Howdy!!
Well, what can I say?? Ecuador is continuing to prove its amaziness each week. Unfortunately, it's getting a bit more difficult to enjoy vacationing and exploring, as my work load for school seems to be piling up more and more each day lately!! I guess that will happen around midterm time, though, right? Boo. Well, I really can't complain, so I'll just shut my mouth.
Anyway, this past weekend I went on a trip with my Andinismo (aka climbing) class. It was my first backpacking adventure up a mountain since arriving in Ecuador!! The trip was fairly short, just a two day (Saturday and Sunday), one night trip up a volcano called Iliniza. There are actually two peaks to the volcano (Iliniza north and Iliniza south). We climbed the north peak. The Thursday before we left, we were told (vaguely) what we needed to bring with us. You have to understand that in Ecuador, you don't really know anything until the last minute. It's kind of like living a life with constant surprises. Kind of exciting for me... but I'm sure it drives some Americans completely insane. You just kind of have to go with the flow here. So, considering that we didn't know what we needed to bring with us until two days before our trip, it was very convenient that there are about two thousand and twelve adventure stores scattered about Quito that rent out every type of hiking gear imaginable. And it's fairly cheap... you can rent a three-person, high-mountain tent for 12 bucks a day, a sleeping bag for 2 bucks a day, a sleeping pad for 70 cents a day... the list goes on and on. The only thing you have to be careful of is making sure you get good equipment – one person from our group ended up renting a sleeping bag that didn't zip, while another group was given a beach tent... which doesn't work too well if you're camping in the snowy mountains. I guess that's the best way to learn, right??
So our group of nine people (seven students, two guides) set off Saturday morning for the volcano. We took three busses to our destination, all of which were very crammed with people. When we arrived at the base of the volcano, we were told to go get any last minute things we needed at the one little shop there was in the town, and meet back at the corner of street 1 and street 2. When we got back to our meeting point, our backpacks were taken from us and thrown into this truck that looked like it was used to haul cattle (it was just an old-looking truck with wooden walls and a tarp over the top). We thought, alright... maybe we're taking another bus somewhere else, annnnd they're taking our bags in this truck? Nope. Within another couple minutes, we were also put into the back of this truck. We used our bags as seat cushions, and held onto anything we could find (usually each other). So this truck started climbing up the mountain. For the first ten minutes, the ride was fine. Then it started to rain. Let's just say the tarp over our heads didn't do much to help. Thank God we all had rain gear. After about another five minutes, we got to a dirt road. First of all, this road was by far the bumpiest road I had ever been on in my life. It didn't help that there were eight people as well as eight backpacks crammed into the back of this truck without seats or anything to hold us onto the truck. I think each one of us flew to the other side of the truck, into another person, at least once during the 45 minute ride, among the few times the truck almost tipped over after falling into a pothole. And this wasn't the least of it. Not only was the truck practically toppling over as a result of the anything but flat road, but it was also having quite a hard time making it up the mud-covered mountain, in the rain. There were a couple times when the truck completely stopped, tires spinning, as we were driving up the mountain. It was way too easy to imagine the truck slipping backwards down the mudslide-like road and flying off the edge of the cliff that was visible through the back of the truck. Ahhh!! But don't worry, I was thinking ahead. I had a personal exit-plan in case of an emergency... luckily I didn't have to use it.
So after finally getting to “El Bosque,” which was our starting point, we put on all of the rain gear that we had (yes, it was still raining) and started our ascent. Now... two weekends ago, I thought that climbing up the small section of Cotopaxi was difficult. Then I decided to do it again, but this time, on a different volcano, and for three hours instead of five minutes. Although I wasn't quite as high up this past weekend (I ONLY got to about 16,000 feet at Iliniza as opposed to 18,000 feet at Cotopaxi), the trip proved to be just as difficult. It was probably the most tiring thing I had ever done in my life. But at the same time... it made me feel so... how do I put it?? ALIVE!!! It was absolutely fabulous. As we got higher and higher and more and more tired, the clouds started to clear up, the rain started to settle down, and the views started to get all the more beautiful. At one point the clouds completely cleared away from the volcano and you could see the beautiful snow-covered peaks, as well as our destination on those snow-covered peaks. It was really neat to think that in a few hours, we would be on the volcano.
After hiking for about two hours, we took a break, and realized that it had started to get dark. Our guide Ramiro told us to get out our head lamps, and then let us know that we still had about an hour to go. We couldn't believe it. We had never been more exhausted in our lives, and Ramiro was sitting there telling us that we still had an hour to go. Geez. So after we rejuvenated ourselves with water and gorp, we started climbing once again. The closer we got to the top, the colder it got, and the more tiring it became. Then it started to snow, but we marched on, our desire to go to sleep the only thing pushing us anymore. Finally, we could see a small, yellow dot in the saddle between the two mountains. It was our refuge!! We were home free!! It was great when we finally got there. We set up our tents as fast as we could, and all immediately put on all of the clothes we had, and crawled into our sleeping bags with our tent buddies to eat dinner. Dinner was great, as was resting our legs after a day of hiking.
The night was freezing. I had never camped in snow before, so didn't really know how it would work out for me. I soon figured out that I didn't bring enough socks. My feet were frozen all night long (I guess three pairs of wool hiking socks weren't enough), and I think I was trying to sleep on a rock (that's what you get for setting up a tent in the dark, huh??). I also had to get up to pee in the middle of the night... in the snow. Can you say BRRRR?? (All you complaining people in WI, I can finally say that I feel your pain, haha).
After that night, I can say I was more than happy to wake up the next day. We all ate breakfast, and then set off for the peak of the volcano. It was still cloudy and pretty windy, but Ramiro thought that it might be possible to get to the top, so why not give it a go, right? The climb from our base camp was pretty intense. We had to bring climbing harnesses and rope for the very top of the volcano so we could strap into each other for safety. The hill was steep, and covered in snow. You had to constantly be paying attention to where you were putting your feet, and how you were putting pressure on your feet, because one wrong move could send you tumbling down the volcano. The whole time we were walking up the volcano, I wondered how we were going to get down. Slide? It seemed like the only possible way at that point. After hiking for about an hour, we came to a point (apparently about a half hour away from the peak) where it got extremely windy. It was our sign to head back. Ramiro told us that it was too dangerous to continue up the volcano with the gear we had, so we turned around and headed to camp. The way down was quite frightening. We didn't slide, as I had wondered about earlier in the day, but I'm pretty sure everyone had a couple close calls while attempting to climb down. But we all survived of course, and while we were all disappointed about not making it to the summit of the volcano (and not being able to use our harnesses), we were all thrilled by how far we had made it. It was an amazing journey!!
So after getting back to camp, packing up, and hiking the rest of the way down the mountain (back to the death truck at least), we headed back to Quito. The next day, I felt crippled. My calves had never been sore before this trip, so that's kind of amusing. Also, although there were parts of this trip that seemed kind of crappy, I really don't regret a minute of it. Of course it sucks to be cold, and of course it sucks when it rains or snows and is so cloudy that you can't see more than twenty feet in front of you, but that just makes everything else all the more exciting, right?! And it was more than wonderful to get away from the pollution and noise in the city, and up to a quiet mountain with friendly people and gorgeous views. It's stuff like that that's worth living for. I can't wait for my next trip with the class, which is this coming weekend!! Ahhh!!
Well I'll say my goodbye for today, and hopefully will be able to send out another adventure next week Tuesday after my climb up Carihuairazo. As always, if you find the time, I'd love to hear about how you're all doing! Thanks for all who have responded to my previous emails, they always put a smile on my face!!
Miss you all!!!
Love and hugs....
Jenna
go with all your heart
