Volcano Type: Stratovolcano
Volcano Status: Historical
Last Known Eruption: 1972
Summit Elevation: 3976 m 13,044 feet
Latitude: 14.501°N 14°30’2″N
Longitude: 90.876°W 90°52’33″W
Acatenango, along with its twin volcano to the south, Volcán Fuego, overlooks the historic former capital city of Antigua, Guatemala. Acatenango, which has two principal summits, was constructed during three eruptive periods post-dating the roughly 85,000-year-old Los Chocoyos tephra from Atitlán caldera. An ancestral Acatenango volcano collapsed to the south sometime prior to 43,000 years ago, forming La Democracia debris-avalanche deposit, which covers a wide area of the Pacific coastal plain. Construction of Yepocapa, the northern summit of Acatenango, was completed about 20,000 years ago, after which growth of the southern and highest cone, Pico Central (also known as Pico Mayor), began. The first well-documented eruptions of Acatenango took place from 1924 to 1927, although earlier historical eruptions may have occurred. Francisco Vasquez, writing in 1690, noted that in 1661 a volcano that lay aside of Fuego “opened a smoking mouth and still gives off smoke from another three, but without noise.”
A very imposing and voluminous cone, made up by the main cone, at 3976 meters above sea level, and a secondary cone, Yepocapa, at 3808 meters. It is a very hard climb, and the whole top part of the volcano is covered in fine sand, due to the eruptions of its twin volcano, Fuego. The view from the summit is breathtaking. Birdseye view of the Pacific Ocean, and the Guatemalan volcanic chain, including the volcanoes of Santa Maria, Toliman, Atitlan, San Pedro, Santo Tomas, Zunil, Tajumulco, Tacana, Agua, Fuego and Pacaya. Ascent takes aprox six hours. Beautiful camping spot about halfway up, called “El Conejo.”
Originally posted 2010-08-25 03:50:44.
