roasting marshmallows in lava.

on tuesday we hiked a volcano. it is called pacaya. at the top of pacaya, after 2 hours of straight up hiking, you break through the thick layer of clouds and you see a sight that could only be described as the most breathtaking vista on earth. j.r.tolkein...eat your heart out. so, when you get to the base of the volcano (as high as you can go without your shoes melting) you start to hike out in the black battle field of hardened magma, watching your step and looking forward towards the feral dogs that walk with you in hopes of getting food (how they do it, why they do it, left me astounded). at one point, if you stop to take a breath, a few things happen. one thing is that you look straight, and you see 3 more volcanoes reaching high above the clouds, one right after another, and the vibrant green vegitation that contrasts with the black as night rock you stand on. the other thing that happens is that your shoes start to melt. after you walk for a little while, your feet always moving, you reach a point where you can look through cracks in the rock, and see bright red streams flowing through them, about 2 or 3 feet below. that is lava, there. a group of german tourists, who had brought jet-puff marshmallows, decided that their kids had enough sugar (much to the shagrin of the 13 year old son, who gave me the evilist eye ever when i thanked him) and gave us their half finished bag. our tour guide had brought a stick, and we threw some of the jumbo mallows on it. then, we spent the next few minutes, always quick stepping some our shoes didnt become tar, roasting marshmallows in the ambient heat of the lava. true, i love roasted marshmallows over a campfire. true, i love looking out over an unknown terrain and thinking, wow, this is incredible. but the unbelievable combination of my sticky hands covered with roasted marshmallows that were roasted by lava, looking out over the sunset across jet black craggy rocks to the lush green and volcanos in the distance, was something i will never recreate. and thats the way i like it.