El Mighty Volcán
What. an. epic. day!
The ascent took about 6 hours and the descent 3 more, the guides said it was -15 degrees (celsius which is 5 Fahrenheit), smoke billowed out from active volcanic crater at the top, and the mountain provided some of the most fantastic vistas i have ever seen...
I packed 2 large bars of chocolate, 3 bananas, 2 sanwiches, 1 bag of peanuts and 2 bottles of water. well, thats a funny thing...because eating in such extreme weather is quite interesting!
second stop up the mountain im feeling great, not cold at all and wondering where the power of the mountain is. i enjoy chomping on my chocolate and gazing out over the valley. meanwhile, the two brazilians who are doing the trek with me are keeping up just fine and we are all enjoying talking in our broken spanish.
fast forward about 45 minutes and the brazilian couple is split with the girl lagging far behind, we stop again to eat only this time i open my pack up and rip open the banana eating it in record time im sure, i stuffed the whole thing in my mouth as fast as i could so that my hand could return to cover! my sunglasses were covered in snot and my strength, though aplent, was waning. i mentioned to the guide my fear of descending and he said if i was afraid that we couldn`t go to the very top. woops! i mean, sir, im good to go, vamos!
next stop...utter misery. my hands beat against my chest to keep from going numb, my feet already there. the reason? we stopped for a quick snack break, me drinking ice cold water, and then 5 minutes later again to put on the cramp.pns. thus, my body suffered for these consecutive stops. anyways, cramp-ons on (kinda like a pick axe on my feet) and suddenly my fear of ascending up the mountain in ice vanishes...
summit. wow o wow. we are above the clouds, wreather in vapor fleeing maddeningly from the volcano opening. the vistas are indescribable but the cold is overwhelming. it is impossible to really appreciate the views though, as it is just too cold. really that kinda sums up the trip, that is, the mountain provided incredible views, beautiful expanses but it was more about my individual effort, overcoming my fears, trusting in my body and pushing on when i thought i couldnt.
at the end of the day, upon returning to villarrica and staring at the massive piece of rock, i felt a great sense of accomplishment in summitting this beast, im eager for my next mountain....but not too eager!
love
The ascent took about 6 hours and the descent 3 more, the guides said it was -15 degrees (celsius which is 5 Fahrenheit), smoke billowed out from active volcanic crater at the top, and the mountain provided some of the most fantastic vistas i have ever seen...
I packed 2 large bars of chocolate, 3 bananas, 2 sanwiches, 1 bag of peanuts and 2 bottles of water. well, thats a funny thing...because eating in such extreme weather is quite interesting!
second stop up the mountain im feeling great, not cold at all and wondering where the power of the mountain is. i enjoy chomping on my chocolate and gazing out over the valley. meanwhile, the two brazilians who are doing the trek with me are keeping up just fine and we are all enjoying talking in our broken spanish.
fast forward about 45 minutes and the brazilian couple is split with the girl lagging far behind, we stop again to eat only this time i open my pack up and rip open the banana eating it in record time im sure, i stuffed the whole thing in my mouth as fast as i could so that my hand could return to cover! my sunglasses were covered in snot and my strength, though aplent, was waning. i mentioned to the guide my fear of descending and he said if i was afraid that we couldn`t go to the very top. woops! i mean, sir, im good to go, vamos!
next stop...utter misery. my hands beat against my chest to keep from going numb, my feet already there. the reason? we stopped for a quick snack break, me drinking ice cold water, and then 5 minutes later again to put on the cramp.pns. thus, my body suffered for these consecutive stops. anyways, cramp-ons on (kinda like a pick axe on my feet) and suddenly my fear of ascending up the mountain in ice vanishes...
summit. wow o wow. we are above the clouds, wreather in vapor fleeing maddeningly from the volcano opening. the vistas are indescribable but the cold is overwhelming. it is impossible to really appreciate the views though, as it is just too cold. really that kinda sums up the trip, that is, the mountain provided incredible views, beautiful expanses but it was more about my individual effort, overcoming my fears, trusting in my body and pushing on when i thought i couldnt.
at the end of the day, upon returning to villarrica and staring at the massive piece of rock, i felt a great sense of accomplishment in summitting this beast, im eager for my next mountain....but not too eager!
love
posted by dk at 2:30 PM
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