Saturday, May 29

Today was the day to climb Celaque to its highest point, Cerro de Las Minas. This had been a goal all year for some of us, and of course we waited til one of the last weekends to do it; one where it had been raining all week so it was muddy and messy. It was debated about going or not because of that, but in the end Tad and I decided to still go with Don Luis (our neighbor at the comedor). We got up early (5 am) and thankfully it wasn’t raining to start. I had been up the mountain once before, but only to the Mirador de Cascada (Waterfall Lookout). I just kept climbing and climbing and climbing. I recognized some places like the switchbacks the trail starts with and some rest sites, but past the waterfall lookout, it was all new to me. The hike was hard, I’m not gonna lie. I feel like I’m in shape enough, but this killed me. I was huffing and puffing because of the altitude and difficulty of the climb up. I had Don Luis make us walking sticks. He just takes his machete, chops a small tree or branch and whittles the bark off of it and viola a walking stick. If I hadn’t had that, it would’ve been extremely difficult. I got so frustrated that I couldn’t keep up with Don Luis and Tad, but I just had to remind myself I was going to fall behind no matter what and to not get an attitude about it. There were a few times I wanted to give up; my muscles were screaming at me, asking me what was I thinking. Some parts of the trail were easier than others and those parts I enjoyed, but the other parts that were tough, I just had to get through. I carried a small backpack with me with water and food as well. We stopped to rest at one of the three camp sites we saw for our morning ‘snack’ then kept climbing. Don Luis pointed out different plants, trees and birds along the way including wild orchids. We heard a toucan and a quetzal, but weren’t able to see them.

Finally, after five and a half hours of climbing, we made it to the top. It felt amazing! The view wasn’t much, actually none in fact, but the sign was there to prove we had made it. It was windy and cloudy and cooler at the top. I had on a long sleeve and pants and I was chilly. We rested there for a while, enjoying our accomplishment, and then began the trek down. One would think the way down would be easier than the way up…not so. Since it had been raining, the ground was extremely wet and muddy and therefore slippery. So those steep hills I climbed up, well I had to climb down them too, which led to numerous slip and slides on the way down. I accepted the fact I would probably end up on my butt a few times on the way down. Tad and I both got quite muddy and to top things off, it started raining on the way down as well. The walking stick saved me again numerous times. The hardest part for me on the way down was the pounding on my knees; I was constantly walking downwards, trying to keep myself from falling and my knees killed. The rest of my legs at that point were so fatigued they just kept doing what they had been doing for the last 6-7 hours.

At last we got back to the visitor’s center, which was familiar territory and descended down to Villa Verde. It was such a great feeling to know I accomplished that hike to 9,000 plus feet in 10 hours. I ate some soup, took a warm shower and literally laid in bed the rest of the day, letting my body recuperate. Day seized.