Climbing San Pedro

Beautiful San Pedro

Tomorrow I will turn 57 years old. Some family and friends have been asking, “What are you doing for your birthday, Amy?” Well...I’m gonna tell you now!

Since I arrived to San Marcos, Lake Atitlan, I have been practicing Yoga on the rooftop of our apartment. Early mornings I spend approximately 1 1/2 hours face to face with an awesome, majestic volcano called San Pedro. As I practise I have an unobstructed view of her facade, and when I invert into my headstand, I get to see her magnificence in a completely different perspective. I have come to know her well.

San Pedro is one of the volcanoes that line the shores of Lake Atitlan. It just happens to be the one that stands directly across from our windows. I read recently that San Pedro has a reputation for ‘asking’ to be climbed. Many visitors feel the compulsion to do so. I know I certainly do!

There is something that has happened for me over the past two months living amongst the vast expanse of mountains and volcanoes. There is a sense of security that I feel. It’s like when I knew I would never fall out of my crib when I was a baby, or the supported efforts of my friends circling the trampoline, ready to catch me if I fell off. The volcanoes are strong. There are three main ones in our view on the Lake. They are called Toliman, Atitlan, and San Pedro. Atitlan is the biggest of the three. Toliman is next. San Pedro is the smallest.

Tomorrow morning we’ll be taking a ferry across the lake to the volcano of San Pedro. It stands 3020 metres high. At an altitude of 1560 metres as our starting point we will be climbing (up) about 1.5 kilometres. There will be about 7 of us beginning the climb early in the morning. The local tourist agency calls the trek ‘difficult’ and Paul and I purposely did a treacherous hike this past week into the mountains of San Marcos to play in the huge waterfalls. That was our practise run. It was hard, but manageable. We’re ready for tomorrow. It’s exciting and a great way to spend my birthday. And, I know, San Pedro is waiting for us. She told me so! Stay tuned.....

(Epilogue-We did it! 4 hours up. 3 hours down.  I feel GREAT! What a happy birthday!!!! Thank you San Pedro!)