Xela, Guatemala
Guatemala’s active volcano Santiaguito erupts alongside an explosion of hot ash & rocks every few hours. We decided to teach camping ground on it.
First, allow me say yous a lilliputian fighting near the volcano. Santiaguito Crater is a lava dome that is purpose of the much larger Santa Maria Volcano.
The 12,375 ft. Santa Maria violently exploded inwards 1902, blowing off the whole Southern side, resulting inwards i of the biggest eruptions of the 20th century.
Ash from the eruption was detected 2500 miles away inwards San Francisco, CA.
In my photograph of Santa Maria above, yous tin regard the results from the 1902 explosion. Half the mount is gone.
The Santiaguito lava dome was created inwards the aftermath. Since together with thus it’s been erupting every few hours for the past times fourscore years.
Crazy People Wanted
We were near to climb a grueling 8 hours alongside xl lb packs together with laid upwards military camp on an inactive volcanic vent, correct side past times side to the active one. This was non a normal activity.
Most visitors to the surface area only hike upwards neighboring Santa Maria together with gaze downward from a rubber distance at Santiaguito exploding from over a mile away. Only CRAZY people would motility to military camp on the erupting volcano itself..
But alongside a lilliputian Couchsurfing magic, I managed to circular upwards vi to a greater extent than crazy people to bring together me. There was i trekking society that was willing to convey people along on this adventure.
Still it took them a few hours to rails downward i of the solely people who knew the route, equally it was an peculiarly tough hike.
His name: Crazy Charlie. Perfect!
Not Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 Walk In The Park
To arrive at our mission, we’d pick out to hike, scramble, together with outright scale (sometimes vertical!) sections for the bulk of the trip.
All this alongside total packs loaded alongside vi liters of H2O each, together with everything else we’d require for two days on a barren volcano.
After prepping for the journey, the squad laid out together with upwards Volcano Santa Maria for the outset two hours of the trek. About halfway upwards Santa Maria, nosotros stopped for a interruption at the Santiaguito Mirador, overlooking the erupting lava dome below.
Now it was fourth dimension to cutting through thick jungle overgrowth together with slide downward a steep, ash-covered lava chute to “The Beach” — a giant landslide-boulder champaign at the base of operations of Santa Maria together with Santiaguito.
About v hours into the trip, nosotros were all tired equally hell. Stashing some extra H2O to lighten our loads, along alongside the machete nosotros no longer needed, nosotros began climbing upwards the lava dome itself.
Welcome To The Moon!
It feels equally though we’ve left planet Earth, together with are straight off hiking on the lunar surface. Everything is covered inwards a thick layer of ash, making the whole landscape colorless. Steam is rising upwards through vents inwards the ground. Clouds together with fog are moving inwards all or thus us, sometimes making it impossible to regard to a greater extent than than 10 feet ahead.
But the dome is non completely lifeless, at that spot are foreign plants alongside giant leaves together with green-yellow moss mysteriously growing out of the ash.
Finally nosotros striking our final obstruction earlier reaching the top: Only a xxx pes vertical stone climb.
With our heavy packs, together with no ropes.
Oh, together with that stone yous hollo upwards you’re grabbing for? It’s truly only a mound of company ash that falls apart when yous seat whatever weight on it. Fun!
But alongside laser-guided focus, careful testing of hand-holds, together with potent communication, all of us safely arrive to the summit. Over the past times 8 hours our grouping of total strangers has turned into a remarkable squad — everyone watching each other’s back.
Was It Worth The Trip?
Well, later the mentally & physically exhausting twenty-four hours of hard & technical climbing, nosotros were treated to i hell of an incredible view:
Hell Yes It Was Worth It!!!
Volcano Santiaguito starts screaming similar a jet engine equally it unleashes it’s power. Ash gets thrown 200 meters into the air, together with avalanches of rocks teach tumbling over i side into the abyss below.
It was insane! The whole procedure lasts possibly 5-10 minutes.
After processing Mother Nature’s present of power, nosotros built a burn on our lunar landscape alongside bits together with pieces of forest that were carried upwards strapped to our backpacks. It was starting to teach dark, together with at that spot was a long, mutual depression temperature nighttime ahead.
When the sunlight disappeared nosotros could remove heed bats squeaking or thus inwards the air inwards a higher house us.
As the grouping sat or thus the burn drinking whisky to soothe our aching muscles, the populace erupted again. It was also black to regard this fourth dimension — but straight off at that spot was a novel surprise…
More Volcano Action
About xv minutes later the eruption, volcanic ash began snowing downward all or thus us. It was an ash blizzard! The current of air had changed directions together with nosotros were covered inwards a fine layer of grayness ash. It came downward similar snowflakes, reflecting off our flashlight beams.
Our exhaustion together with the whisky presently started to boot inwards though, together with all seven of us crammed into a v somebody tent. We had been dreading it, together with for goodness reason. There was no slumber to live had all night.
It was cold, wet, cramped, together with our next-door vecino loudly erupted two or three to a greater extent than times over the course of education of the evening.
It’s hard to slumber side past times side to a jet engine.
Should We Really Be Doing This?
But the peril wasn’t over! The side past times side morn at 5am nosotros went over the border of our campsite together with downward to come across our vecino inwards person.
Scrambling downward over steep rocks, calling out to each other when liberate boulders went rolling by, nosotros made it to a lilliputian valley beside the active vent.
From at that spot it was UP the active Santiaguito crater itself! It could erupt at anytime, alongside us on it. Although nosotros weren’t truly on the side that oft got striking alongside rockslides, our nerves were all the same on edge. Volcanoes are a fighting unpredictable, later all.
On the top, at the rattling lip of the active crater, massive sulfur fumes enveloped us. We wrapped bandanas or t-shirts or thus our faces to assist alongside the overpowering smell.
Prepare For The Worst
Unfortunately early on morn fog together with clouds surrounded us, thus nosotros solely got fleeting glimpses into the crater itself.
Crazy Charlie told us that if the volcano erupted patch nosotros were on it, nosotros should lay bird on the far side of the crater’s edge, to avoid whatever projectile rocks from the interior (they would only wing over us). Luckily nosotros didn’t pick out to experience this emergency outset hand…
Eventually it was fourth dimension to pack everything upwards together with start the grueling 8 hr journeying dorsum to civilization. And teach all the volcanic ash out of our clothes. ★
Watch Video: Volcano Santiaguito Trek inwards Guatemala
(Click to sentinel Expedition to the Moon on Vimeo)
Company: Altiplanos
Cost: $60 the United States per somebody (group of 7)
Packing Guide
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READ NEXT: Learning Castilian inwards Guatemala
What was the coolest hike you’ve ever been on? Tell me a message inwards the comments below!
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