El Refugio

This week we decided to start a new segment. This segment will simply be the food dream creation of the week. In other words, we haven´t made these food items we just crave them. The craving creation of the week is: Sweet and Salty Tacos. To make this item toast two chocolate chip Eggo waffles and place one large scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream on top of one Eggo. Then add two strips of only the highest quality bacon on top and seal that off with the second Eggo. Someone please make this and tell us how it tastes in full description.

Tungurahua!

From pre-Incan times Tungu has been thought of as anything from a mourning heart to a modern

landing site for extraterrestrials. According to legend, while locals fought Incan rule, they were backed

against the volcano. During the battle Tungu erupted. Locals thought the volcano god was mad at them

so they threw down their weapons and were then all slaughtered. Similarly, when the Incans were

fighting Spanish rule, Tungu erupted. The Incans were forced to surrender, and were also slaughtered.

Recently the volcano is in its most violent stage of eruption, with eruptions in 2006, 2008, and May 2010.

Before this most recent cycle it was a popular tourist attraction of Baños. But because of eruptions, extreme

wind, falling rocks, lava tunnels, and an ice covered summit it has become a cemetery for adventurous

tourists. We saw the cross that marks the grave of four dead Germans, who lost their way in rising clouds

and fell into a crevasse.

Its 4 am and none of us has slept well. We are staying in what was once a backpacking refuge but

is now just a open air shack. Getting out of my sleeping bag seemed like a horrible idea in the sub-zero morning

air. During the night, i tried to roll on my side but soon found I couldn´t get enough oxygen. Not being able to

breath, freezing, sleeping on wooden planks, and Bens loud bilingual sleep talking made it a sleepless night

for all of us. Regardless, we got up and made hot chocolate to try and prepare ourselves for the hike to the summit.

When we set out is was still dark and I could tell there was no movement in the cities below. While I was trying

to feel my way along the trail I kept thinking why wasn´t I one of those people below who was asleep and nice and

warm. The answer didn´t come quickly. From the refuge(3500meters), there is a trail leading towards the summit

that even in the light is hard to follow. The trail has been slashed by erotion and, as a result, had three foot crevasse´s

running through it. The sun came out about the time the trail ended and we were left to look for markers to find our

way up. At this point, every step was painful because of a lack of oxygen. By 6am we were at about 15000 ft above sea level.

The view from here was literally most of Ecuador. We could see the second tallest mountain in South America to the west,

the mountains of Quito and the largest Volcano in Ecuador to the North, and the Amazon to the East. I realized then

that despite the pain and the terror of being on the side of a mountain, it was definitely worth it. We kept climbing and Tungurahua

kept making it more difficult. Soon the mountain was only sand and rock at a 70 degree angle. From above one would hear ¨Rock!¨

as a soccer ball sized rock would hurdle down the mountain. My fear of hieghts, which had been present for 2000 meters now,

was consuming my remaining oxygen so I tried not to think. After loosing my footing and slipping about 10 feet down the mountain I

decided to call it quits and just hung on to the side of the mountain with all my remaining energy.

Our intro and Camden´s narrative capture some of the extremes of this mountain. But really nothing, not words, pictures or videos can

actually convey to you the feeling of clinging to a sandy cliff, struggling for breath, gazing with awe and fear

out over an entire country. Nothing was flat, we found relief in spots of the climb that were only around a

45 degree encline. Each step would draw too much oxygen to be replenished in five breaths, but we weren´t

even taking steps. Climbing involved plunging your hand into the sand, then the other and using all your

might to heave your body upward. The falling rocks, forming clouds, possible eruption, and lava tunnels all

disappeared into the thin air as distant dangers. I have hardly had to deal with a fear of heights but soon after

Camden stopped for a break my body lost all determination to reach the top, I couldn´t look to either side or

I´d have to see the contrast between the angle of the rising volcanic dust and the sky behind it. I called down to

Cammie and told him he would prefer to stay on the perch he found. Each climbing spurt took so much energy

i would spend minutes recovering, just long enough to remember my fears, so i pushed on. Every two handholds

up I would slide one back. Finally after battling my own urge to flee and to collapse I reached another rock

outcropping. I had seen pictures of lave hurtling over these rocks. The picture with the highest view is taken

from there, I timidly leaned forward and urged the camera to focus faster. All of this climbing led me to

the most spectacular place i have ever been. As I drank in the surrounding volcanos, towns, and air, I realized

what I loved so much about that place: the silence. There was so little wind i could close my eyes and pretend

I was in a pool, on the moon or in antarctica (the oxygen deprivation helped). I looked on the world as

Tungurahua does. Despite my fondness for this experience so much of me ached to abandon climbing,

to give up being afraid and find my way back to our hammocks thousands of meters below. So I

turned and took one step down, then two, but on my third i lost balance (remember I could not do simple

math at this point) and fell on my ass. The force eroded enough sand to propel me down about ten feet.

Sliding soon became our main method for descending and really fun!! third video somewhat shows it, sorry

i wasn´t a very stable camera man. From there it was a 12k hike down, we took it in 3 hours 18 min

and I couldn´t be more sore.