Volcano Day

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Today Katie conquered 2 volcanoes and I conquered 1.5! We went to Cerro Verde National Park which is located in the crater of Cerro Verde volcano, El Salvador's oldest volcano. Along the way Mr. Iglesias stopped at a number of vistas so that we could enjoy the view and take some pics. The hike started at 11 and took about 4 hours. It was a group of about 30 people with 2 guides and 2 police officers to accompany us (apparently there used to be a problem with hikers getting assaulted on the trail) First we had to climb down Cerro Verde Volcano which is 6,660 ft (1.25 miles) tall. The way down is a winding path through the woods down 1,400 steps made out of logs embedded in the sand, which was no easy stroll down! Then we got to the valley between the 2 volcanos and rested our very tired and shaky legs for about 5 minutes before attempting to tackle Izalco Volcano.

Izalco is El Salvador's youngest volcano (formed in 1770) that erupted almost continuously until 1958, earning it the nickname of "Lighthouse of the Pacific." The last time it erupted was 1966, but it is technically still active. Izalco is 6,398 feet = 1.2 mi and bare rock with no trees or plants. We started up the steep slippery rocks and we had to stop to rest my out of shape lungs pretty frequently. About halfway up the volcano I decided that I was too tired and out of breath to make it to the top so Katie continued up and I sat on a rock and enjoyed the view and the quiet for a few minutes before sliding/walking back down to the valley to wait with one of the police officers and the other people who didn't want to tackle Izalco. As I was waiting at the bottom, the mist rolled in completely obscuring the volcano in front of me, which was really cool, but I was a little worried for Katie, until a man came down and told me that they were able to see to walk in the mist. A German couple came down and told me that they made it down in 20 minutes, so I laughed a little and said "Wow did you slide down?" To which they coldly replied "No, we walked" so I guess they didn't think I was very funny. I was chatting a little with a teenage girl while we were waiting and when her brother came down I told him I was with an American girl with a blue backpack. He pointed up and said there she is "La Ultima," which means the last one, which made us all laugh a little. Then another teenage girl came down and someone asked if there was anyone left beind her, she sneered a little and said only the gringos. Then she saw me and felt a little bad, but I didn't really care. I watched Katie come down with a group of 3 men from El Salvador who spoke perfect English, who she had met at the top of Izalco. They took a while to get down because they stopped frequently to joke and take pictures. Katie especially enjoyed their impressions of different accents (one guy did a really hysterical gringo speaking spanish accent!) She told me that when she had finally arrived at the top, she walked around the crater but unfortunately didn't get to experience the beautiful views due to the heavy mists. The view might have not been that great, but the sense of accomplishment was there!

Unfortunately, now it was time to make our way back up Cerro Verde's 1,400 steps. We started out strong (since I had been resting for an hour!), but pretty soon we lagged behind the rest of the group as my lungs and legs screamed at me to slow the hell down. The only good news was that we weren't the very last ones. There were 2 teenage girls (wearing jean skirts and jelly shoes!!!) who were even slower than us. Whereas our hiking tactic was to climb as many stairs as we could possibly stand and then take a break for a few minutes, their strategy was to take a break after every step, so the few times we got stuck behind them was pure torture. Although it took us a little extra time (my fault not Katie's), we did make it to the top without injuring ourselves or having a heart attack, so we are still pretty proud of ourselves!

As we were rehydrating and stretching at the top of Cerro Verde, we checked out the park a little which had beautiful flowers and many different kinds of hummingbirds. Katie tested out the macro setting on the camera and took some pretty sweet pictures of some flowers. Then it was time to drive home and stop at the grocery for this week's supplies. We were dirty and sweaty and disheveled so I can't even imagine what the people in the store were thinking when they saw us, but we were too tired to care. Much needed showers, a quick dinner, and then we collapsed into bed to rest our weary bones. Hopefully we'll be able to move tomorrow!

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Photos

3 Volcanos from afar
L to R - Izalco, Cerro Verde, Santa Ana

Lake Coatepeque
Made up entirely of runoff from the volcanoes