only 17 kilometers away, it is a towering presence that´s impossible to look at without thinking to ones self, I wonder what the world looks like from up there. At the summit, looking down into the active crater stands a cross ten meters tall, suggesting making it that far would require additional help.
At over 19, 133 feet, about 5,000 feet higher than the tallest Mountain in the Continental USA (Mount Whitney, CA) El Misti is a true test of skill, endurance, and what I would soon find out, will power.
As the 4x4 drove off in the other direction, and my guide starting walking towards the hulking presence that now took up my entire field of vision, I felt confident and excited, not a problem I said to myself. Yeah, right.
After 6 hours of hiking up- over, rocks, sand, and through volcanic ash, we arrived at base camp. We had made good time, so we pushed for the higher of the two base camps at 15,748 feet, we were already higher than Mount Rainer, Washington´s highest peak and that much closer to the summit the following morning. I felt good, we had kept a steady pace, and I had consumed an equally steady pace of coca leave products, as I knew altitude sickness would be my worst enemy, 7 out of 10 mountaineers who attempt El Misti experience it and don´t make it past base camp.
The sun sets early in the mountains, and we ate a quick meal of of spaghetti and coca de mate tea around 6pm, before taking refuge in our tent and sleeping bags. At 15k feet, without the sun, the temperature drops fast and I quickly layered up for the night. I expected to fall fast asleep, as both my body and my mind were exhausted from the day´s climb. It wasen´t to be though, as my Nemesis, altitude sickness began to take effect.
I knew I needed a good nights sleep for the assault on the summit the following morning, and the more I tried to will myself to sleep, the less likely it was to happen. It was below freezing outside, but I stripped down to one pair of pants and a t-shirt and lay on top of my sleeping bag as I battled the fever that had now taken over my body. I tossed and turned restlessly, listening to my guide sleep peacefully next to me, and the family of fox´s that had a taken interest in our tent. I could not have slept for more than 15 mins at a time and a total of two hours all night. My headache was getting worse and I knew I was running out of time. We needed to get started.
At 3:15am, my guide made me a special tea, and lacking an appetite he forced me to choke down a piece of bread with jam. We stepped out of the tent and into a movie, the entire city lay illuminated in the darkness straight down below us, and to our left a stream of light was breaching the horizon. The sun was on it´s way, and feeling slightly better, so were we.
As we left our ice covered tent behind, the true accent began. Life was no longer present at this altitude, where as before moss covered boulders or reeds growing out of the sand provided proof that life was meant to exist, here there was none. The freezing wind, lack of water, and bitter cold at this height are not meant to support life, and I felt those facts all the way to my bones. I pushed hard for the first hour, and we made solid progress. Only 4 more to go I said to myself.
I don´t know when or where exactly it happened, but I could no longer breathe. It wasen´t the headache or drowsy feeling from the altitude sickness, it was something different. There was no oxygen in the air. I panicked for a moment, but turned around sat on a rock and watched the city slowly wake up and the sun rise. After a couple of minutes, I had my breath back, but it would be a long time before I could breathe normally again.
The lack of oxygen didn´t just effect my lungs, but my whole body. I no longer had oxygen for my muscles in my legs, or for my brain to work properly. I could only answer the guides questions in one word answers, or with a thumbs up. Both were always lies. I couldn't´t take more than 10 steps without losing my breath. I was fighting for every breath. And so it went, ten baby steps up, sit down for 30 seconds to catch my breath, and on and on the process went. Somehow the minutes turned to hours and we were actually making progress.
We were still an hour from the top and I was ready to quit. 10 steps had turned to 5 before needing a break, and I had begun falling asleep while sitting down to catch my breath, which was making me nervous. I was scared I wasen´t going to be able to make it. The guide was telling me we were making good time, and to continue to rest as needed. It wasen´t possible though, I wanted hot chocolate, a sauna, and a bed, not an extra five minutes of rest on the side of what felt like the moon. Incredibly, and I think this is because the lack of oxygen had rendered me stupid, after each rest I would continue to stand, and walk up towards the summit. Each time I was literally surprised.
After 5 grueling, without a doubt most challenging hours of my entire life, we crested the summit. I iimmediately laid down and took a 30 minute nap. I was a zombie, but the views were ridiculous. We were on top of the world. We explored the summit for a while, took some pictures, but I needed to get to lower altitudes, as I still couldn't speak in complete sentences and the wind on the summit was surely of hurricane force.
From past eruptions, huge alley ways lead straight down the mountain covered 2-3 feet deep in soft volcanic ash. This was our route down, as we ran, slid, and slipped our way straight down the mountain. I was greeted at base camp with a clear head, an incredible hunger, and to my surprise a gigantic rainbow circling the sun. It was a beautiful site, and capped a beautiful experience.
