When you stay in Arequipa you are always in the shadow of El Misti volcano. Thats why it must be climbed, its always in your face, asking you why your too scared to climb it. So on Saturday I gave in. Misti is 5822m high so I wasnt expecting to enjoy it. I was right not to.Day 1 starts at 7am in a beaten up 4x4 (this is Peru) and a bumpy ride for about an hour to the outskirts of Arequipa. Now I never get car sick but this journey was bad, it was far worse than the earthquake that I will tell you about later. The 4x4 stops at the end of the road 3400m above sea level, this leaves a 2422m vertical ascent to the summit, that doesnt sound fun does it? I looked around at my fellow trekkers and we all appeared to have some sort of mental issues. I was just trying to prove the volcano wrong, it seems I´m quite stubborn with volcanoes. We had to trek to 4400m to set up base camp and we had to carry everything, I had 5 litres of water, a tent, a sleeping bag and funk loads of clothes so my bag probably weighed about 8kg.
The first to drop out were the Belgians. About 1 hour into the trek the two Belgians began throwing up, at 3600m the altitude can be a real problem and the colour, frequency and smell of their vomit suggested they were in trouble and were sent back to Belgium. This isn´t an encouraging thing to see 1 hour into a 2 day trek so everyone was a bit apprehensive. The paths at this stage were not that steep because we were still not at the foot of the volcano, they were winding up and through the undergrowth, you have to keep your head down otherwise you realise what you are doing. Lunch was crap, I forgot lunch. I had 6 cereal bars to sort me out for 2 days, what use is a degree if you make decisions like that? What a waste of time. Luckily the evening meal was sorted by our guide, otherwise I would not have made it.
It takes 6 hours to trek to base camp at 4400m and it is a frustrating 6 hours, at that elevation it feels like you are gaining no ground on the summit. The ground is awful for trekking as it is mostly volcanic ash and pummis so its like trekking in sand. Its good on your knees and ankles though so the pain is mostly psychological, you know the sort that haunts your dreams for ever.
On day 1 you race the sunset because the second the sun goes behind the volcano the temperature plummits. Luckily wer beat it and you are rewarded not just by the temperature but by the stunning views of Arequipa at sundown. At4400m you can see the whole city sprawled out over the valley. We quickly set up our tents so we had a refuge from the cold as the sun went down. Another great sunset in the bag. If you can bear standing outside you get a magnificent view of the city by night with all the flickering lights, also, if you are near an astronomy geek he can show you the Southern Cross, its pretty cool. Bed time was 7pm as we had a 2am start on day two.
We were greeted by Day 2 with fits of shivering, swearing and coca tea, well not fits of coca tea, just cups. Guess which one of them made me feel better? Swearing. After ONE jam roll, how are you sposed to climb a volcano on one jam roll...anyway we had another 1422m to ascend, another 6 hours. At 2am there is 4 hours of darkness to compete with and I didn´t have a head torch, I seem to be building up an archive of stupidity. I had to stick close to the guys in front of me in order to see where i was walking. Day 2 is when the altitude really makes a difference. Every 5 steps you are breathless, though complete darkness helps you concentrate on just climbing, its easier when you cant see how far you must go. We did have rest stops but it was so cold that you needed to keep moving, plus our water had frozen so drinking wasnt fun. At 5000m was the highest I had ever been in my life which felt good. Unfortunately we had another drop out. The thin air combined with exhaustion is too much sometimes. So he headed for base camp and we continued towards the summit that never gets any closer. The sun appeared to be thinking about coming up at about 6am but it was still -8 degrees according to the thermometer. I wont lie, the last 600m ascent was awful. I honestly didnt think I was going to reach the top, you really have to summon some un used energy from the depths of your body as I had run out of food and my water was frozen. Just as the sun rose above the crater we made it to the edge. We only had another 40 minute acsent to the highest peak, we had a lie down on the pummis to gear ourselves up, no one really wanted to do it but we had come this far. After cursing the cold for 12 hours we were now cursing the heat because the sun had his massive hat on and was torching us. At about 10am we all collapsed under the iron cross (it was exhaustion not religious submission) at the summit of Misti, 5822m (19,000ft). The views are stunning, Chachani mountain to the left, Picchu Picchu volcano to the right, the steaming crater behind and Arequipa to the front. Once you get your breath back it is all worth while. You cant explain feelings like that, its not fun, its just a feeling of achievement.
After 30 minutes taking pictures we had to descend. The descent of Misti is crazy, its skiing down the scree and ash without skis. It is stupidly fun skiing down volcanic ash. See my pictures when I get home. Its a 13 hour ascent of Misti and a 2.5 hour descent in which you get half the mountain in your shoe. Its a good thing it is so easy because I had no energy left at all and the sun was hurtin by now. We reached the 4x4 at 3400m at exactly 2pm and ditched our packs on the roof. I was so monged out on altitude that I dont really remember much else apart from my beautiful Johnny Coyote burger in Arequipa later that evening. Fuck you Misti.
Anyway last night (the 8th) we were woken at 4.30am by a magnitude 6 earthquake. I was in the middle of a dream so being woken up by the room shaking was a bit surreal. I have never felt a quake before and this one was quite strong, I dont think anyone was hurt but Peruvian news is neither frequent nor accurate.
We are stuck in Arequipa fpr a few more days as there are more strikes so we have found a better go karting track to check out later.
Cor this was a long blog, are you tired? I am...
P.
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