Volcán Cerro Negro
On Thursday I climbed my third volcano in Nicaragua. Cerro Negro is a 726-meter steaming black mountain that sits in the middle of tranquil agricultural land. It´s only an hour by León by bus. What makes Cerro Negro unique is that it is an extremely young (and therefore active) structure, first erupting in 1850. It can blow again at any time.
I went with my friend Janine (a Quetzal Trekkers guide with whom I´ve hiked all my volcanoes), her father, and a new guide named Hillary. I had prepared all the supplies for our trip, so I was excited to be more involved in the planning.We set out from León at 5 AM. By 6:30 AM we walking on the trail towards the mountain. But by 7:30 AM or so we were completely lost in the woods.
At that point we abandoned the path and just started bush-whacking through the brush, headed directly for the mountain. Janine was like, ¨OK, Hayden, why don´t you just lead?¨ This assured that we would arrive at our destination (and indeed we did), though the way I do things -- walking over hills, under tree limbs, and through the bush without much regard for what´s in my way -- it meant we were all scuffed up and a bit tired by the time we actually reached the base of the volcano. (Indeed, when we finally emerged on the path, we met two campesinos on horses carrying rifles; we asked them which way the sendero was and then promptly got lost again.)
Our time on the volcano went more normally. It only takes 45 minutes to summit, yet once inside the main crater there is so much active volcanic material to hold your attention. The steam coming out of the vents, sulphurous and smelly, gives a extra-planetary feeling to the place. The top of this black mountain was surprisingly multi-colored, with yellow, red, and green material deposits mixed in with the white calcium ash. It is really something to stand in the middle of a crater of an active volcano.
We then followed the trail up the lip of the crater to the very peak, where there were fine views of dried lava fields meeting the surrounding countryside. The day was a bit overcast, thankfully, and the clouds kept us cool. Around this time I was stung by a bee on my neck, but Janine came to my rescue by removing the stinger. We paused for a moment to enjoy the views but our earlier digressions from the path didn´t leave us with much free time.
Cerro Negro is unique because you can just run down the slopes to the bottom, and that´s what we did. (It´s also possible to surf down. If you´re crazy, you can take your bicycle and set the land speed record for a bicycle ride: see the video posted earlier on this blog.) The angle is 45 degrees, and mentally it seems impossible to run down it. But as you start striding you create a mini-avalanche of gravel. Really it´s just a small slide of stones, and you kind of run on top of that, as if you were on an escalator. It´s really one of the most peculiar feelings, running down the side of steep volcano. For most people, it´s lots of fun; for me it was a little terrifying. The others waited down at the bottom for me to arrive.
From there it was a brisk walk back to the town of La Rota, evading another angry bees nest and with a bit more bush-whacking. From there we caught the 12:30 PM bus back to León. We were all so exhausted from the effort (and the lack of sleep, I was playing poker until 12:30 AM the night before!) that we passed out on the way home. We didn´t have time to eat our sandwiches, so I did that while I cleaned the black volcanic rocks out of my shoes.
Last weekend, Harry decided this volcano most suited my personality (because I was extremely volatile). And indeed I had a great time up there: It is a starkly beautiful thing, and fun to climb. I was also so impressed with my companions, especially Janine´s father who, despite being a few years our elder, really rocked that thing. And Hillary did Cerro Negro without shoes (only sandals) AND without complaining! Most of all, it was just fun to hike another volcano with my friend Janine before she heads back to Chicago.
It´s kinda a cool feeling to return home at 1:30 in the afternoon and realize that you already hiked a volcano that day: makes you feel like you´ve deserved a chocolate.
I went with my friend Janine (a Quetzal Trekkers guide with whom I´ve hiked all my volcanoes), her father, and a new guide named Hillary. I had prepared all the supplies for our trip, so I was excited to be more involved in the planning.We set out from León at 5 AM. By 6:30 AM we walking on the trail towards the mountain. But by 7:30 AM or so we were completely lost in the woods.
At that point we abandoned the path and just started bush-whacking through the brush, headed directly for the mountain. Janine was like, ¨OK, Hayden, why don´t you just lead?¨ This assured that we would arrive at our destination (and indeed we did), though the way I do things -- walking over hills, under tree limbs, and through the bush without much regard for what´s in my way -- it meant we were all scuffed up and a bit tired by the time we actually reached the base of the volcano. (Indeed, when we finally emerged on the path, we met two campesinos on horses carrying rifles; we asked them which way the sendero was and then promptly got lost again.)
Our time on the volcano went more normally. It only takes 45 minutes to summit, yet once inside the main crater there is so much active volcanic material to hold your attention. The steam coming out of the vents, sulphurous and smelly, gives a extra-planetary feeling to the place. The top of this black mountain was surprisingly multi-colored, with yellow, red, and green material deposits mixed in with the white calcium ash. It is really something to stand in the middle of a crater of an active volcano.
We then followed the trail up the lip of the crater to the very peak, where there were fine views of dried lava fields meeting the surrounding countryside. The day was a bit overcast, thankfully, and the clouds kept us cool. Around this time I was stung by a bee on my neck, but Janine came to my rescue by removing the stinger. We paused for a moment to enjoy the views but our earlier digressions from the path didn´t leave us with much free time.
Cerro Negro is unique because you can just run down the slopes to the bottom, and that´s what we did. (It´s also possible to surf down. If you´re crazy, you can take your bicycle and set the land speed record for a bicycle ride: see the video posted earlier on this blog.) The angle is 45 degrees, and mentally it seems impossible to run down it. But as you start striding you create a mini-avalanche of gravel. Really it´s just a small slide of stones, and you kind of run on top of that, as if you were on an escalator. It´s really one of the most peculiar feelings, running down the side of steep volcano. For most people, it´s lots of fun; for me it was a little terrifying. The others waited down at the bottom for me to arrive.
From there it was a brisk walk back to the town of La Rota, evading another angry bees nest and with a bit more bush-whacking. From there we caught the 12:30 PM bus back to León. We were all so exhausted from the effort (and the lack of sleep, I was playing poker until 12:30 AM the night before!) that we passed out on the way home. We didn´t have time to eat our sandwiches, so I did that while I cleaned the black volcanic rocks out of my shoes.
Last weekend, Harry decided this volcano most suited my personality (because I was extremely volatile). And indeed I had a great time up there: It is a starkly beautiful thing, and fun to climb. I was also so impressed with my companions, especially Janine´s father who, despite being a few years our elder, really rocked that thing. And Hillary did Cerro Negro without shoes (only sandals) AND without complaining! Most of all, it was just fun to hike another volcano with my friend Janine before she heads back to Chicago.
It´s kinda a cool feeling to return home at 1:30 in the afternoon and realize that you already hiked a volcano that day: makes you feel like you´ve deserved a chocolate.
posted by Hayden @ 1:00 PM
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