Update 10

Dear readers,

At the moment I am sitting here in the kitchen of the Chozon with a carrot in one hand and a bit of peanut butter in the other. Charlie is in the corner vigorously washing the 20 something nalgenes that have carried our food for the past two and half weeks. The rest of the group is down in the Bodega cleaning the gear that has brought us across mountains and valleys, carrying us through the rain and snow. Each piece holds within it a bit of our past, a bit of what we have accomplished, and so we work with love to make it last for another memory.

After leaving Antisana about a week ago, we split up into two groups to do our solo trek to the west base of Cotopaxi. We left on Friday afternoon with high spirits. We headed into the Paramo and walked for three beautiful days. In small groups, we all got to experience the parts of the work of expedition that we may have left for someone else in other times. If you didn’t know how to properly set up a tarp, or make a fire using the scarce materials, this was your time to learn, for no one else was there to do it for you. We had such a wonderful time walking out there together, navigating our way through the rolling hills that spread out around us in an endless array. In the evenings we set up beautiful camps, cooked delicious foods, and sat around the fire talking and playing music.

In some amazing stroke of luck or fate or whatever you want to call it, our group somehow obtained a small furry friend again that we named "Fletch" and that may or may not have had some part of Michael’s spirit inside of it. This dog joined us on our first night (the group being Nicole, Charlie, Malcolm, Ayere, Shai, Mateo, and myself) and to our dismay left us two days later, following the Outward Bound group that was doing the same trek but in reverse. He is greatly missed among us. We are a little bitter about the loss of our dog.

We reunited as a whole group the following Monday and began our hike around the base of Cotopaxi to Cara Sur (the south face) where we would be attempting our summit push. We spent two days on this traverse, climbing over rocky moraines and going up and down over the buttresses of Cotopaxi's colossal layout. We camped in a little alcove between the hills, and had warm soup and pasta for dinner before quickly retreating to our tents and our warm sleeping bags, where we took refuge from the cold wind. It was a sort of overwhelming environment to be in. The sheer immensity and power of the rocks around us made us feel like an ant crawling over a gravel pile that never ended. It had its own kind of beauty, a harsh and jagged beauty that put you in a constant state of submission to the mountains will. 

We reached the Cara Sur refuge on Tuesday afternoon and were welcomed into this special place by Eduardo and his staff with such love and such amazing food! After days and days of dirt and sweat we took wonderfully warm showers and ate crepes with jam and fruit. We drank pots and pots of tea and made oodles of popcorn, all while resting, making music, and playing the most hilarious games that birthed some of our finest quotes, such as Charlie's “ That famous Leonardo DiCaprio painting!” and Ayere’s (trying to say Captain Jack Sparrow)  “Captain Jim Parker!”.

After those days of rejuvenation and sleeping in the most comfy beds we packed up our packs for high camp and set out in slightly precarious weather. In was a beautiful walk up to alto camp, we started out in the moraine and as we progressed we found ourselves in the snowy terrain where we set up our tents. We got up to camp later than planned due to the weather so we made a quick but yummy dinner of miso soup and bread and settled down into our tents to rest and stay warm for a few hours.

At 11:00 that evening, Meredith woke us up with her pretty singing. With high spirits and slow bodies we all rose to attempt Cotopaxi. At 12:17 we began to hike up to the glacier and as the clouds cleared we noticed for the first time the cities of Lasso and Latacunga stretching out so far below us. Their lights showed up to match ours and as we climbed up the rocks and ice we looked to the lights above, and to the lights of our slowly moving train that penetrated the enveloping darkness. When we arrived at the glacier we put on our crampons, took our ice axes in hand and roped up into our teams. As we began to climb on the ice I felt a kind of exhilaration that emptied me of all tiredness, and with each step the pulsating rhythm of the mountain filled that space with a sense of tranquility and happiness.

But soon I felt that something was different here, Something was not the same as when we climbed Antisana and the first time that Davicho radioed down to Micheal many could tell that something was wrong. As we walked our feet sunk down into the snow up to our knees, snow that should have been packed down and firm to step on. It was continuing to snow around us and as we progressed the conditions turned worse. After what seemed like much too short of a time Michael brought his team up to the front and we all stood around him and Davicho as they performed an avalanche test. They dug out a big square chunk of the snow. As it was pryed loose, it all of the sudden slid forward by its own weight and if it had been possible, it would have cascaded down the mountain creating a deadly force. When Davicho stepped into the snow, at certain points he could feel the whole mountain quiver beneath him. Because of the conditions, the snow underneath the first semi-hard layer was soft and slushy, making an avalanche a more than likely risk.  It was impossible for us to continue. To make light of the moment, Davicho told us that we could wait there for the summit, maybe it would come to us and that would be much quicker. It made us laugh, but with sad hearts and with a determination that wasn’t completely fulfilled we turned back to where we had come.

We didn’t feel like going to bed when we got back to high camp, so we made hot chocolate and sat out on the snowy hills, watching the city lights below and waiting for the sun to rise. Although we didn’t summit, we found a bit of peace in that moment, watching the darkness turn to light and knowing that wherever we were, this change would still be happening. Sitting there together, we found our summit in a more unexpected way. But who is to say that it wasn’t even more beautiful?

In canyons cold,

In times without hold,

A mirage of stories are hidden and sold.

They are traded to the darkness,

They are bartered for by the brave,

And in the night they are taken to their caves.

Yet only a shadow are these stories lost,

Only a trace are these words past.

For one can not steal, or kill, or buy

A story that only the

 canyons cry.

I hope you are well and happy.
Lots of love, Siena Powers.

A very happy birthday from Nicole (and myself) to Nicole’s little sister Ariel whose birthday is tomorrow and is the same as mine! We will be celebrating both with lots of cake, I hope your day is wonderful!

Shai would also like to let all of her friends know that they are all invited to graduation.