A Sunrise Hike of Guatemala’s Pacaya Volcano

When we arrived in Antigua on Friday afternoon after our initial day in Guatemala City, one of our first stops was to Wicho & Charlie’s, a local tour company. My friend Kyle had used them a few months ago when he did an overnight, 2-day hike of the Fuego and Acatenango volcanos. Kyle described it as the most grueling physical adventure he has probably ever done. But since my entire visit to Guatemala was only 72 hours long, we ruled that one out (yes, that was my excuse anyway). Instead, we were looking to do a half-day hike of the Pacaya Volcano.

Pacaya is an active volcano with an elevation that rises to 8,373 feet. We would hike to the summit, just a few hundred feet short of the crater. When we first arrived to Wicho & Charlie’s, we thought our main options were either the 6am to 2pm hike or the 2pm to 9pm hike. We were leaning towards the latter one, for the sunset. But we also realized we might have a conflict as our friends from Universidad Francisco Marroquin had now invited us to join them in Antigua around 2pm on Saturday (more on that in the next post). But, the young woman manager who we met at Wicho & Charlie’s informed us there is a “sunrise” hike that is from 2am to 10am. She tried persuading us this was the best hike: you see the lava lit up as you hike up in the dark; once at the summit you’ll experience the sunrise; it’s not as hot since you hike in the morning; it’s also not as crowded – probably because few people are nuts enough to wake up that early to go hiking up an 8,000 foot active volcano.

Kyle and I were intrigued but we both looked at each other with an expression that just said: that’s crazy. Kyle then suggested we go eat lunch and think about it and come back and make our decision. Kyle is smart. The tour company manager did inform us they required a minimum of three people to sign up for this hike in order for them to do it and at this point (it was around 1pm) no one else had yet signed up for a hike that began just 13 hours from now.

We talked it out over lunch at the Rainbow Café, which had a very Central American ambience. We came here at Kyle’s suggestion as it was a place that was quite popular locally. Apparently in the evening they often have live music. We ordered hummus to start – after all, Kyle and I met on a trip together to Israel last year. Nothing beats the hummus in Israel, but this was pretty good. I then had chicken fajitas. This food was delicious – and so inexpensive.

“Ok, what the heck,” I said. “Let’s do the 2am sunrise hike. How often will we get this opportunity?” Plus, it would free us up to see our friends from UFM at 2pm. We could hike, take a short nap, then go meet them. Kyle agreed. He then contacted his friend Rossmary who had told us the night before she might come over and do a hike with us. She was also in. So that made three of us – tres locos. They had to offer us the tour, since only three people needed to be signed up for it. We went back and talked to another gentleman that was working the counter. He signed us up – for a mere $39.50 per person. We would need another 50 quetzales in cash with us when we entered the park entrance (that’s about $7 per person).

At 2:00 AM on Saturday morning (which was basically later that night), the tour guides picked us up at our front door of the Airbnb we stayed at (about a 10-minute walk from Wicho and Charlie’s). They handed us a snack bag which included a banana, a brownie, oatmeal, a granola bar, and chips. They then drove us 90 minutes each way to the trailhead. From there, they handed us head lamps for the way up when it was dark. They carried our snack bags in their backpacks, along with big bottles of water for us. I had my own extra bottle that I carried in my hand as I drank some along the way. They guided us through the dark up the mountain (2.5 miles uphill that took us about 90 minutes to hike up and 90 minutes to hike back down). They showed us around the summit, made us oatmeal, coffee, and tea, and roasted marshmallows in the lava. All of this for a mere $39.50 per person plus the $7 park entrance fee! And this is the most expensive of the three options for the Pacaya hike. I am really loving this country.

But let me back the story up a little bit and give you the play-by-play of our journey up to the summit:

We went to sleep around 10:30pm on Friday night. It’s actually not that easy for me to get to sleep at that early of an hour and Kyle and Rossmary said about the same. We woke up at 1:30am and I probably got about 2 hours of sleep. We rose quickly and got out the door by 2:00 AM. A few minutes later our guides picked us up in a van. Now I told Kyle: are we sure these are our tour guides or are we just being put in a van in Guatemala at two in the morning? When they presented the snack bags I felt a little more comfortable.

As we continued down the road, we were quickly out of Antigua and now driving on the rural roads of Guatemala. I said to Kyle: “This is exactly where my parents would want me at 2:30am: in the back of a van going up a mountain on a rural road in Guatemala.” I never got any sleep in that van. It’s not easy to sleep as the roads start getting a little choppier, especially as we are going up some dirt roads uphill on mountain. But also, the excitement was building. And I was trying to log the journey (which you, the reader, are now benefitting from).

At 3:15am, as we are driving our way up the mountainside in the dark, one of our guides tell us that there is a famous Guatemalan phrase: “A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda,” which means: “To the person who wakes early, God blesses.” I sure hope so. I think sometimes in life you have to have a little faith, or at least belief, that you can indeed conquer a mountain, even at 3am. I also once read that 3am is “The Devil’s Hour.” It’s the exact opposite of the time Christ died (3pm). It’s the darkest hour of the night. Some call it the Witching hour, as it’s the time of night most associated with supernatural events. Starting your day at 1:30am is pretty spectacular. Hiking up a mountain at such an absurd hour is certainly supernatural – at least for me.

As we continue, the mountain roads started getting steeper. Then at 3:32am, we turned a corner and we couldn’t quite get up the hill. We hit some mud. A tire was stuck. Our driver continued to push the gas. You could feel the van digging in. He tried to reverse it a little bit. All of a sudden there was another car behind us. When they saw us stuck, they backed up a bit. We all jumped out of the car to observe. Our driver backed it up and tried to hit the gas forward again. No luck. It was stuck. I was concerned. Our two other guides pushed the vehicle backwards. It was now out of the little mudhole the tire had created. The driver reversed again and went around that spot and hit the gas as the other two guides pushed the van. Voila! He made it up the hill. Luckily this episode only lasted a few minutes. We breathed a sigh of relief and continued on.

At 3:40am, we reached the park entrance and parked the van. At that point we forked up the 50 Quetzales each for admission. But like I said, that’s the equivalent of about $7 per person. At this entrance area, we were able to use the bathrooms, throw on our jackets, and prepare to hike. As I came out of the bathroom, the rest of the team was in place. But Rossmary had apparently asked the guides if they were religious. They said they were Christians (Catholics, I believe. This is a very Catholic country). Rossmary asked if they would like to lead us in a prayer before we began. They did.

It was 3:50 am when one of our guides led the prayer. He asked God to protect us, keep us safe, and bless us with the opportunity to see the awesome natural wonder of the volcano we will hike up, part of his amazing creation. I loved this. A volcano contains the energy of the earth; energy that is released into the atmosphere over time. The catastrophes it sometimes creates for the populations nearby and the earthquakes that often come along as well, is a reminder of the broken relationship between God, nature, and man. But in that brokenness, there are also opportunities for redemption and the ability to get close to the awesome power of nature that God created. Here we were, ready to hike up an active volcano, asking for God’s blessing. It seemed to give an additional purpose for our journey.

We put on our headlamps and began the hike, which is all uphill, about 2.5 miles. You can adjust the direction of the light on your headlamp. They nicely illuminate the ground in front of you if you are looking down or any spots to the side if you are looking out. Just fifteen minutes in we reach a “rest stop.” And we look up and can see the orange light of the lava at the top of Pacaya. “Wow!” We look towards the heavens and see many stars on this clear night. Behind us, we look back and can see the lights of Guatemala City below. What an amazing contrast. The lights of man and the lights of God. Or maybe something Saint Augustine would have said: The City of God and the City of Man. We were hiking away from the “power” of man and upwards towards the awesome power of God.

At 4:15am, we get to another lookout point. If this were daylight, we’d be able to see the other volcanoes in the distance, including El Fuego, which erupted 11 months ago and decimated a nearby town, where several hundred people were killed. For now, we merely squint and see their outline.

At 4:32am, we reach another rest area and our guide says we are half way. We are now sweating and take off our light jackets. Yet, just 20 minutes later, at 4:53am, the trail opens up wider and it gets cooler and a little windy. We stop two minutes later to get an amazing view of the lava and crater above. And we put our jackets back on.

By 5:15am, we reach the top of Pacaya. We are getting very close to the lava above us. We can hear it, smell it, feel the heat. We come within a few hundred feet and our guide tells us to go no further. Then a few minutes later, after he continued on past the point we are not supposed to pass, our guide feels comfortable allowing us a little closer. But, he is the only one that gets close enough to roast the marshmallows in the lava. As I mentioned, this is an active volcano and the lava is constantly spewing out, rocks are smoldering, and some are falling, with lava on them. It would be quite dangerous to get too close. In fact, when he was roasting the marshmallows, a few large rocks fall and roll past him to his right. He does this almost every day. But my mouth is dropping just watching this scene.

Around 5:30am, we experience the light coming up from the sun, which eventually rises around 5:45am, allowing us to see two other major volcanoes, Fuego and Agua. They are huge and magnificent. Seeing this landscape of volcanoes in the twilight hour is just remarkable. “This has to be the coolest experience I have ever had,” I say to Kyle and Rossmary. “And I feel like someone who has had some pretty amazing experiences already.” Fuego actually “erupts” a little bit about every 10-15 minutes and we can see the smoke coming out of it when it does.

Our guide gives us some roasted marshmallows – the ones heated by the lava. We eat them. He then pours us some hot tea. It feels good. He cooks up some oatmeal from a camping stove they brought up in the backpacks. I sit down, eating my oatmeal, sipping my tea, with the crater of the smoking volcano and the lava beneath it just a few hundred feet behind me and I look out among the amazing view that the shadows of the sun are creating on the other volcanoes and the landscape below, looking out into the distance where Guatemala City is, a few hours drive away. “This is one of the most amazing Saturday mornings I’ve ever had,” I say.

I think back to that phrase our guide told us just a couple hours ago: “A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda.” This means, “To the person who wakes early, God blesses.” God has indeed blessed us this morning. You almost get emotional looking at this scene. Your early rise, your journey up the mountain, led to your opportunity to see this beauty. That’s a little bit like life isn’t it? Life isn’t always easy. It’s a journey. But if you sacrifice a little sleep, put in a little work, and keep the faith that there’s something greater ahead as you climb that mountain, indeed, heaven is awaiting.

Did you see my first article about my first 24 hours in Guatemala? If not, you can find that here: “Culture and Connections in Guatemala City.”