High Points

To celebrate the end of Environmental camp I met up with a group of other Peace Corps friends and climbed Volcan Tajumulco- the tallest point in Central America! Tajumulco is a dormant volcano whose peak can be seen from all over Guatemala and has been a goal of mine since I set foot in this country.

We met up Saturday morning and hiked 4 hours to our camp site, our bodies screaming under the weight of packs that none of us had carried for a long time (it had been 16 months since my last backpacking trip! Unfortunately the PC schedule doesn't leave much opportunity for backpacking trips) We camped in a valley at the base of the summit and enjoyed a well-deserved warm meal made on a fire (Scott and I machete-ed a fallen tree to pieces to bring back wood. So hardcore).

We rose at 4am, knocked the sleep out of our eyes and ice out of our shoes and took off for the summit. I’ve only had the chance to hike above 10,000 feet 3 other times in my life and my lungs pinched at the lack of oxygen. But the moon was bright and the view was incredible so the push to the summit was lovely. I arrived at the top with Mark and Scott a little after 5am and enjoyed the full range of colors that the sunrise provided.