Hike To Chicobol

Today we hiked to the mountain lake of Chicobol. It was unlike any hike I have ever done before--we started at the base of an ancient volcano. The trail was a little bit muddy but the weather was perfect. It was beautiful to look around and be completely surrounded by thick jungle--ferns and trees of every kind everywhere! But, as Susie pointed out, they hardly ever use swichbacks here, which made for a crazy steep hike (like... straight up). It was hard with the ten thousand foot elevation along with the steep slopes, but it was so worth it!

The lake was pristine and beautiful. Once we reached the top, we were inside of a cloud and it started to rain. Fog covered the hills and the surrounding volcanoes were hardly visible. After the hike, we had to climb down 500 plus steep stairs leading down from the ridge into the lake. We had to go very slow because they were slippery and very, very steep as well. We followed a trail around the lake, which was perfectly calm and unlike anything I have ever seen before. There would be little Mayan sites of worship every quarter mile or so around the lake, which was usually a cross constructed of various types of dried plants and fresh, colored flowers. Scrawny little dogs followed us the whole way and the whole group grew quite fond of them. They even followed us onto floating logs and trailside areas for pictures! The sky was white and the rain was at a perfect drizzle, making for a magical hike.

Looking forward to more good times with this amazing group!!
-Hailey