We got here Sunday morning after a 13ish hour bus ride from Valpo. It's a small touristy adventure town pretty close to Argentina in the southern half of the country.
On Sunday when we got here there was an Iron Man race going on and all the roads were closed off so we had to walk from the bus station to our hostel. We got settled in and walked around a little bit and figured out what we were going to do during the week. That's pretty much all we did on Sunday.
Monday 9 of us woke up at 6:30 in order to climb the volcano.
(I did not take this picture)
We had a ton of gear. The back packs had to have weighed like 50 pounds. And the boots were really heavy as well. We got to the first stopping point which was about halfway up the mountain. The climb from where we started to this point was the hardest thing I've ever done. It was so steep and we were in the clouds and it was freezing raining and the ice on the ground was so slippery. All this in addition to all the stuff we had to carry. Just standing I was out of breathe so climbing something at a 60 degree angle was impossible.
3 girls stopped at the first rest stop. I ate a sandwich and some chocolate and thought I could keep going. About 1000 feet in (at this point it was complete ice and felt like it was almost straight up) I decided I couldn't go any further. I kind of psyched myself out by looking down and thinking about my lung issues and stuff like that. I sort of thought I was feeling dizzy and it was just too much. I went back down and the four of us sat together for a few hours until someone could drive us back to town. I'm happy with my decision to stop. I think if I ever come back here I will try again.. Maybe by then I'll be able to lift more and it won't be such an issue. The rest of the 5 made it to the top. Their pictures are amazing. (Oh and of course my camera died 10 minutes in to climbing)
Last night we went to some hot springs. They were so nice. It was definitely what we all needed after the volcano.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I heard about all this AFTER you did it. That thin air and heavy lifting probably not good for your lungs. Glad you survived. sounds like you're having a great time and will bring back plenty of stories.
Everett and Moo are fine, they ask for you all the time. Everett and Isis really wear each other down, they sleep soundly all night.
Looking forward to your return on Sunday. Enjoy the rest of the week.
Pops. :-D