Remember the foreshadowing from my Ometepe Blog? Well, let’s unpack that!

Knowing we had a few days in Ometepe a few of us were looking at potential hikes. Volcano Concepcion was the one to do – it was definitely going to be difficult, no doubt about that, even the alltrails map showed as a single line up the side of the volcano. (Where’s my Garmin data you ask? yeah, it died 2 miles in. Sadface)

The first 1.8 miles was actually just a path from the parking lot go the base of the mountain – also known as false hope.

The first bit was through semi-lush jungle. Decent trails, but still somewhat technical. It was difficult enough of a start that the ‘hard part later’ was worrisome to all. We did get to see some monkeys in the wild. It’s also where we learned that monkeys don’t actually like bananas.

It was cool in the morning yet, perfect hiking temps. They required we brought 4 litres of water, which were already getting heavier and heavier. We got about a third of the way up, it was super windy and a bit chilly yet. Lots of cloud coverage. There would be no more protection of the trees from here on out. The ‘fun’ part was officially over now.

We pushed forward to about the half way point, we were a few hours in now – wind still strong – fog still rolling in. We were getting tired and increasingly worried since the steep part hadn’t started yet. The group decision was to just keep going and checking in with eachother if we hit a point we didn’t want to continue.

For the last quarter of the climb the guide told us the average was about an hour per 100 meters. The paths were either carved out slivers of land walking through slippery mud or volcanic loose rocks and ash. Regardless of which it was slow moving and unstable, and the further we went up the more nervous some got about going back down.

There were a few rocky points (pun intended) where the group started to stretch out too far or people were moving too fast/too slow. But everyone kept a great attitude, and most importantly we all stayed together. We were determined to make it to the top, even if it was just slow.

As we got to the final sections, it was just rock face. We had to bearcrawl the rest of the way up because the winds were so intense it would throw you off your feet. There was nothing but bare rock to hold onto. We got to the very top but all you could see was white fog all around. When I went to crawl closer to the edge I heard the guide yelling. Apparently – that was the cliff down into the crater of the volcano… cool-cool-cool.

The way back down was a little easier for me but difficult and slow nonetheless. It just took forever. It takes about as much time to go down as it does to go up, which should really speak to the technical nature of the terrain. Our guide wasn’t the friendliest and was annoyed with us for moving ‘too slow’ but we didn’t care. We also have absolutely no view of the volcano – ok we cared a little bit. Especially because the fog cleared as soon as we got back to the halfway point.

The longest part of the hike? The final 1.8 miles of flat back to the van! HAH!

If you’re the adventurous spirit and in good shape. You should do it. If you’re looking for an ‘uphill walk’ with a view – dont do it.

Gear: Solomon Trail Runners, hiking poles, Patagonia backpack, snacks – some protein/carbs – some candy/sugar, buff, protective sunglasses, chapstick, chain to hold your phone to you