Subiendo Tajumulco!!!

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Tajumulco is a mountain of volcanic origins in Guatemala and at 4,220 meters (13,845 ft) it is the highest point in Central America. It is a magestic beast, has had spiritual significance for the Mayan people of the area, and has, thanfully, been declared as a protected area. Those of you who know me know that I like climbing up things. Naturally, I had to go up Tajumulco. In a Mayan dialect (which one, I am not sure) Tajumulco means something like ¨lets go to the clouds.¨ Look at my pictures and you will see why.

I arrived in Xela and found the office of the Quetzal Trekkers, an AMAZING and 100% volunteer run organization that leads treks in the surrounding mountains. !00% of the profits (for real) go to support a school (la escuela de la calle or the school of the streets) and a shelter for homeless-troubled-economically disadvantaged youth. RAD. the school was started about 20 years ago by a guatemalan educator and activist, and he went through a few different business models to provide funding for the school (a restaurant, etc..) before he landed on the successful idea of the trekking company. The volunteer guides at the trekking company, at least the ones that I met, are wonderfully radical and adventurous young crunchy mountainy peeps from the US and other parts of the world. If you are travelling and wanting to do some trekking in the Guatemalan Highlands, look for the Quetzal trekkers!! So, I hooked up with them to climb up Tajumulco.

We left the office before the break of dawn on Saturday and took the pickup truck-multi-chicken-bus ride up to the base of the mountain. then we started going up. There were a lot of us. four guides and 12 travellers... a couple other americans, a few europeans, and a whole gaggle of israelis who had just gotten out of the military and are on long journeys around latin america... and one israeli couple who were perhaps the most beautiful couple i have ever seen, who just finished working as skippers on a boat in the carribean for 2 years and are now traveling a bit until they run out of money and have to go home. a completely motley and beautiful crew.

since we were carrying heavy backpacks with all our overnight gear and food and water (no streams on the route) and were at high elevation, the climb up was a huffing, puffing CHALLENGE. but we were rewarded by beautiful views the entire way, stopped for many breaks, and succeeded at making eachother laugh hysterically.

We camped below the summit at 4,000 meters. At altitudes like this in most parts of the world, there are no trees and only rocks and exposed slopes. But, because of the incredibly rich volcanic soils and the warm climate, Tajumulco is vegetated with Pine trees, grasses, shrubs, and beautiful flowers (lupines!!!) at this altitute. camp was amongst this vegetation and completely beautiful.

We realized that we had packed the wrong set of poles for one of the tents, and it had started thundering and becoming really dark and blustery. shit. After a fairly peaceful problem solving process, we set up the two functional tents that we did have, and an a'frame tarp structure for the remainder of the people. 8 of us squeezed into a 6 person tent, 4 into a 3 person tent, and 6 under the tarp. we were prepared, but the gods of Tajumulco had pity on us, and kept the storm just on the other side of the mountaiin. we could see all the lightening and hear all the thunder but all we ever recieved were a few drops of rain.

after eating some pasta and talking a bit, we all fell asleep, a little woosy from the elevation, and thankful to be warm and dry. 8 of us that had just met eachother 12 hours before, spooning in a too'small tent. he he.

woke up at 4´00 the next morning to make it to the summit for sunrise. and we did. and it was incredible and gorgeous in a way that words cannnot describe. so look at my pictures. so beautiful i had to laugh and cry and just sit and stare.

.... after oatmeal and a steep hike down and lunch at a comedor and 2 overcrowded chicken bus rides, we arrived back in Xela.

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