The entire hike was 3 miles, ascending 1,400 meters (4,593 feet). The first part was partially on some dirt where the the ski lifts start for the winter season. Followed by the lifts were 4km straight up the volcano with snow packed under our feet that was meters thick. I haven´t seen snow like that for years. The boots the company gave us were the least bit flexible, making it even more challenging. However, I figured out that if I followed in someone else´s footprints, it was much easier. For the first two hours, we were walking through the cloud cover and I felt as though I was in a movie trying to escape a storm. But it wasn´t a scene from a movie and I indeed paid to be in the those conditions. Once we were on top of the clouds, the sky was completely clear overhead and the clouds looked like a carpet of cotton balls. For the next three hours we walked, stopping every now and then as our guide shouted at us ¨¡Camina más rápido!¨meaning ¨walk faster!¨. I didn´t appreciate his tone, so I responded with, ¨Listen I´m walking¨in spanish. It sounds a bit better in spanish, but you get the idea. I was quite proud of myself for that.
I thought we had reached the top several times as we approached the top of a hill, but was very disappointed when I could still see the smoke spilling out of the volcano hundreds of feet ahead. After 5 hours of walking, we reached the peek of the volcano. The wind was blowing fiercely, nearly knocking me down. Then I peaked inside the volcano, a desire that I had for days. Unfortunately I didn´t see any lava, just tons of smoke. The smoke is toxic, so we had to make sure we were on the side the wind was coming from. After I took my victory picture, I was ready to descend immediately. I have not been that cold in many years, and being cold is one thing I have trouble coping with. The guide then strapped on our butts and the back of our legs a canvas material covered in duck tape. This was to be our ride down the mountain. We mostly slid and walked a little bit down the mountain for 1.5 hours. I realized that is why we needed the helmets, and we used the ice picks as a brake. It was a whole lot of fun, even more so if we got a train of people slidding down together to pick up speed. I wasn´t able to take pictures because my camera was deep in the layers of clothes I was wearing.
Once we reached the bottom, we had a victory hug and got into the van for the ride back. That is when I realized I got a serious wind/sunburn on my nose and a rash under my nose from the canvas glove. As I am finishing writting this now (3 days later), I am still recovering from the burn on my face which has developed into a beautiful scab. Super attractive.
Later that day Allison and I had some Salmon at a local restaurant. A football (soccer) game was on the TV in the bar of the restaurant, and I believe 80% of the town was watching it. Shortly after we arrived, the game was over and the people went completely crazy over the winning team, running in the streets screaming and cheering. Kids had flags and every car honked their horn as they drove down the street. Absolutely insane; people love thier soccer here. Anyway we are here in Santiago and will share storied with you all about it soon.
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