Because, man……….they are GONE…
Original post date: October 28, 2016
I suppose my tales of climbing active volcanoes are getting boring, but maaaaybe just one more…
At 2552 m of mean volcano madness, Pacaya is the only active volcano close to Antigua, Guatemala. To date, I had only climbed during the day, affording scenic views of the town below. But for no fear of cutting your legs open on sharp volcanic rock or literally stepping into lava, we decided to do the hike at night. Genius.
We started the climb around 3 pm after being notified that we would be taking the ‘straight up’ route because the lava was coming out the other side. The less fit had the option of taking “taxis” – wobbly, slow moving horses who didn’t want to climb any more than you did. In single file, we made our way up until we hit the volcanic ash. 200 maybe 300 meters ahead you could see a faint line of glowing lava.
“20 more minutes” he said.
Those words have officially replaced “It’ll be fine, trust me” as my least likely to be believed phrase.
First we had to ‘ski’ down the volcanic pebbles before making our way up again. As the sport implies, you essentially had to jump down little by little, engulfing yourself in dust, your shoes filling with rocks, until you reached the bottom. The idiot (who for once wasn’t me) who chose not to heed the speed warnings, ran straight down, was unable to stop, and face planted himself with the same grace as little kids barreling face first down a slip and slide. Clearly an America’s Funniest Home Videos moment – I nearly fell off the side myself I was laughing so hard.
Back to the lava climb. “20 more minutes” he said.
By this time the sun had begun to set and the winds had begun to pick up. 20 minutes had turned into an hour, dusk had turned in to pitch black darkness, and the refreshing breeze had turned into 20km/h winds. With each step further into the darkness, you had to balance precariously on jagged rocks, not knowing if the next would be stable enough to hold your weight or would tumble away, with you along with it. The winds were so forceful you could barely keep your balance and every so often you were pelted mercilessly by the volcanic pebbles attacking you with the wind. For safety reasons we had to form a human chain (I was the missing link) and we inched our way closer to the lava flow.
Thankfully we were not disappointed. Watch this video to get an idea of how close and how strong the winds were.
We contemplated just staying the night, shivering between the rocks rather than brave what we had just climbed, but eventually we made it back safely with yet another death defying story to tell.