A Saturday Afternoon Hike Up an Active Volcano

OK, so yesterday Melissa and I hiked the volcano Pacaya. Guatemala has 21 volcanoes, so I couldn´t leave without climbing to the top of one of them. We opted for the evening climb because the sunset is supposed to be great, and I hope you can tell from the pictures that it was amazing!

Picture one is Melissa and I reacting to this funny (but necessary) warning sign. And although I was aware of the risks I still was involved in a little spill with some sliding rocks, and now I think I have some volcanic rocks in my leg that I´ll be taking as a souvenir from my trip. Hopefully they´ll work themselves out, but if not it will make a cool story. Also in this picture you´ll notice Melissa´s walking stick. You rent these at the bottom from some very cute local children for 5 quetzales, which is about 65 cents...well worth it. You can also rent a horse for 50 quetzales to take you most of the way up, but I figure that kind of takes the hiking out of hiking an active volcano so we said no to that.

Next we have the amazing view of another volcano Agua, named because its crater is filled (or used to be filled) with water. It´s actually the same volcano in the street picture from my first post from here, but from a slightly different perspective. I envision this being the wallpaper on my computer when I return home.

Then we have the picture of me standing about 10 yards from some flowing lava. I´m smiling as much as I can, but my feet are burning. I was actually yelling for Melissa to hurry. Then after the picture as I started to walk off I realized that I had melted parts of the soles of my shoes from standing on such hot rocks. Then a couple of minutes after this pictures the rocks under me started sliding, and I fell and put shards of rock in my hand and leg...ouch! But all the damage to shoes and body was totally worth it, the trip was amazing!

Then the last picture is of Melissa and I hiking down at sunset. This was our last Guatemalan adventure because she is flying out today. It was a great last day together. Today I am sore and cut up a bit, but as I revisit these pictures I love that we had the opportunity to do this. It was absolutely beautiful, more so than these pictures can capture.