally letting out a puff of smoke and ash.
Soon, we got what we were waiting for — Fuego let out a thunderous roar not unlike that of Mount Doom. The spray of lava into the air looked like it was happening in slow-motion and it began to rain down onto the sides of the volcano, creating fiery streams that trailed down, cooling as it went. You could also hear a rain of debris landing on the sides of the ancient formation like a loud crackling. Witnessing this seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity... only we were able to see it a few times!
You can check out the videos here!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGQeROklP7vBs_gkmqb8rzw
Eventually, since our body temperatures were dropping quickly, it was time to go... back through the dark, unstable passages of the ancient volcanoes by way of headlamp. When we turned our backs to Fuego, still reveling in the wonder of what we had just witnessed, we took one last glance at the view from nearly 13,000 feet. The lights of the cities below, covered in thin clouds passing over, accompanied by the lighting in the distance made for a glorious sight. We had just experienced something truly magical; something we will never forget. It reminded Phil of his childhood... pouring over National Geographic images of volcanoes, and he felt truly accomplished in finally meeting one face-to-face.
The trek back to base camp was a rigorous one — The rapid changes in elevation we had been experiencing were making it difficult to breathe and our legs were like wet noodles. We pushed on however, taking quite a few breaks along the way to catch our breath. Willow felt as if she was on bad drugs, with lots of dizziness... the lack of oxygen in her bloodstream was causing pain to course through her system and the constant pounding of her heart made it feel like it would simply jump out of her chest.
We eventually made it in one piece (miraculously), and when we did, we were in rough shape. We immediately retired to our “Doma”, which was like a tiny Quonset hut, and struggled to rehydrate and get a few bites of food down. Our guide had prepared for us some chicken pesto pasta and hot cacao. We thought that we would crash hard but the night had other plans for us…
As we slept, we continually awoke to the sounds of the erupting Fuego volcano, as well as mice that were rifling through our belongings and leaving….”traces” behind. It was not unwelcome however; It was all part of the experience. Phil had left the dirty dishes outside and covered so that the mice weren’t able to get to them and also as a treat to the wild dogs who had been so friendly and playful along our journey — This led to some interesting events in the wee hours of the morning…
Things that go "Snort" in the Night...
Phil awoke to the sounds of crunching in the volcanic gravel outside the Doma sometime between two and three in the morning. The foot (or paw?), steps sounded to be bipedal and of the weight of a full-grown human. As he peered from his sleeping bag through the cracks around the doorway and through the semi-translucent vinyl covering of the abode, he saw the silhouette of something approximately 3 feet in height — The shape indiscernible. It continued to crunch in the gravel and make occasional “snorting” sounds. The snorts sounded like that of a wild pig but were somehow… different. This “creature” seemed to have discovered the dirty bowls which still contained some pasta inside. The bowl of food was covered by another upside down bowl as a deterrence for insects but not animals. He then heard the sound of the empty, upside- down bowl being knocked over and the sounds of eating commenced. It sounded like that of a large dog “wolfing” down a bowl of wet food; devouring it without even chewing. The beast then walked away, again, sounding like a heavy bipedal “man-imal”. After this, Phil went to inspect only to find a scene that was utterly confusing. Not only had the bowl NOT been knocked over and the food NOT been eaten but something else had been added… Near the food and other dirty dishes was a pile of what can only be described as “regurgitated garbage”, that was most definitely not there before. There was a small glob, about 4 inches in diameter consisting of small pieces of plastic and paper as well as a small aluminum or tin can lid — all covered in a clear mucous. Later in the early hours of the morning an animal (smaller sounding than the previous creature), did in fact eat the bowl of leftovers and though Phil was awake, he never heard the animal come or go. At least none of the food went to waste!
Not long after this, we were both awoken from a dead-sleep to the sound of a massive eruption; much louder than we had ever heard before on this trip. We both scurried across the floor of the hut, still half in our sleeping bags, and blasted open the door. We saw what looked like an apocalyptic event. The spray of lava into the sky and the brightness of the glowing, orange lava blew us away. The view was incredible — we sat in awe at the entrance of our Doma, witnessing this extreme event for only moments before the clouds overtook the view. We didn’t have time for video or pictures, but we witnessed something grand and awe-inspiring that will permanently be etched into our memories.
We were able to sleep in until about 6am (skipping the seemingly redundant 3am hike that was included, thank-you-very-much) when we were awoken by our guide for a breakfast consisting of more hot cacao and some delectable banana bread from a local bakery. Another couple from Ecuador chatted with us... they had begun around midnight and had arrived at 3am, just to then have to descend in the AM. We did not envy them! And with that, we were off on our descent down Acatenango with our noodly legs to catch a ride to the hostel where we’d switch collectivos (shuttles) to our next destination.
The overall experience was grueling and it is important to note that people have died on this trek due to extreme temperatures — With preparedness and experienced guides, it is very much worth it. We saw things that many people across the globe will never see aside from on television, which absolutely does not do it justice. We really feel that this was a serendipitous pilgrimage filled with many a trial and tribulation — We earned this experience and it has changed us. We know what we are capable of as individuals and as a couple and we are stronger in both aspects. There are a lot of blogs and articles out there with personal accounts of these treks that really understate the difficulty of the hike and the magic of the experience, so we really hope that this one does it justice. We urge you to come to this beautiful land of 37 volcanoes and rich, indigenous culture and experience it for yourself as each adventure is a story of its own. Thank you all for being here for us in spirit.
