Woke up by 6:30am on a Sunday..... zzzzzz.....
Mission: Climb Pichincha Volcano which summit reaches 4787m (15,705.3806 feet) (click for more info: http://www.ecuador-travel.net/andes.volcano.pichincha.htm)
Team members: Kristian Chervenock, Yonseili Flores, Stephany Spivey, Christian Sarmiento, Brian Crescenti, Chen Edri, and I deniSe Terrazas.
Gear: handmade beanie bought at the mariscal market, T-shirt, long sleeve shirt on top, grey Hurley jacket, black windbreaker, scarf, Levis jeans, long socks, another long pair of handmade socks bought at the mariscal market, and my black Nike tennis shoes. Also, black and small Swiss Gear backpack.
Food: Bread, peanuts and Tesalia water
Charge: $8.50...
...Experience? Priceless
Kristian Chervenock invited us to go with him on one of the toughest climbs I've ever done. We were supposed to leave at 7:30am, but he postponed the time until 9am... which was good because everyone needed energy boosters AKA coffee or chocolate and bread. Of course, Yonseili and I met up with Kristian and Brian at 7:30am because we didn't know about the time postponement until that very hour. Anyway, we went on a search for breakfast on an early Sunday morning. We ended up at the school at around 8-8:15am because we didn't find a place on the way. To our surprise Chen was there! Yonseili had mentioned to him we were going but it was unsure whether he was going or not. So we all went to search for a place to eat. The guys were so desperate to eat they were about to buy yogurt at a pharmacy nearby, but thankfully Chen saw a coffee shop across the street that was open... so we crossed the street. Guess who we saw there! Yeah, Stephany! Although I wasn't too hungry because I had leftover pizza and slices of banana for breakfast, I still got bread and hot chocolate =) We went back to the school to wait for Christian and when he got there everyone made sure to go to the restroom before we left. Then to the Pichincha we went!
We had to take two cabs up to the teleferiqo. In one cab was Kristian, Christian, and Brian. In the other cab we were Chen, Yonseili, Stephany and I. The ride was interesting and hillarious thanks to Chen.
Foreigners have to pay $8.50 to get on the teleferiqo, twice what Ecuadorians have to pay. In the first cable car was Christian, Stephany, Yonseili, and I with a girl who works at one of the gift shops at the top of the mountain (where the teleferiqo reaches). I had to try not to think about the height, it was making me a bit nervous. But, Thank God, we got up safely.
The day before I didn't know what to expect and even when we began our journey, I still didn't know what to expect. It was until I started climbing all the steep hills that I knew what the journey would consist of (more and more steep hills). For the most part, or all the part, Yonseili and I were behind the group. I seriously started to feel my heart in my throat. It was pumping fast and hard. The altitude was kicking in so any chance I had I took a good break. It was AMAZING to look around and see how far up we were. The city looked like a huge mural. What was more amazing was seeing the clouds all around us... no joke. One second I could see the city, and the next all I could see was a cloud. The climb was hard and I cannot stress that enough, but I am glad we didn't give up. But, not all of us were having such a hard time. The guys definitely climbed it quicker and easier than us girls. Chen (who is from Israel) was like a pro. He booked it and was way ahead. Brian was behind all the guys only because he waited for us and helped us out a lot. Thank you Brian!
When we got to the rocky part of the climb, it was also wet, cold, and muddy. There was also a little bit of snow. On the way there we met three Cuban males, one of which continued further than his friends. His name was Lizdey, if that's how you spell it. They all shared with us that Cubans have three big dreams: (1) Leave Cuba (2) See snow (3) Go to the U.S. He, too, was a huge help for me climbing up the rocky and muddy parts. I look back and I am amazed at what we did with the "gear" we had. Kudos to all of us!
Going down was definitely harder than going up. I seriously just wanted to roll down or be rolled down the volcano and the mountain. It got to the point where I ran down a hill because it was a lot easier, faster, and less painful. At the bottom I would literally have to be stopped, and Brian was my stopper, otherwise I would probably lose control, trip and fall or twist my leg. Well, I did land on my butt one or two times, but that wasn't painful.
Overall, the trip was composed of going up steep hills then going down steep hills. It was cold and hot (because I was wearing a lot of clothes). It sprinkled a bit. It was cloudy (Aleluya!). There was dirt, slippery dirt, mud, snow, water running down the trail, grass, daisies and a beautiful view all around. I played Marco Polo with Yonseili... once. We began the walk at around 10:15am and we were back at around 4pm. Hmmm, what am I forgetting? Let me think, let me think... ah yes, the marriage proposal.
Well, after Chen's proposal to Yonseili and I failed he decided to ask Stephany. He began by complementing her on the cab ride in the morning by saying she looked great in red. At the top of the volcano, Chen shaped ice into a ring and well you know the rest. I really don't remember what Stephany replied because we were all laughing out loud and taking pictures.
Special thanks to all the guys on the team. I seriously do not think I could have done it without your help and patience.
Mission Status: Complete
After that we all, except for Chen who went home, went to the Mariscal to a restaurant called The Magic Bean. We were all exhausted at first, but as soon as we ate, it was like we all came back to life. It was funny we were all really quiet as we were eating. And then, even though we had walked all day, we still walked another hour and 15 minutes to get home. Kristian's last day in Quito was today so he couldn't miss out on another chance of walking. It was pouring but we were all prepared.
Goodnight.
Highlight of the day: Climbing the Pichincha volcano... duh!
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