Mountain Bike Magazine 2009

We've done it again! Another magazine turned believer. We had the lads from Mountain Bike Mag down here to ride last March and as per usual, they were blown away. They tagged along on one of our tours around the country with a Canadian Based Company called Sacred Rides.

Magazine ran an 8 page spread showing some of the best of the riding around here in the valley and out at Lake Atitlan. hey but dont listen to me. Go out and buy yourself a copy and hold it tight.

Tackling the RING OF FIRE

This November a group of 11 brave souls came to Guatemala to tackle seven of Guatemala's most impressive volcanoes. We at Old Town Outfitters like to call this trip the "Ring Of Fire" as we summit 7 summits, three of which are spectacularly active cones.


This is the view looking east from atop Santa Maria volcano at nearly 3,600 mts. back across many of the volcanoes we have already summitted. You can see in the distance all the way back to the volcanoes of Agua, Acatenango and Fuego in the Antigua valley a well as the peaks that ring Lake Atitlan.



The hike up Pacaya volcano get us with in Marshmallow roasting range of an active flow. This is like no other place on earth! Pacaya is the kind of place that is made famous by programs like National Geographic. After Pacaya we head out the summit the dormant sentinel that looms over Antigua, Guatemala, Agua volcano. Agua, is a long hard hike but the summit offers up amazing views from Guatemala City to the Pacific Coast.




From Antigua we head out for a 3 day 2 night summit bagging trek up the sister volcanoes of Acatenango and Fuego. These are Guate's premier trekking peaks. We load up the gear on porters and head up to the summit of Guate's third largest peak of Acatenango, 3979 mts. After taking in the views from atop this monster we head to our exclusive campsite for a night of lava fireworks from Fuego's active cone. Just because Fuego is active doesn't mean that we are going to shy away. The next day we wake up and head down to the saddle between the two and hed up the knife like ridge on Fuego and get within a few hundred meters below one of Guate's most active cones.



With the volcanoes of the Antigua valley behind us we head out to Lake Atitlan to climb San Pedro. After this hike we take a welcome down day to rest sore legs at the hotel La Casa del Mundo and take a soak in the wood fired hot tub there. Although we would have loved to stay at the lake a bit longer we still have two more volcanoes to summit. Our next objective is Santa Maria volcano with neighboring "old faithful" Santiaguito Volcano.


Santiaguito is Guatemala's youngest and smallest volcano. Don't be fooled as it super active belching out plumes of lava and ash every hour or so. After Santa maria we head out towards the Mexican Border and climb our last mountain and Guatemala's largest Tajumulco 4220 mts. This trip is an amazing way to get to see our amazing country and enjoy trekking in a comfortable, safe and enjoyable way. We set up all the logistics arrange all the porters and do all the cooking so you only have to hike and have a good time.
Get on board and we'll see on top of one of Guate's volcanoes!
Mateo

Old town is working to Re-open Acatenango

Acatenango is Back! After nearly 8 months of being "off limits" to hikers due to the "extracurricular activity" of some unsavory locals, Old Town Outfitters has re-opened our hikes and treks to the volcano. Its been a lot of hard work to bring it all together but the opportunity to spend the night on Acatenango at nearly 13,000 ft. and see Fuego do its thing makes it all worth the while.





Over the past year we have been involved in working with members of the local community of La Soledad at the base of the volcano to try and create a management plan for responsible community based tourism in the area. Our goal is to make the area a safe place for tourist to enjoy while at the same time incorporating the community into the master plan.


We believe that as the locals there at the base of the mountain become more involved and incorporated into the development of the park they then will work to keep the area clean, green, safe and beautiful for the days to come. We have been working hard with the good folks out there to build trail, clean and repair campsites, and implement resource officers.



Because we believe that the community is the key designing and maintaining a successful management plan we are employing them as our resource officers who will accompany each and every Old Town Group on the Volcano. This is not only a plan to inject tourist dollars in to the local economy but while on the mountain we will be working to raise awareness of the Environmental issues associated there.



Proceeds of every tourist we take to the volcano will remain in the community by means of development projects. We have organized several projects in the local school to ensure that as you spend your tourist dollars to enjoy a safe and fun experience on Acatenango or Fuego Volcanoes that you will also be helping to kids of La Soledad have the chance for a good education.

See ya on the trail,
Mateo

Capital Punishment

We at Old Town Outfitters call this the "Capital ride." It can be said that the name comes from the fact that it heads out of town and climbs into the nearby hills in the direction of Guatemala City, or "La Capital" as its called.



But one quickly realizes as soon as they are smacked down by the climb that the name refers to a certain type of punishment associated with a climb of this nature. The climb is long, relentless, steep, and has no warm up. And,it is most certainly punishing.



So why do it? Are we just gluttons for punishment? Maybe. But for me when the climb is over and you pass through (sneak really) the mysteriously beautiful fences of a remote finca called pillar and realize you are sucking wind looking out over the entire Antigua valley below, it all starts to make sense as to why you've come all the way up here.



The view. That's right...the view. To see the 3 volcanoes (Agua, Fuego, and Acatenango) that once towered over you while just a tourist back in Antigua on the valley floor now seem to be at eye level and not so oppressive.



You were'nt really gonna let me get away with saying its for the view were ya? Its the downhill...yeah the downhill that's so much damned fun. The views nice too, but come on. The trail rolls through fun fast open sections, tight technical rock gardens and you can test your luck on the tight rocky switchbacks at the bottom.
Bring it on....maybe you can tag along on our next morning out!

Nebaj -> Todos Santos Hiking Expedition

This last week we here at Old Town Outfitters packed up the van for another jaw-dropping expedition through the Cuchumatanes Mountain Range (a.k.a. the “high country”) in far northwest Guatemala. We knew it was rainy season, but we just didn’t care. It had been far too long since we had hiked these beautiful trails, so we packed some extra raingear, threw two of our most loved dogs into the trunk, and headed out for our trailhead in Nebaj.

Far up in the Quiche Department of Guatemala, and situated in a natural bowl-shaped recession, Nebaj is the largest town in the Cuchumatanes. When you mix this area’s long history of civil resistance with it’s proud, colorful preservation of Mayan traditions and stunningly beautiful backdrop of mountains and waterfalls – it’s no wonder this off-the-beaten-track town is one of Old Town’s favorite stop-offs before a big hike. Our first day’s hike (after a long day of driving up from the Antigua Valley) across a nearby ridge and down into the Acul Valley landed us at Finca San Antonio – where to our surprise baby Blue Heeler puppies had been birthed just a few days before!

After a hearty delicious farm breakfast at the Finca (complete with pancakes and homemade fresh cream), we grabbed some of the fresh cheese they produce at the farm and headed out for what would be one of the more challenging hikes. The dirt road out of Acul ends at a tiny village named Xexocom, and it’s an 800 meter climb up switchbacks to the even smaller outpost of Chuantuj – situated on the rim of one of the many high-alpine plateaus in this region. Beautiful panoramic views of the Cuchumatanes are all around us during this day’s hike, and at the end of the day we had climbed over 1000 meters on the day. The only people we saw for the last 4 hours of hiking were two farmers hiking down from the altiplano with their horses!

Coming into Chuantuj on the topside of the ridge we begin to understand why so few people populate the high plateaus of the Cuchamantanes. Weather conditions up here are always unpredictable and fogs roam constantly through the highlands, chilling hikers and creating confusion in what was (only minutes before!) a perfectly lovely sunny day. Cloud forests, moss and fern covered pine forests, and rocky outcroppings cover the rugged topography of these ridges, giving our group time to get lost in mushroom blanketed thickets and strange stone formations. Houses in tiny hamlets like Chauntuj are constructed of local woods and topped with corrugated aluminum brought on horseback from days away. Almost everyone in the highlands is a farmer, raising potatoes, garlic, corn, or whatever else they can successfully raise to trade or sell.

We bedded down for the night in a spare room in Chuantuj used during harvest season for storing potatoes. We opted to seek out a shelter rather than set up our tents because of a good-sized rainstorm which ushered us into the village. As we dried our boots next to the fire, the guides on the trip – Juan and Sean – cooked up a feast for the group and passed around tea and hot chocolate. Situated at over 3100 meters above sea level, Chuantuj can be a chilly place to spend the night. We woke up rested with some sore calves, but happy to be setting off on a beautiful hike up on the high plateau.

Today’s hike took our group on a long windy hike across the top of one of the massive high-alpine plateaus this region is famous for. Landscapes here can best be described as “dreamy” or “fantastical”. Sinkholes, dense pine forests, brightly colored high-alpine flowers, trippy rock gardens and wide, sprawling plains make it a feast for the eyes as we make our way from one edge of this high mesa to the other. We pass by another tiny (sub-100 pax population) village, Chortiz, as we wander towards Pauil Pais – a larger sized village on the plateau by virtue of its road connection to the valley town of Aguacate.

Horses and mules wander outside the villages up in the high country, some of the few farm animals hearty enough to handle the conditions up here. Our Old Town guides befriend a local hunter out looking for deer with his dogs and rifle, and after a quick exchange of information and the usual pleasantries, our group makes a few minor adjustments to our planned route across the high plain in order to reach our destination before dark. We ate a huge lunch today nestled in a thickly wooded valley watching clouds roll past just a few hundred feet above our heads. Our blue blue skies and heavy stomachs forced an involuntary group nap in the early afternoon – a great opportunity to enjoy the tranquility of our scenery and the calls of the brilliantly colored mountain birds flying about the branches over our heads.

Another reason this area is so fascinating to many hikers is its remoteness and ruggedness – and their apparent effects on the locals here. Many Cuchumatanes residents haven’t ventured farther south than the nearest large city Huehuetenango, situated just outside the mountain range in the valley to the south. Most travelers to Guatemala never venture this far north because of the poorly maintained roads, lack of food, lodging, and transport options, distance from the capital, and the difficulty involved in obtaining guides and information for the area. Our 5-day camping expedition is a perfect way to see a part of Guatemala which is truly unique an unaffected by modern technology.

Another day full of dog-assisted hiking past Pauil Pais, our group traversed the gargantuan Pericon River Valley over the course of the afternoon and pitched tents on its western slopes. Rain showers in the early afternoon have been a trademark of this hike, and today was no different, but all in all we’ve had little trouble keeping the contents of our packs dry. The hearty meals our guides cook up every evening, together with warm oatmeal and fruit breakfasts and non-stop munching of hiking snacks (nuts, trail mixes, dried fruits and meats) during the days, have been making this trip (like all Old Town Outfitters trips) one of culinary delight and swollen bellies. We’re glad to have plenty of energy these days, because the rocky weathered landscape at these altitudes demands it. It’s onward and westward for our group towards our food re-stock in Chancol and our final destination of Todos Santos.

Walking down from the high plateaus the final day and descending into the charming town of Todos Santos is the last of our hikes over the course of these mesmerizing six days. Old growth cloud forests with 400-year-old trees blanket the insanely steep slopes of the Todos Santos valley and provide our group with limitless eye-candy as well as non-stop camera spots our entire trek downward. The locals here are known for their unique local textiles, their history of itinerant work throughout the country and world, and of course their legendary drinking abilities. The weaves and patterns of local clothing here are extremely distinctive and wildly beautiful. The remoteness of this town, in particular, and the local’s penchant for the pursuit of beauty and happiness in such a harsh environment, embodies the heart and soul of rural Guatemalan culture. After five long days of hard hiking and sleeping under the stars, we enjoy a night at a local hotel and steam the aches right out of our legs and feet with a traditional sauna. When it’s all said and done, the trip turned out how it always seems to turn out in the high country - an unforgettable experience and a rare and wonderful glimpse into the beauty of the Cuchamantanes Mountains and the local people and traditions who color it. Shoot us here at Old Town Outfitters an email or give us a phone call - and join us on our next trip up north to the beautiful Cuchumatanes.

-Sean

Lake Atitlan Gold

Here are a few teasers for those of you tied up behind your cubicles. These shots were taken of yours truly with riding with some friends out at Lake Atitlan.



It just doesn't get any better than this! Sunset ride at Lake Atitlan. Here we are working the tight lines above the lake village of Santa Catarina.

The trail starts out about 1000 meters above the lake and works its way down, down, down through, farms, fields and villages to the lake shore.



The drops are steep and technical and the view around every corner is amazing. its just hard to work the trail and take in the views at the same time. This is the last piece of trail before dropping the "staircase" through the village of Santa Cat.
See ya on the trail...Mateo

Monterrico Sea Kayak

Yesterday we loaded up the kayaks on the van and headed down to the Guatemalan Pacific coast for a day of sea kayaking. We Paddled through the mangroves mazes that line the pacific coast andharbor amazing bird biodiversity, and even had the chance to see my favorite bird the Northern Yacana.

After a couple hours of paddling through the lagoons and backwater canals we landed at the sleepy beach town of Monterrico. This small beach community is famous for its sea turtle nestingsite and release project to help boost the number of endangered leatherback sea turtles that make the Guatemalan Pacific coast their home.



After a big sea food lunch we jumped back in the kayaks to explore more of the Hawaii-Monterrico reserve. From la Laguna de los volcanoes you can look back into the highlands and be staring no less than 4 monster volcanoes from sea level to 13,000 ft.!

The return trip took us through beautiful mangrove forests that seemed to be floating in the canals and lagoons. We managed to find time for a nice long float in the shade and listen to the sound of the birds overhead. If you think about it; a day spent sea kayaking on the Pacific coast, sponsoring a sea turtle for release, body surfing monster waves and an ice cold Gallo over some sea food with friends is a pretty good way to kill a Wednesday. You should try it sometime....give me a call I'll show ya the way.
Cheers,
Mateo