Sleeping at the Crater of a Volcano
Trip Start
Nov 2007
1
31
33
Trip End
Dec 2007
Leon,
Nicaragua
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
We took a guided hike with Quetzal Trekkers, a nonprofit that helps street kids in Leon. For $37 each, we signed up for a 2 day, 12 mile round trip, 2000 foot elevation gain hike up to the crater of a live volcano, with a sleep over at the crater.
Our hike began at 7am with breakfast and packing at QT office. QT provided a nice breakfast of pbj and hardboiled eggs and also lent us sleeping mats and bags. Mel and I ate, cleared out our packs, repacked with the essentials for the trip and met our 2 guides (a 20ish guy from Arizona and a 20ish German girl) and our 2 fellow hikers, a couple in their 40s from London.
Around 8:15, we hopped on a local bus for the bus station. the local buses here look something like 25 year old pick up trucks with benches on each side in the truck bed and a cover for shade. They cost 15 cents to ride. A 1/2 mile later, we arrived at the bus station which is also a bustling market. Vendors are grilling up all kinds of wonderful smelling meats and preparing foods for their daily rounds (sold on the buses from baskets balanced on the head). We purchased gallo pinto, a rice and beans mixture that is the mainstay of nica cuisine (ie. itīs what people eat for most of their meals). Then we popped on a bus for San Jacinto.
The day was very hot, mid-90s and the bus was sweltering and packed to the brim, no standing room, like usual. We managed to grab the last seats for the 40 minute drive. At San Jacinto we got off and walked up to the famous Hervideros, or boiling mud pits. The mud pits are about 50 yards by 30 yards of roped off ground with, well, big boiling pits of mud.
Like just about every major tourist attraction here, this Moon Guide "must see" was completely empty except for the street kids who will walk you safely through the mud pits for a few cents. We walked around for a few minutes and i must say that moon is right. You MUST SEE these! Geology is so theoretical in school, that seeing the boiling mud, seeing the steam arising from the ground you are standing on and hearing is gurgling makes you hyper aware of the tremendous forces at work right under your feet. The heat is so great, itīs boiling the ground!
After a few minutes baking at the hervideros, we strapped our heavy overnight packs to our backs and began the grueling 6 mile hike to the volcano crater. That hike was one of the most intense physical experiences iīve ever undertaken.
Getting to the volcano requires a guide to navigate you through the winding paths through local farms. It starts with 2 miles in a river bed, surrounded by fields of peas, corn and flowers. You are passed regularlyl by farm workers on horses on their way out to work. The river bed is lower than the fields and protected by a row of trees so there was NO breeze. We packed over a gallon of water for the trip and within 20 minutes my shirt was sopping and i was concerned that i didnīt pack enough water! After an hour and a half we stopped at a grapefruit tree and, thank god!, the Brit was able to knock a few down from way up in the tree. So we feased on the grapefruit and shade then started on the 2nd phase, emerging from the river bed and winding through the fields, throug a pass between 2 mountains.
The path was often completely overgrown and we found ourselves battling the overgrowth is several areas. Despite the lack of shade, it was a bit cooler due to the breeze and i regained a little hope that i could actually finish this hike. Another break under a breezy tree and itīs time for the 3rd part of the hike, straight up the volcano to the crater. All 2000 feet of elevation come right at the end in a sweltering stair stepper hour plus. By this time, i had downed a liter and half of water and within about 20 minutes of the hike up i was a bit worried again. You see, the last time i did a rigerous hike, i got a bad case of dehydration sickness and woke up in the middle of the night with uncontrolable shivers, diahria and incoherent speech. This hike was much more demanding and if something went wrong, we were hours from any medical attention.
Nevertheless, we perservered and made it to the lip of a lava field (rocks), descended into the field and set up camp about 200 yards from the lip of a massive volcano. Its impossible to describe the feeling, but the most powerful part is the sound. Our guide described it as like the roar of a jet engine, but i think it was more like the ocean. You know when you lay out at the ocean, you can hear so many waves that it sounds almost like one continuous breaking wave? Well, thatīs what you hear, only itīs not an ocean of water, its an ocean of gurgling, bubling molten lava, with a steady release of gaseous sulpher rising out. (This volcano last erupted in 2000).
As we set up camp it rained, which caused the volcano to spew sulpher steam in a column it rose up, cooled then fell down the other side of the volcano, an unbelievable sight that you donīt want to be caught in, we were very glad that the prevailing wind points away from the campsite.
When the steam died down a bit, we treked up to the lip of the crater, crawled up on our bellies and peaked over the egde. All you could see was steam, but the sound was now clear as that jet engine and the sulpher quickly choked you so you couldnīt stay long.
Our guide forgot matches and we were not enjoying the prospect of cold hot dogs, but luck prevailed. Using binculars, our guide spotted a few campesinos at the only house within sight, about a half mile away. With luck, they were just leaving to find their horses, which they release after work to graze on the land around the volcano. They saw us and hiked all the way up the volcano. They had a lighter so they then followed the guide to camp and started a fire. What great guys! We asked them how they could get home in hte pitch dark and they said they knew the area like the back of their hands. I dontīknow how they do it. Itīs so dark here that i canīt even see the back of my hand at night!
Meanwhile, mel and i watched the sunset from the volcanoe edge.
After dinner and smores, everyone went to bed except mel and i. We decided to make a night hike up to the crater edge to see the molten lava, which is visible directly only at night. with flashlights, we struggled up the lava rocks and peaked over the edge to see the molten cauldren. I have to admit that i wimped out and only saw a bit of the lava. To really get a good view, you have to stick your head pretty far over the edge. Mel did it though, and she was blown away.
After sauntering back, we went to sleep, along with our guides in a 4 person tent. The night was windy and warm and along with the horses that decided to graze in our campsite, woke me up constantly. At one point, i had to pee and even that experience was awesome!... as i stared out into the milky way, crisp and clearly visible in the night sky you only get when you are miles from any source of light.
In the morning, mel and one guide woke up early to watch the sun set, then we had pbj and a hardboiled egg that we carted from the prior morning... we all admired the volcano for a bit and took one last journey the edge, then started on the trek back, which luckily was much cooler due to a breeze (relatively speaking, of course! i didnīt worry about dying on the way back :)
Mel and i struggled though, due to exhaustion and straggled back, soaking in sweat and covered in dirt. On the way, we got to watch the field workers a bit and chat about the luck we have that our jobs donīt require us to pick and haul vegetables 10 hours a day, 6 days a week in 90-100 degree temp for a dollar or two a day.
We had another delicous lunch at a comedor right near the mud pits, then returned to leon for a day of resting up. Tomorrow itīs on to Miraflor (via a 3.5 hour ride in yet another un-acīd bus on a highly rutted road. the destination will be worth it though! Miraflor is the largest natural reserve in nicaragua. Weīll do some bird watching and learn more about how they harvest coffee and veggies in the moutains.
