After being grounded from international travel while my passport renewal was being processed this summer, we are free to travel again and began our Central American adventure on Nov. 6th.
Cerro El Pital is one of those remote and unique places that we would never get to experience had we not decided to climb the highest mountains in as many countries as possible - this was #30. On the rugged border between El Salvador and Honduras, the hike begins from a tiny village at 7,300 feet called Rio Chiquito which of course is muy fun to say! Just getting to Rio Chiquito (see isn't that fun) was more of a challenge than the short 5-mile round trip hike itself. We arrived into Guatemala City early in the morning, I got my first stamp in my new passport, we grabbed a rental car and headed southeast towards the El Salvador border. After battling traffic, poor Guatemalan roads, slow and pollution spewing trucks and "chicken busses" on windy mountain roads laden with enormous potholes, three hours later I received my second passport stamp at the El Salvador border control.
The dirt poor towns we passed through and occasional military vehicle (or Toyota pickup truck with soldiers in the back) were clear reminders we weren't in the U.S. anymore. Another four hours of driving later taking in the sights, we reached a small village called San Ignacio where we began ascending one of the steepest roads we have ever driven! Our manual drive rental car was barely crawling in first gear up and around the hairpin switchback turns that felt steeper than a black diamond ski run. With relief we finally reached our little mountain cabin for some needed rest before our uneventful hike early the next morning.
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