Let’s hike and camp out on an active volcano. That’s a great idea! While we are at it, why don’t we visit Brazil’s Snake Island or Australia’s asbestos mines. Those are all pretty bad ideas unless that active volcano is Acatenango. Now I know literally no one hikes Acatenango because they just want to hike Acatenango. The real reason you’re hiking is to see Acatenango’s dramatic younger brother, Fuego. Nobody pays attention to the older siblings once the baby starts crying. Younger siblings am I right? Acatenango doesn’t care. He knows he’s cool and he doesn't need to tell why he is cool. But I will because you will see some neat things hiking Acatenango.
How does someone hike an active volcano and not die a fiery death? First, we need to define what an active volcano is. Well, if you ask that question to 5 volcanologists you will get 6 different answers. Since no one can agree on how to define an active volcano we will use the most commonly taught definition from The Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program. Which states, an active volcano in a volcano that has erupted in the past 10,000 years. That is 1,413 angry mountains worldwide. If you wanted to use a definition with a narrower time frame then Acatenango is considered active. The last eruption was in 1972. So yes, when you brag to your friends that you hiked an active volcano you will be technically correct. The best kind of correct. That doesn’t mean Acatenango won’t erupt in the future. Volcanologist can't say with 100% certainty that it won't erupt again, but those guys can't agree on anything. Right now, there is no volcanic unrest so the risk of eruption on Acatenango is extremely low. Are you still worried that Acatenango will erupt when you’re hiking it, knowing your luck? A lot of times volcanoes have the courtesy to give warning before erupting. Common warning signs of unrest from movement in the magma chamber are ground deformation, increased earthquakes, change in type and amount of gas emissions, temperature change. Acatenango is actively being monitored for those changes.
That is kind of cool of Acatenango but we are just getting started. Acatenango is the third tallest mountain in Central America at 13,045 ft (3,976m) and more importantly taller than Fuego. The hike up Acatenango passes through 3 completely different natural ecological zones. The farmland is not included as a natural zone but it is included because the change in environment to the next zone is dramatic.
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You will see layers in the walls as you hike up. Each layer represents a period of volcanic activity. You're looking at a huge chunk of Acatanango's history. The first zone starts past the hot and sunny farm land at the park’s entry. This zone is called the cloud forest. It is an old growth tropical forest covered by clouds most of the time.
This is an incredibly biodiverse zone with beautiful flowers and numerous birds. The next zone is the Alpine zone. You are above the clouds now where we finally get to see some great views. The zone is a temperate coniferous forest. There are some weird toilet brush looking pine trees in this zone. The density and height of the trees starts to decrease the higher you go up until you reach the volcanic zone. This is the most extreme zone. It is rocky, dry, cold and windy. The ground is made up of mostly loose and young volcanic ejecta. There is no soil for plants to grow in. except for the little yellow flowering plant. They seem to like it. When you finally make it to the top of Acatenango there are a few dozen sporadically placed small holes with steam coming out called fumaroles. The fumaroles indicate that there is still some heat inside Acatenango. They also make for great hand warmers. The most impressive feature are the craters inside the two highest peaks. The craters are the remains of volcanic vents. If you ever wondered what the inside of Fuego looks like, these craters are an accurate example of that. Then it hits you. You realize everything that is happening at Fuego, also happened exactly where you are currently standing. The amount of energy released and destructive power came from this spot for thousands of years. You are staring down at the barrel of a gun and that gun is earth.
Yes, Fuego gets all the attention and sure the best place to safely view Fuego is on Acatenango. I even wrote my magnum opus to Fuego and Geology in this post. From the different ecological zones to the earth-shattering geological features, if you look you will see how incredible Acatenango is. All of the campsites are on Acatenango after all, because everyone camping out on an active volcano like Fuego is a really bad idea.
Corey Wheeler
Geologist
Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi
