Volcan Santa Maria

I looked up at the volcano, it will be my first ascent. There´s no option as to whether or not I'll make it. I`ve been looking forward to this for weeks.

There's nothing terribly special about Santa Maria, except that it overlooks Xela, therefore the Quetzaltenangoians are proud of her. The last time Santa Maria errupted was in 1902, since then she has remained dormant, aside from a side volcano named Santaguito, which is quite active and erupts daily.

We started out at a decent pace, and the volcano towered above us. We must have left the car at about 6:30am. Jared carried most of our food and water, and I carried a smaller pack, with snacks and my camera. By 8ish we had reached the mesita, and from here the climb intensified. Jared hung back with me and some of the slower students, and we encouraged them to take thier time and not feel rushed, as long as they could still talk and walk they were doing fine. About half-way up dad had also joined us in the back of the group, and continued to move slower and slower. Against our advice he had drank-brought very little water and had not eaten all morning. I thin, as young as my dad acts and feels, this was a moment in which he had started to question how old he really was. We went slow, fed him some foood, and insted he drink some water. Despite the guides protests that we needed to hurry up, we kept a slow pace till we all reached the summit.

The view from the top looked very much as one might imagine a view from a volcano might look. Clouds had already moved in over the ocean, and as Guatemala boasts 37 volcanos, the most of any Central American country, we were able to see many of them, including Tajumulco which we plan on climbing next week. Tajumulco is the tallest point not only in Guatemala, but also in all of Central America. I pointed Zunil out to my dad, as well as the road he walked up to Fuentes Georginas, a road I´ve also hiked up a few kilometers, and the entire way down.

After a quick look around and a few pictures, we sat down for brunch. The rest or our Peanut-butter sandwhiches, Camenbert sandwhiches, dried fruit, juice, nuts, cookies and chocolate. We relaxed and talked for a while, enjoying the view and the accomplishment. A few more pictures were snapped before we started the hike down.

Within a 100 yards I know I would have to take it slow, Jared served as my self-propelled walking stick, we knew if we wanted to climb Tajumulco next week I needed to be as careful as possible with my knee. About half the way down we caught sight of my dad who had moved ahead of us, and then started to slow down, he was walking backwards down the volcano in order to save to tops of his toes that had turned to raw skin in a matter of half an hour. I suggested he walk barefoot, which he did with reluctance. We moved almost as slowly down as we did up.

At one point in time I stopped and exclaimed, 'Isn't it beautiful?!' My dad looked out over the valley and hearily agreed, to the laughter of Jared who saw me looking at the dark, almost black soil that was so light and fluffy and smelled of that healthy great soil smell we all know and love. Dad turned around at the sound of our laughter and we explained that I was looking at the soil and not at the view. Maybe I´ve finally put my dorkiness to good use and found a major that suits me. For those of you who don't know, I am studying Soil Resource Management at Oregon State University.

We continued down and found the students waiting for us at the mesita, a few more snacks and we continued our decent. At the bottom we crowded into the truck for the 20 min ride back to the school. Thus concluding our adventure on the mountain. A shower and nap were welcome aftivities for our afternoon. My knee is still bothering me a little, but hopefully it'll be in good condition in a couple of days. Jared swears that if it's not better by the weekend he is going to leave me to hike Tajumulco without me. I'm being extra careful this week trying to let it heal.