After a short nap, I set off at midnight with a group of twelve people (eleven guys and one girl, from Austria) to climb Volcán Santa María. In typical group form, one guy didn't show up until 12:35, and so we were on the trail by 1am.
Initially, we all hiked together. A few kilometers in, it became clear that some of us were struggling. I ended up carrying the Austrian girl's bag, though she later had to abandon the climb because of persistent diarrhea. We all felt bad at the time, but looking back she definitely needed to stop climbing.
After she bailed, the group split up so everyone could hike at their own pace. Gwen and I ended up taking the lead at this point, and we made it to the summit at 4:30am (sunrise is at 5:15). At this point, I should explain the circumstances of the trip. I had intended to go with Quetzaltrekkers, a local guide company whose profits benefit Primeros Pasos. But, failing to plan ahead, and unsure of my feet after the Tilapita mosquito encounter, I failed to sign up until the trip was full.
Enter Gwen, a guy who lives down the hall at Casa Jaguar. I was out at an internet cafe yesterday when Kalya ran into him and he happened to mention that his Spanish school was planning an outing to Santa María. So I ended up going with several guys from his Spanish school.
It was absolutely freezing at the top of the volcano. I had thought of everything except gloves, which I would have killed for at the summit. By the time I was done taking pictures, I couldn't feel my fingers.
The sunrise was pretty cool, although there was a really dense cloud bank hanging low over the mountains. The photos don't do justice to the colors, especially just as the sunrise began, when it was far too dark to shoot a decent picture. If only I had a tripod.
By far the coolest part of the day/night was Volcán Santiaguito, a tiny little volcano on the back side of Santa María. It is very active, and I watched it erupt several times before dawn and once afterwards (with pictures). Now, I thought a volcanic eruption would have sounded like a rumble or tremble, but Santiaguito sounds like a jet engine starting up. Also, you can't see it in the pictures, but before dawn you could see it's deep red glowing core during the eruptions.
By the time we made it back to Xela, it was 9:30am and I was absolutely exhausted. I had many grand plans for the morning, but all I remember is Kalya waking me up at 1:00pm for lunch and Spanish class.
I'm going to sleep well tonight.
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