Caminata (Hike)

On the trail with Rigoberto

Todos Santos is in the heart of the Cuchumatán mountains, and from Todos Santos run many trails for day hikes or multi-day hikes. We had made plans in advance to hike to one of the tallest points in Central America. Melissa contacted our guide Rigoberto by email and he met up with us Saturday night to plan out our Sunday caminata. The two main options we considered were a hike to “La Torre”, a 12,589 foot peak versus a 5 hour walk to a village by the name of San Juan Atitán. The main problem with the second option is that it would have involved at least 3 hours of bus/car transportation to return to Todos Santos.

Rigoberto met up with Josh, Melissa, Chris, and Mariah at 7am and we took a bus for about 30 minutes back toward Huehue (Todos Santos sits in a valley at around 8500 feet). We stopped at a small village called “La Ventosa” which is about 10,800 feet (for comparison, the peak of Mount Hood is 11,250 feet) and started upward, instantly feeling the altitude effects. Rigoberto and Josh (aka La Cabra, the goat) seemed to be immune to altitude.

Josh comparing height with Juanita

After about two hours we reached the summit, looking out over cloud covered lands below us, and enjoying the sunshine. La Torre is about 1,000 feet below the tallest peak in Central America, which is Tajumulco (13,845 feet), a volcano we could see from the where we were resting. After an hour or so at the top, we asked Rigoberto to bring us down an alternate route to a place called “La Maceta”. This turned out to be an amazing walk down a steep (3,000 foot descent) trail through canyons and along creek beds.

View of the "Chuj" (Sauna)

Suzy and Rosalicia spent the day in Todos Santos, having a little down time. Suzy of course has been our constant activities director and trip coordinator. They both went to a chub ("choo" = sauna) which is a small enclosed area (like the back of a pickup truck with a top installed) with a coal fire, and heated rocks that you can pour water on. They both had a good sweat and a good rest.

We all met back up at our hotel, said goodbye to Santiaga (the owner of the hotel/cooperative shop, and to Isabela and Juanita (see the photo with Josh) who were the hotel staff. From Todos Santos to Santa Eulalia is about 2-3 hours, made difficult by the potholes, but also the neblina (fog) that descends on the antiplano in the late afternoon. We sand and told stories in our two trucks as we made our way to Santa Eulalia with some staff from PCI including Paulina, a nurse, and Yasmin, a coordinator. We also discovered another spirit animal, Mariah La Tortuga (tortoise).