Time seems to be fast-forwarding itself these days. My friends here are already making comments about how I'm going to leave them all sad in July. They're always asking how much time I have left, all of us secretly hoping that time would somehow slow down or rewind itself and make it less painful to think about my limited time left here. But reality always gets me and my only real option is to be truly present with the people here, to live each day fully as it comes. Lucky for me, I recently met some people who reminded me how to do just that.
My first day of school I had read on the calendar that there was a hike up Tajumulco scheduled for that weekend. I really wanted to go but that seemed like very little time to prepare myself mentally (and physically since I'd have to buy myself another pair of pants) for an overnight hike. I decided I would just wait and hope they would schedule to hike it again within the next two weeks.
Much to my disappointment, a week passed and the hike was never scheduled again. I was so bummed. Tajumulco is the highest point in central America and I had heard really great things about the hike. I toyed with the idea of finding a hiking company to go with but that would involve research and quite a bit of motivation. People who know know me well, know that I have a major lazy side. I'm a really hard worker once I get going but I'd much rather go with the flow than have to make my own elaborate set of plans.
Just when I thought my laziness was going to get the best of me, I met a few people who had climbed Tj with a hiking company that they loved..BOOM done. I had found my hiking company - Quetzaltrekkers. Alright so a little plug-in for this awesome organization. Quetzaltrekkers is based out of Xela, Guatemala, right by where my host family lives actually. It's a completely volunteer run non-profit and literally all of the money that clients pay goes to helping the Guatemalan people - whether it be through eating at local restaurants before hikes, staying in a host house for a night, or money given directly to their two projects Hogar Abierto and Escuela de la Calle. Between these two programs, Quetzaltrekkers is helping to provide schooling and housing to over 200 children at a time. The guides are a great and the hikes are incredible. Hiking volcanoes & helping kids, it doesn't get much cooler than that. They're looking for volunteers who can commit to at least 3 months as guides for the hikes and they're of course also always open to donations so if you have any interest, you should absolutely look them up.
Anyway, after renting out all of my needed gear from them, I put on my backpack and walked home. As I struggled to get through the narrow doorway of my bedroom, my little sisters were in hysterics laughing at me. My backpack was literally empty and I couldn't fit it through my doorframe. The question "what am I doing?" crossed my mind a few more times as I packed my backpack (outside of my room). My 4:30am wake up call came all too quickly as I groggily met my fellow hikers in front of the Quetzaltrekkers office. One pickup truck ride and two chicken busses later, we were ready to begin our adventure. I'd only hiked with a pack a couple of times so I wasn't surprised when my hips started to hurt early on. However, with good company and plenty of snacks, we reached base camp early on - around 1:30. I'm not sure how I lucked out with my hiking group but we quickly went from strangers to making fun of each other as we ate and played cards until sunset. We hiked up to a peak next to Tajumulco to watch the sun go down in the distance. As the wind picked up and the cold set in, I was more than ready for dinner and hot drinks before bed. |
In the "morning" we woke up at 3:30 to make the 50min hike up the summit of Tj to watch the sunrise. With nothing but my sleep mat and sleeping bag in my pack, the hike wasn't too bad other than the howling wind and my finicky flashlight. I can't accurately describe how beautiful the view from the top of Tajumulco is, nor do my pictures do it justice, so you'll just have to hike it for yourself. I'll just leave you with the preface of: we saw layers of stars I didn't know existed, a lightening storm in the distance, and shades of colors in the sunrise that brought tears to my eyes.
The hike down was also incredibly beautiful. What had been very cloudy the day before was completely clear, allowing us to see volcanoes in the distance as well as miles and miles of mountains. I once again rolled my ankle while we were about an hour and a half away from our lunch spot. Have no fear though because one of my friends Ben carried my pack for a bit to lighten my load and my ankle is feeling much better currently. However, while we're all thinking about it, if any of you reading this know any good ankle strengthening exercises, can you send them my way? As much as I love having a really swollen bruised ankle, I think it'd be a good idea for me to work on preventing this from happening again.
Anyways, now that I've fully bragged about Tajumulco, the reason I started writing about this in the first place is because of the really cool group of people I hiked with. I didn't know anyone when we left and by the end of our time together, I was already planning a night for us to get a beer together and hang out again. We were a collection of misfits and wanderers, some of us without return dates home, others who were lying to their employer for why they needed a couple months off, all of us with big plans for adventure. These guys reminded me of what it's like to not need a schedule, to live truly in the moment. This mentality is difficult to keep in a world as busy and time-oriented as the one we currently live in, but it's a mindset worth the struggle to keep. You don't need plans to live an awesome life, you just have to be present and ready for it. |