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Summiting Volcán Acatenango to view Volcán Fuego Erutions

It was 4 am in the pitch dark of our 12,000 ft. base camp on Volcán Acatenango when our Guatemalan guide, Lucas, woke us up for our pre-dawn assault to the summit. I had never been so cold, which is saying a lot since I am Canadian. I jumped out of my thin borrowed sleeping bag excited for the opportunity to move around and warm up. My wife heaped my sleeping bag on top of her and snuggled in deeper. She had been freezing all night as well in the cold of elevation. It was pretty clear she had had enough adventure the previous day hiking up from 4,000 feet to 12,000 feet. So onward I went with Lucas. With altitude, darkness and cold all in play, the hike up the last 1,000 feet to the summit was …… sporty. We followed the line of headlamps from 60 or so hikers from other groups snaking up the steep, dark pathway, every step sinking into deep volcanic ash and sliding back. Progress was both painful and slow. As we worked our way up, several other adventurers dotted the side of the path, heads hung in defeat, unable to continue on. After about 90 minutes, with every muscle in my body screaming in protest, I did summit. The view was stunning as the sun rose over dormant Volcán Aqua and the active Volcán Fuego put on a pyrotechnic display in the very near distance just 1.5 km away. With this image below, all my pain melted away. I was left speechless with a huge grin of gratitude on my face.