The Volcano Challenge

As of now the school semesters are slowing down. There is no new hiring except in emergency cases which is how I got my job. Everyone is prepping for the January semester so its banging out resumes and going to interviews. With that I have expanded my search area and it now includes Guatemala and Mexico. I love Nicaragua but will not limit myself to it just yet. That being said and knowing how I am I need to have a bit of a plan in place so I do not wake up one day and find myself on a flight to Cambodia. That is down the road. I have been talking with a School in Xena, Guatemala and they have an exchange where every hour I teach I get an equal hour in Spanish lessons in return. This really sounds perfect for the short term. Build my teaching CV and keep learning Spanish as my two focal points. More on that later as well.

With that being said, having the entire of Latin America at my feet plus lots of free time I have laid down the gauntlet to myself and anyone who wants to join me (I have 2 takers). I am going to climb each one of the volcanoes in Nicaragua.

What you say? Well there are 19 Volcanoes in Nicaragua. The map to the right shows the location of the most popular ones, whatever that means. The ViaNica website has a great interactive page for 13 of them as does Google Image Search.

Having already climbed Cerro Negro and tobogganed down the skree of  this active sulfur spewing beauty recharged my obsession with Volcanoes. I have climbed them in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Iceland. Two trips to Japan and I did not climb Fuji, what a dork I can be. Cerro Negro last erupted in 1999 and erupts on average every 10 years, so we are due. Thankfully it is only 25 km away and we will be fine. Wait, what? Oh when it erupted in 1999 parts of Leon were destroyed. Ah, well there is that to look forward to.

On Monday I am climbing Telica. One of Nicaragua's most active volcanoes, Telica has erupted frequently so thankfully its 45 km away from Leon. Wait what? Debris from Telica has been know to hit Leon with great force. Ah well since I live on the north end of town towards Telica there is that to look forward to. Come on old girl, lets see what you've got.

I will be climbing with my buddy Paige, who at 5'2 and about 110 lbs has already confirmed she will not be able to handle the 15 kilo pack that each of us is require to carry for 5 hours uphill (tent, sleeping bag, food, water and water and more water). Her ever present cellphone will NOT be making the trip. It's time for this young girl to live in the moment and not the Gram (as the cool kids call Instagram). ** Her generation teases me about not being up to date with technology but then needs to use Google to find out how to cook an egg**
So as the guide will not be carrying any extra weight the old man will lug an extra 5 kilo which really is no problem but the girl still has to pull her weight, well some of her weight. I would hate to have to leave her on the trail because she is to tired and her pack was heavy.

Quick story for you Paige if you read this. I was in Iceland a few years ago with my sister, Kelly. I talked her into climbing a volcano (the name escapes me). From the car parking lot you walked along a boardwalk to the trail head. All along the boardwalk were posted signs. "Do Not Leave the Man Made Trail. If you walk on the Earth beside the trail you may fall into Hot Lava", or something to that effect. I guess the lava flows from the volcano were flowing under us.


Conversation after we read that sign.
Ken: Nice this should be fun
Kelly: What, I am not going, we are going to die.
Ken: How?
Kelly: If we fall off the boardwalk we will be killed by lava.
Ken: Then, don't fall off the boardwalk.
Kelly: I am not going!
Ken: Ok, here are the keys, go wait in the car and I will be back in about 4 hours.
Kelly: (long pause)..a fu**, ok I a coming.
4 hours later..
Kelly: That was amazing!

So note to Paige. I will leave you on the trail young lady! Note to Paige's Mom. Don't read this post.

Here is a list of Volcanoes with links to their details plus my favorite, their last eruption date. This is going to be interesting.

Name	Elevation		Location	Last eruption
	meters	feet	Coordinates
Apoyeque	518	1699	12.242°N 86.342°W	2160 BCἙἛ
Ciguatepe	603	1978	12.53°N 86.142°W	Holocene
Cerro Negro	728	2388	12.506°N 86.702°W	1999
Concepción	1700	5577	11.538°N 85.622°W	2009
Cosigüina	872	2861	12.98°N 87.57°W	1859
Estelí	899	2949	13.17°N 86.40°W	Holocene
Granada	300	984	11.92°N 85.98°W	10,000 BC
Lajas	926	3038	12.30°N 85.73°W	Holocene
Las Pilas	1088	3570	12.495°N 86.688°W	1954
Maderas	1394	4573	11.446°N 85.515°W	Holocene
Masaya	635	2083	11.984°N 86.161°W	continuing
Mombacho	1344	4409	11.862°N 85.968°W	1570
Momotombo	1297	4255	12.422°N 86.540°W	1905
Nejapa-Miraflores	360	1181	12.12°N 86.32°W	Holocene
Rota	832	2730	12.55°N 86.75°W	Holocene
San Cristóbal	1745	5725	12.702°N 87.004°W	2012
Telica	1061	3481	12.602°N 86.845°W	2015
Azul	201	659	12.53°N 83.87°W	Holocene
Zapatera	629	2064	11.73°N 85.82°W	Holocene