So, Sunday was going to be a day to chill out and get ready for the coming week, but instead, it became an adventure day. We went to another volcano, Cerra Negro, this one much closer, much less jungle-y, and much more exciting, because we got to climb this one. It is in Leon, but you would never know: we spent about 45 minutes on a dirt and rock road to get to the mountain. It really seems like it is just in the middle of nowhere.
The volcano is something like a national park, so as we were paying the entrance fee, we all thought we'd be able to get out a use the restroom. Instead, we were told that they were up closer to where we start the hike. When we finally parked the bus, we looked around. There were no facilities anywhere. The leader of the group, John, stood up and said, "Okay, anyone who has to go to the bathroom: If the women could go the the right, and the men to the left, y'all will have some privacy." We all just kind of looked at him for a second, realized he was serious, and went and found ourselves a tree.
Once we had taken care of that, we were given a choice between three trails: challenging, more challenging and most challenging. I chose to do the plain old challenging trail because I had heard that it was more scenic and you could really enjoy and absorb the view. It was so worth it. The views were incredible. It was mostly clear, so we could see pretty far, but that's not even the coolest part. We were able to watch, and hear, a rainstorm approach us from the plains. It was amazing. I had just reach the rim of the crater when the rain got close enough that we could see and hear it pretty well, and so I just sat down and watched the edge of the downpour come closer and closer, and then move away and around from me.
Once the rain was pretty much gone, I continued up the the peak of the volcano, and from there, watched a thunderstorm approach. It was incredibly windy and as the clouds came in, they would actually come up and over the lip of the crater. If I focused on the clouds, it seemed as though we were flying through the clouds. It was amazing. Once we started seeing lightening that was closer rather than farther, we came down from the peak to find out how we could get down.
Sabrina, John's wife, was directing people down the more challenging path, because to get down, it is actually the most efficient. At first, I was trying to walk down, but Cerra Negro is, for the most part, a big pile of loose sand and small rocks. This makes walking pretty hard. Instead, you end up kind of skating down the slope, so if you run down the slope, you skate faster. It almost feels like powder skiing, except it was 80 degrees and the "powder" was black, volcanic, and getting stuck in our shoes. Lauren and I decided that "Volcano Running" should become a new sport, with gear and rules and competitions.
On a related note: When we were just arriving, we saw people surfing down the side of the mountain. Those of us who ski/snowboard were talking and we decided that taking a pair of rock skis with us next time was a definite must!
Great photos, Abby
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