El Salvador - The sometimes perilous route up El Picacho

 October 16

Hello everyone!

A popular thing to do in El Salvador is hiking. I’ve already done a couple of good walks during my first couple of months in the country. Now to walk up to the highest point in the capital city!

El Picacho

Our hiking group

Looking at the San Salvador volcano, known as Boqueron, can be confusing. The volcano itself is the flat part that doesn’t look like a volcano. The pointy bit at the end, that does look like a mini volcano, is not the volcano, though was pushed up by volcanic activity. It’s called El Picacho: the peak. Sounds better in Spanish, I know.

View from an apartment in Santa Tecla

The peak is to the east of the main volcano

I was told in a WhatsApp group about a hike up El Picacho which would also drop into the crater of the actual volcano. A challenging and long hike. All you needed to do was…bring a toy. It was a charity hike of sorts, gaining materials for a children’s hospital in the city.

The advert for the hike

The result: our guide handing out the toys in a local hospital

Sunday morning arrived. By the time the Sun had risen, I was already close to the starting point. With the temperatures high and humid throughout the day, the group was planning on leaving at 5:30am. I had parked my car at a suggested spot over a kilometre away and then walked uphill with my bag filled with five litres of water, snacks, sun cream, rain jacket (you never know!)...oh, and a weird, slightly creepy bear holding a heart.

View at 5:15am

The toys were put in the boot of a car before starting

I was one of the first people there. More arrived and it seemed that, by 5:50am, we were ready to go. With the exception of two people who were late, and who we decided to wait for. Until 6:30am. When it was now hot. At least I had some pupusas as my breakfast to build up some energy reserves.

The very top is often shrouded in clouds

Bean and cheese pupusa

The hike began through a small residential area before going offroad. Though not overly steep at this point, two people were already falling behind. They were spoken to by our tour leader and then mercilessly cut from the group. With hindsight, this was definitely the right decision. 

Walking through the suburbs at the start

Heading off-road

You have to have a guide for security reasons. As well as that, they are the ones who know where to go. This became important when he suddenly turned right into a field of very tall grass. This was our route, apparently.

The tall grass - also difficult to see where you were stepping

We soon reached a stopping point. It was 8am, already hot, and I was already concerned that I shouldn’t have kindly given away my last pupusa to a petrol attendant. Lovely views, mind.

I'm fascinated by how much nature lives on the side of the volcanoes here

View of eastern San Salvador

Soon we were able to get clearer views of Picacho. It was also a chance for me to practise my Spanish, as no one else really spoke English in our group. When I tell people I’m learning the language, they respond by saying how well I’m doing…then speak at double speed, giving me no chance of understanding them. A combination of my Spanish and other people’s limited English allowed us to have a good time as we headed up the side of the volcano.

There were approximately 25 people in the group

Some much-needed shade

Being fertile land, quite a variety of plants grow on the slopes. We found lots of coffee plants, lemon trees and many beautiful flowers.

Lemons growing on the tree

Lots of pretty plants and flowers on route

The route became more complicated - and shaded, thankfully - as we rose up towards the top. There were points where many of us, myself included, slipped on the muddy incline which hadn’t had enough sunlight to turn dry. The guide was also conscious of the time, as some members of the group were moving quite slowly.

The hike became quite steep in places

One of the drier sections near the top

Finally, as the time approached midday, we made it to a strange-looking derelict building. Perfect murder scene. After shimmying around the fence, we walked the final, flatter stretch to the summit.

I think this is connected to the TV antenna structures

The view…was…underwhelming. Covered with cloud, admittedly, but I expected to be able to see out from the top. Alas, we could see trees and the TV antenna station. Nonetheless, I feel like it was an impressive achievement. We had a bite to eat before starting to head down in a different direction.

These help the city stay connected

What a view!

Our guide had passionately explained the need to get down quickly in order to be able to do the second half of the hike: into and out of the volcanic crater. A group of eight of us thus sped down through the mist, also conscious of the fact that it might rain at any given moment given the changing wind and air temperature we could feel.

The route down had its perils as well

The views soon disappeared but it didn't rain

Unfortunately, others weren’t quite so quick.  This resulted in our guide having to tell us that we wouldn’t be able to go into the crater after all. This was disappointing as I was arguably more excited about this part than the hike up El Picacho. However, it was probably the right decision as others had been moving slowly, and our legs were all feeling quite tired from hiking up to the highest point in the city.

Lovely plants on show as we headed toward the road

View of central San Salvador

There’ll be another time for going into the crater. What I did managed to do on this Sunday was hike up over 1000 metres upward to the highest point in San Salvador, practising a lot of Spanish on the journey, whilst also donating a toy to a child who will probably be terrified of it and bears for life. Great success!

Love you all,

Matt