The Trident of Pacaya, Acatenango and Fuego

We had decided previous to arriving in Antigua, that we only wanted to stay for a couple days, hike a volcano, and then peace out to Honduras. So when we started looking at tours, we found that they were all pretty much equal. A day hike up Volcan Pacaya, check out some flowing lava, return. That's about it. But luckily Gator, our friend the Canadian who was on our Mirador 6-day trek, told us about this outfitting company called Outdoor Excursions, or O.X.

So we searched it out. And they were offering two and three day hikes, going here and there, checking out this and doing that, it was irresistible. We signed up for a 3 day hike called the Trident, which isn't even on the website yet. Brand new. The problem was that it wasn't leaving till Sunday (the day was Tuesday), so we had a bunch of days to kill in Antigua before the trek started.

This was problem because Antigua is such a tourist town that they quote prices in dollars. Not Quetzals, the local currency. Dollars. So a beer would be listed as $2.50, which is an outrageous price for a beer that tastes so terrible. Thus, we found that we needed to vacate the town, save some money, chill for a bit while doing some hiking to get us in shape for the real trek. To give you an idea of how expensive Antigua is, we went out to a bar, ate a plate of nachos and drank a good number of beers. It cost us Q330, or about $40. That is very expensive. (Although as I write this I remember some of my tabs at the Quaff or the Gaf and they were clearly beyond that. But I had a job back then, too, so things were a bit different.) The hotel we were (and currently are) staying at was Q110/night, which our average should have been Q80 or so. And we had to bargain her down from Q150/night. This place (Los Encuentros) is run by a crotchity grandma who is an adorable penny pincher. Because of our lower-than-normal price, she didn't want to give us the code to the internet. She finally relented and told that if anyone asked, we paid an additional Q25 for the right to use the internet. We were cooking beans, and she came in to tell us that we weren't allowed to cook beans or lentils because gas is too expensive. Erin was talking on the phone with a friend, and she came in to say that she needed to quiet down because it was after 9pm. If we fill up our water bottle from the jug, advertised as "free water," she comes out of her room to watch how much water we take. She runs a very tight ship, but is amazingly lovable.

So we went to the Earth Lodge. Fantastic! Vegetarian meals served family style, great hiking, a sauna, wonderful happy hour with Q8 drinks, with Q1 of that going to the village they were located in. You could drink and feel warm and fuzzy about all the good your Q1 was going to do. Who knows, if you buy enough drinks, maybe they'll get a computer or something, just like at Dave and Busters, where if you roll enough skeeball, you can win a robotic Megatron that really shoots, or something cool like that. We also may have sat in a dark room and watched the entire 4th season of Weeds. Maybe, but I'm not saying for sure.

Then, finally, the day came to start on the hike. We went into town, arrived at OX at 10am for the orientation meeting. Our fellow hikers, direct in from London the night before, did not quite arrive on time, but did manage to get there by 11. Then there was a fiasco with Nick wanting to carry gear enough for both Maruna (his girlfriend) and him. The company said that was both impractical and dangerous for him. So they relented and she ended up packing a backpack.

That ended and things cleared up, we went to buy some provisions for the trip, snacks and water and such. While at the supermarket, Erin says calmly, "Hey, I think that girl has a Canterbury shirt on." Canterbury is my high school. I say okay, and slowly saunter off to see if I know the person, or if it's even the same Canterbury. It is, so I say, "Hello, did you go to Canterbury School?" "Yes, I did" "Fort Wayne?" "Yes" (Getting a bit excited now) "What year did you graduate?" "2001" At this point, I have somehow dredged out of my deep memory this girl's name. "Erica Lehman!" "Yes!" Wow! That's incredible, right, one that I would meet someone I know from high school, but TWO, that I would actually remember the name of someone I didn't really hang out with that much. So I was a bit disappointed when she says, "Who are you?" Oh well, I wasn't really hurt that much. Just because I played soccer for years with her now husband and we went to the same parties where we mutually avoided each other, that doesn't mean I should stick out in her mind. But to be fair, it's really really random to meet there, so getting the mind wrapped around such weird thing is pretty tough. So we changed contact details, promised to meet up tonight with her husband Clark (who I played soccer with). This could prove to be supremely awesome or awkward, one of the two. Middle ground might be a little tough to find. I've got my fingers crossed for awesome. He's apparently a dentist now, on a medical mission to Antigua. How cool is that? Dentists are always fun, right?

Okay, that was a fun little tangent, right? Right, still with me, I see. Now to the hike. We hopped in a van, drove up to the trailhead, quickly got moving and after an inconsequential hike of about one hour (this is what we were training for?), we arrive at camp, setup tent and open a box of wine. Not too shabby.

We waited until night, when most of the other tourists were gone, then started on the night hike to see where hell exits it's natural home, only to freeze over here on earth. The hike wasn't long, but tough. Our poles came into good use as the scree shifted underneath our feet. Finally we came around to the lava itself and were amazed at the light and the heat it produced. We got to within 10 feet of it, feel the 1200 degree heat radiating off the red rock. The last portion of the hike was quite treacherous, lava flowing in between the rocks you were stepping on. One of the rocks I had used on the way up actually went up in flames while I was up there, looking at the main lava vent. What kind of rocks catch on fire? Apparently ones recently released from Hades, ready to go on a bender rampage. There were a few americans there, holding a stick over the lava and roasting a sausage. We were supposed to roast marshmellows, but our guide (Aussie Steve) forgot them, so we were a bit jealous, until Steve pointed out that they were standing in the most dangerous spot possible, directly over the lava vent, on a small, recently formed rock bridge. So that made me feel a little better about it. Don't worry, my fellow countrymen made it out safe and sound.

Day two of the hike was built up to be a douzy. Sunrise hike to Pacaya, drink some coffee and bagels, then down to the trailhead. Start about 5am, to the trailhead around 8am, when the bus was supposed to meet us. It didn't. There was a strike over the price of gasoline, so we waited until 10am or so, when the bus finally could arrive. There was a great deal of talk about what we would do if we couldn't get through, and what time was the latest we could start, but it ended up all being for naught, as we started on the next trailhead around 2pm.

This hike was quite a something. About 6 hours of upupup, including a 1 hour stop of lunch. We arrived in the dark around 7:30 or 8 or so, put up our tent in middle of the only 15 minute burst or rain we saw the entire trip, cracked our box of wine at 12,000ft or so, then crashed hard.

The night was certainly cold, pushing the limits of our sleeping bags, but we made it through to wake at 4:20 to hike with dreary eyes and heavy legs to the top of Acatenango, where we watched the sun crest over a land of volcanoes, trees, towns and clouds. It was one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen. Bagels and coffee again, then off to climb Fuego, our third volcano of the trip.

Downdowndown, upupup, then suddenly we're very close to another active volcano. But this one has no vents, only the single crater in the center. This means that instead of slowly oozing lava, it erupts on a fairly regular basis. We saw and heard it spray lava all over the cone of the mountain while we were at Earth Lodge, and were hoping for a repeat while we were close. No such luck, but amazing sights were all around. Clouds passing through at fantastic rates, views of Lake Atitlan, sulphur vents, steam and smoke, all in all it was just amazing.

We then hiked down Fuego, around Acatenango, and back to the trailhead, where a shuttle met us and took us directly to the Rainbow Cafe, where we stank up the joint and shared in a few celebratory nachos and beers. Couldn't really complain too much about it, and there were a thousand amazing things to talk about and remember. What an amazing trek.