The climb up Mount Acatenango was one of the most insane, beautiful, awe inspiring adventures of my life however this hike is not for everyone. As someone who is in good shape and hikes mountains and peaks in the west this hike was by far the hardest I have ever done. I only heard the most amazing things and I didn’t truly get any warnings before going on this hike. So here are some things to keep in mind before hiking Acatenango: 1. Elevation Gain Sickness: if you have never been at a high elevation or got to the top of a peak you might want to reconsider. You start this hike at 7,000 feet or 2,100 meters. You gain 5,000 feet or 1,524 meters to reach the summit. If you have never been above 10,000 feet before this might not be the hike for you. The higher you climb the harder it will get no matter your fitness level if you aren’t use to elevation gain. You can start to get sick, a headache or feel faint if you aren’t prepared and the only way to get better is to go down. So if you are coming from sea level to do this hike beware! 2. Fitness level: you are climbing in volcanic ash most of the at up. You are going two steps forward one step back the whole way. Your legs will be burning by the time you reach the top. You are going straight up the whole time. If you didn’t train or aren’t in good shape it will be incredibly physically taxing. 3. The overnight hike is crowded. If you don’t like crowds don’t do the overnight hike. We did the day hike just because we didn’t have time for the overnight and are very happy we did due to the crowds we passed coming down. According to our guide 200-400 a night camp go up. 4. Dust/ash sensitivity. If you have any sensitivity don’t do this hike. So much of both gets everywhere. By the time we got to the bottom. 5. You get cold easily. The weather is extremely different than that of Antigua. It is freezing at the top! #travletips #travelhacks #guatemala🇬🇹 #acatenango #explore #wanderlust #Wanderlust #Adventure #Explore #Destination#Travelgram #Travelogue #Wanderer #Journey #Discover #Expedition #Itinerary #Backpacking #Globetrotter #Scenic #OffTheBeatenPath #hiking #climbing #mountain