Pictures, top to bottom:1. The restaurant where we had lunch after the trip.
2. The view from base camp.
3. Inside our massive tent.
4. Our campsite.
5. Me, Sarah, Rachel and Marissa on the top of the world!
6. When on the top of the highest peak in Central America, doing an arabesque is obviously necessary :-)
7. All the many mountaintops of Guatemala. On the very right of the picture, there is a bundle of smoke that looks like a little cloud. In reality, it is a volcano erupting (the same one mom, dad and I saw erupt from Pacaya).
8. Night turning into day.
9. Clouds, sun, sky, moon.
10. Lunchtime!
11. Halfway up the mountain!
12. Trailhead.
13. Still in Xela, ready to start our adventure, and showing off our 30 pound packs :-)
I’ve never camped (because I’m pretty sure spending the night in the Toyota Sienna, while parked in the garage, doesn’t count). But I’ve always wanted to…
So why not take my first experience on the tallest peak in Central America, a 2 day trip that takes you to 4222m (13, 851.7 feet), requires carrying a 30 pound backpack, camping in the rain/cold (temperatures in the 40s with feels-like 30s due to wind), and waking up at 3:45 to climb to the peak to watch a panoramic view of the sunrise?! In the Mayan language Mam, Tajumulco means “walking into the clouds.”
In reality, it was awesome. It certainly wasn’t easy, but we actually traveled in high class style. We decided to use a guide through Quetzaltrekkers (http://www.quetzaltrekkers.com/guathome.html), an organization composed entirely of volunteers that funds a school and dormitory for underprivileged children in Xela. After taking out costs for food and bus and entrance fees, all the money goes to the organization. The guides live off of tip money. We paid 400Q (about 50 dollars) for the entire trip, which included 3 guides, all food, transportation, camping gear, water, etc. and I tipped 80Q (I wanted to do more but didn't have the money on me). Half of that goes to the guides that run Quetzaltrekkers and the other half goes to the local guide of the trip.
Our local guide was 15 years old. This was his 12th time hiking this mountain. He blasted up (and down) it! I could not go at his pace. He is training to be on a soccer team and is saving to pay for school. All of the money he earns from being a guide goes towards his education goal. Our other two guides were great as well, both men in their mid twenties. Pete was from UK, and has been living in Xela for 8 months… he had a funny mix of words, like fizzy-pop for soda and torch for flashlight. This was his 16th time hiking Tajumulco. Ben was from Canada and travels around the world fighting for the rights of miners and researching international exploitation. This was only his 3rd time doing Tajumulco, but he has hiked Kilimanjaro (its typically a 6 day hike and he did it in 3 days) and a bunch of other crazy climbs.
In total, with the guides, our group was 12. From Somos Hermanos, it was Rachel, Marissa, Sarah and I (three other people from our group did it about a month earlier, without a guide, which I am SO glad I decided not to do, and I can't really see the others enjoying such an adventure). There was a couple from Israel traveling for fun, a couple from California also traveling for fun, a guy from Ireland and a guy from Minnesota. We were an interesting bunch, but it was fun to get to know some different people.
Friday afternoon, we headed to the Quetzaltrekkers office at 5pm to get our gear and learn details for our trip. They were able to provide me with everything that I needed and didn’t have… a hiking pack, down jacket, thermal mittens and a sleeping mat. We also collected our water (4.5 liters for each person to drink and cook with) and were given certain items that we were responsible for carrying, such as food or tent gear.
I packed up all my stuff into my bag Friday night and went to bed super early. At 3:45 AM Saturday morning, my alarm went off and by 4:20 we were walking down the street, heading towards the Quetzaltrekkers office. We arrived there around 4:45 and collected some final items before climbing into a pickup at 5 AM. The pickup took us to the Minerva Bus Terminal, where we picked up a chicken bus to take us to San Marcos.
After arriving in San Marcos at about 7:30, we stopped at a comedor to have some breakfast which was your typical Guatemalan breakfast (eggs, beans, tortillas, sugar water colored to look like coffee). It was the perfect fuel to prepare us for the hike ahead.
After breakfast we picked up another chicken bus that brought us to the trailhead, really just a path that headed off the main road, around 9:30 AM. And that’s where the climbing began! We started at 3,000 meters, which is 9842.5 feet, and I could already feel the difference in my lungs (I am pretty accustomed to Xela, which is at 8,000 feet).
This was definitely one of the most physically tasking activities I have ever done in my life. Not only was there little oxygen, but I had 30 pounds on my back and the trail never stopped going up. I remember thinking “thanks Tajumulco, for making me feel like an 80 year old with respiratory disease.” Despite the cold temperature, I was warm in my shorts and long sleeve running shirt (and I kept “telling” myself not to sweat too much because I knew once at the top, my core body temperature would drop and I would freeze).
Along the way, we met some others who were doing the trip. They were from Germany, and in Guatemala to learn Spanish. They spoke English perfectly... it made me feel really great that these people had two languages down and were on to learning their third (sarcasm!).
We stopped about every 45 minutes to take off our backpacks, breath, take pictures and drink water. The views were amazing and climbing through the clouds, seeing ourselves rise above them, was awesome. Halfway up, we had a trailmix break (it was great going with the guides because they had it down to a science… they knew when we would all need some extra fuel, where the good places were to take breaks, etc.). We arrived at base camp around 1:30-2. I was so happy to see level ground!
Thunder and lightning loomed close, so we hurried to put up our tent before the rain began. Considering I’ve never put a tent together before, I was extremely happy to have our guides there to help us, and I think because of this we avoided the common squabbling that occurs when trying to put something together. We got all the tents up just in time before the rain began.
Rachel, Marissa, Sarah and I had our own tent, which was really fun… and huge (I think meant for 6 people). We were the first to have our tent up, so lunch was served with all 12 people squished inside our tent. Quetzaltrekkers provided some awesome food for us! We had this great carrot/potato/spinach salad, a black bean/tomato/corn salsa, fresh made hummus, homemade peanut butter, whole wheat bread, tortilla chips and cookies from the bake shop. It was delicious, and definitely not food I would expect to have in Guatemala, let alone at the top of the highest peak in Central America.
After lunch, the rain really set in, and all we did was bundle up and hang out in our tent. So much cold! I had on: 2 pairs of ski socks, running tights and sweatpants, my underarmor thermal shirt, the down jacket I borrowed, my Northface, a scarf, earwarmers, a hat, and two pairs of gloves. On top of that, I was curled up into a ball sitting in my sleeping bag with just my head sticking out. Actually, that afternoon with all the layers, I felt comfortable. My feet were the only parts of my body that were super cold, and they never really warmed up. The only challenging part was forcing myself to take my arms out of the sleeping bag every once in a while to take a drink of water and stay hydrated.
It was fun just sitting in the tent, listening to the rain outside and talking, gossiping, laughing… we were pretty giddy, probably because of the altitude and tiredness. At around 7PM, the rain let up and we were called out of our tent for some Hot Tang. Hot Tang was literally the drink Tang, mixed with hot water and an electrolyte mix (and quickly turned into “Oh Hot Tang, this is my jam, keep on partying till the AM…. its an old Flo Rida song that actually says "dang" in the place of "Tang", in case you aren’t aware).
This isn’t what groups usually drink while camping. Unfortunately, the spice kit got left behind in the office. The spice kit had all the hot chocolate, tea, coffee, sugar, etc. Instead, someone found an unopened package of Tang in their bag. Not exactly the most delicious beverage I’ve ever tasted, but it was warm and had calories and electrolytes (added in by the guides) so I drank it, figuring it could only help me stay warm and hydrated. (Henri was the most upset about not having the spice kit, and he walked around to other tents begging for sugar… those Guatemalans, they can’t live without their sugar. He eventually got some, but still wasn’t too happy.) As delicious as hot chocolate would have been at that moment, I was glad we forgot the spice kit and not a tent part or water or food.
For dinner we had pasta with a fresh pesto that our guides made back at the office and carried up the mountain in a Nalgene water bottle. It was so garlicky and delicious. Again, I thought to myself, “I’m on the top of a mountain eating more flavorful food than I normally get served at home.” All of our cooking was done by the guides on mini stoves that one of the guides had carried up (this was another one of the reasons we were traveling in high class.. we didn't have to do any of the hard work! ). They said they don’t like to collect firewood and make fires because it contributes to the large deforestation problem in the area. They also said that at this time of the year, it is really too wet to effectively made a fire. I kind of missed not being able to warm my feet near flames, but I appreciate and support their environmentally conscious actions.
Bedtime was around 8:45. Talk about longest night ever. As a combination of the altitude, all the walking with the pack, and the tense muscles I had due to the freezing cold, I developed the worst headache I think I have ever had in my life. I had been sick earlier in the week, and I was just getting over the final “sniffles,” but all of that congested into my head, putting so much pressure on my nose, eyes, sinuses, brain. My neck was also super stiff but I couldn’t get my muscles to relax. After about an hour of pure misery, I sat up and took Sudafed and two ibuprofen. I’m usually not a drug person, but I was hurting. I remember thinking to myself, “darn, this better be worth it.”
After all the drugs kicked in, I was able to sleep a little bit, but the night consisted of waking up every 45 minutes shivering, totally stiff but not wanting to move because it would just mean moving into a new cold position. At one point, I woke up with my head completely inside my sleeping bag and couldn’t find the opening and had a little freak out moment.
Needless to say, when 3:45 rolled around and our guide called out the wake-up call, I was relieved. I don’t think I have ever been so happy to get out of bed and moving at 3:45 AM. It takes a lot of energy “pretending” to sleep!
We were lucky. The sky was clear and once we got out of the tent, you could see all the stars… it was almost as if you could touch them. We began our final ascent around 4 AM in the complete darkness with flashlights. We were able to keep all of our stuff in the tent, because Henri was staying back to stand guard and make us breakfast for when we came back down. We were warned that it would be even colder at the top, so I brought my pack with extra layers and sleeping bags for both Marissa and I. The idea was that one would carry it up and the other carry it down, but Marissa ended up not faring so well with the altitude and proceeded to puke all her dinner and some lunch contents on our way up. So, needless to say, I took control of the pack. In reality, without all the water, tent supplies and food, it felt light as a feather!
The climb up was difficult. It was a lot of using your hands and feet to get up, and the air got even thinner as we climbed the final 500 feet. It was a weird feeling, being totally lost in the darkness aside from the light your flashlight provided and the bobbing light ahead of you that you were supposed to follow (aka the person ahead of you). I had no idea where the edge of the mountain was or where we were heading, except straight up.
It took us about 45 minutes to reach the top, and we got there at the perfect time. We were all super hot and sweaty from the climb, but that lasted about 5 minutes. We walked around the top, taking in the panoramic view of the sunrise. It was awesome to watch the sun rise on one side of the mountain, gradually changing the night to day on the other side. We were entirely above the clouds, and they looked like a sea of fluff, rolling around the mountains. There was lightning way off in the distance, and the sky flashed brilliant pinks and yellows.
Our guides pointed out all the volcanoes and mountains we could see sticking up through the clouds. We could see all the way to the mountains surrounding Lago Atitlan and beyond. We also saw the same volcano erupt that I saw with mom and dad while on top of Pacaya. It was cool to see the same eruption, but from the opposite side and higher up.
After getting my fill of pictures, I took out my sleeping bag and nestled beside a rock (in an attempt to break the wind) and just watched the wonders of mother nature… as cheesy as it sounds, it really was amazing!
We headed back down to base camp around 7, taking a different path that had us walking on ridges about 6 feet wide with some pretty gnarly drops on both sides. For a while, it felt good to go down instead of straight up. When we got back to camp, water was boiling and breakfast was ready for making.
I guess the plan was to make Mosh, the oatmeal/milky stuff that I often have at home, but because we didn’t have the spice kit, that wasn’t possible. So, we had a makeshift oatmeal assembly line, which was great! I scooped instant oats, granola, chocolate chips and some peanut butter on my plate. Then, boiling water was poured over the pile and I mixed it all up. Delicious power food! I was happy, and definitely didn’t miss the Mosh.
After breakfast, we all packed up and headed down the mountain. My pack wasn’t light by any means, but without all the water and food, it felt significantly better. Going down was 500 times easier than going up, but that doesn’t mean it was easy. The ground was slippery from all the rain, and after a while your knees and shins and feet start to hurt from all the pounding and your quads and gluts start shaking from all the eccentric movement. But it got easier to breath instead of harder, and we made it down really quickly. There was also a moment where Rachel and I both realized that we could feel our toes again, which was really exciting :-).
At around 10:30/11 we arrived at the trailhead. We walked to a restaurant further down the road to have lunch. It was funny we were having lunch at 11, but to us it felt like afternoon. We had a set selection to chose from for our lunches, and I chose fish. It actually came out as a whole fish battered and fried, which was interesting to eat. I pretty much just carved out as much of the inside meat I could get. It also came with a great beet and cabbage salad, potatoes, rice and beans.
After lunch we picked up the bus back to San Marcos, and got really lucky because we didn’t have to wait at all (and there were seats on the bus). At San Marcos, we did a quick transfer to another bus to take us back to Xela. The buses were right next to each other, so the ayudantes (the people who take control of all the “luggage” and money on the bus) just tossed our backpacks from the top of one bus to the other. It made total sense, but it was the first time I’d seen that in Guatemala and it was a little humorous.
The ride back to Xela was uneventful, although it was funny watching the reactions of our other fellow campers as we rode on the chicken bus. At this point we are used to the massive amounts of people cramming into one seat, the Guatemalan woman that sleeps on top of you, the ayudantes that climb around the bus and on the roof as the bus is racing down the road, but the travelers new to Guatemala were not!
It was a 30 minute walk back to the Quetzaltrekkers office from the Terminal. Luckily, it wasn’t raining! We returned all our gear, and were free to leave. We got home around 2:30, unpacked, showered and went to a café to drink some coffee and rest our legs.
Although there were rough parts, I loved this experience and I am so glad I did it! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes adventure and a little hard work. As Guatemalans say, it was “vale la pena” or “worth the pain.”
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