We left Saturday afternoon and headed up Santa Maria, which is a volcano not too far from Xela. It sits at about 12,375 feet. What an absolutely amazing trip it was. There were probably at least a hundred other people with the idea to camp on top just as we did. It is quite a steep hike up.
Highlights from the trip: Watching the moon rise Saturday night, seeing the city lights at night, watching the sun rise Sunday morning, seeing Santiaguito erupt Sat. night in the dark, having an incredibly clear night and morning, the view at all moments!!, laughing hysterically with Sandy, and being with a great group of people.
The not so high lights: It was FREEEEZING out from the time we got to the top of the mountain until probably about 9am or so, unfolding out rental tent to find out it was melted together in parts (we pulled apart the melted sections, but had huge holes in the tent), using smelly rental sleeping bags (on of which had a non-functioning zipper), howling wind during the night, super steep climb and decent (that part has it's pluses too)!
