Preparing for Pacaya

One of the things J has wanted to do since he was old enough to understand where he was born and that there were volcanoes there is to climb a volcano. 

So guess what? Yes! We will be climbing Pacaya, an active volcano in the Department of Esquintla Guatemala. Unless of course, Pacaya decides it doesn't want to be climbed that day. 

Then we'll get a full refund and a very disappointed little boy.  He's hoping to see this:

I'm sorta hoping we do not! 

 Regardless of what we end up seeing, Rob and I realized we needed to do alittle preparation for this upcoming adventure. 

So in our spare time we took some family hikes. 

An easy one. 

And

One that matches almost exactly the elevation, elevation gain, and length of the actual Pacaya hike. We are banking on cooler weather than the 90+ day of this practice hike, a lot more sharp rocks on the trail (there's not really a trail as the conditions change daily so our guide will determine that) and less greenery. 

Pacaya, here we come!