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November 25, 2004
New Ascent: Acatenango
Volcano Acatenango, Guatemala
Elevation: 13,041 feet (3,976 m), third tallest in Guatemala
Last eruption: 1972
Good view of highly active twin volcano named Fuego
Nov 20 - Sat, 4PM. Expedition begins at Soledad (8,530 ft) with 15 people from school. We reach base camp 3hr 20min later and camp overnight.
Sun, 3AM. Seven of us wake up and climb 45 degree grade by headlamp and moonlight. Nothing is more frustrating than climbing loose volcanic scree in the dark in very thin air.
5:30 AM. Summit Reached. The following picture was taken with a 15 second shutter, which is why the lava, stars, and sunrise appear this way. Temperatue est. to be -15 degF; we could only bear it long enough to catch sunrise at 6AM.
I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.
Posted by Jeff at November 25, 2004 11:39 AM
Comments
Fantastic pictures. Thank you so much for sharing. I lived in Guatemala for three years doing development work and climbed Acatengango twice, the first time in 1978. At the time, Fuego was far less pointy on top and had a massive, gently smoking crater. From the summit of Acatengango, you could see parts of the inside wall of the south side of the vent. Thanks again for bothering to share your fantastic photos. They make me want to return for another firsthand look.
Posted by: Craig Bialick at April 21, 2005 05:23 PM