At the top was a building with bathrooms, shops, places to rent horses, etc. but we had arrived so early the doors were chained shut. We took some pictures from the main lookout and began our hike up the volcano. People, this volcano was NO JOKE. The inclines were so steep and the air was so thin that even the tiniest step felt impossible. Not only that, I was carrying a backpack with enough warm clothes to last an entire Wisconsin winter. Michael was right when he told us to dress warm, the air felt like it was around 30 degrees fahrenheit, but I had packed so much stuff in my backpack (including a first aid kit and extra pair of shoes - oops) that after 30 minutes of climbing watching me struggle, the guys were offering to carry it. Such gentlemen! There was no way I was going to watch someone carry my idiotic backpack up a volcano. I made it about 40 minutes but after watching Sean carry my backpack up a steep incline, I decided to call it quits. Survival 101 "know thy limits". Normally, I would have pushed through and forced myself to the top but the altitude was on another level. Literally. Even when we weren't walking, I couldn't catch a full breath and my lungs felt like they were going to explode. I decided that realistically, I wasn't going to make it to the top that day so I wished them good luck and made my way back down.
On the way down I crossed paths with a group of hikers from Germany whose picture I had offered to take earlier that morning. They had stopped for a snack and we enjoyed talking about our travels and the upcoming presidential election. One of the girls said she had hiked Pichincha three times but only made it to the top once. She cautioned against going up when it was foggy because it was easy to lose the trail. On multiple occasions, hikers have needed to be rescued from the top due to a sudden change in weather. Knowing this girl, who even looked like a hiker, had struggled to make it to the top made me feel like less of a loser for turning around. As I walked further down the volcano I passed a group of horses making their way up. See, now even I could ride to the top.
(Zee Germans)
(Looking pretty cloudy at the top.)
Once I made it back to the lookout I settled in for a long day. On average, it takes about 3 hours to make it to the top so I knew I had some time to kill but the day was surprisingly entertaining. At first, I had the lookout completely to myself so I sat quietly and did some reflection.
Since I was sitting in such a prime location, I offered to take pictures for tourists/families who were otherwise taking selfies. Honestly, I'm probably responsible for over 200 Christmas cards this year. It was really fun meeting people from all over the world - Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Canada, Chicago, Dallas, Utah, Ecuador, Germany, etc. I guess I looked nonthreatening because people had no hesitation handing over their expensive cameras. One of the highlights of my day was watching someone's dad attempt to take a photo of her jumping in the air. I wish I were joking but I heard "one, two three, jump" over 1,000 times. Once they had the perfect jumping photo (45 minutes later) they proceeded to take another 1,000 pictures laying in the grass, sitting on the ledge, looking into the distance, every cliche photo you can think of. I was so glad I had a front row seat because it was hilarious.
(Local musician)
Once I got sick of taking pictures for strangers, I found a quiet spot, used my backpack as a pillow, and took a nap. Normally, I wouldn't advise falling asleep in public in a foreign country but at that point I was wearing all the clothes I had packed and I had nothing of value in my backpack so I wasn't too worried. I forgot to reapply sunscreen and got horribly sunburned on my face but alas, hindsight is 20/20.
(This is my "I just fell asleep on a volcano" face.)
After my nap I had about two hours to kill so I wandered into the main building which was now open and bustling with people. I ended up siting with two very attractive Australian guys and we swapped travel stories for about an hour. Twenty minutes after they left, I looked up from my empanada and saw the rest of my group. They looked completely exhausted but proud of themselves - I was proud of them too! Their descriptions of the rest of the hike only reassured me that I had made the right decision to turn around when I did. They described inclines so steep they had to use their hands for balance, uneven rocks at the top, and a descent that was so sharp, they spent half the time sliding down on their butts. "Ain't nobody got time for that!" Here are two pictures from Robby's phone near the top. Yikes.
We rode the gondola down and crammed into a taxi for a long ride home. All in all, it was a good day. I got some amazing pictures, met lots of new people, and can now say that I have visited an active volcano!
No comments:
Post a Comment