| Peak(s): |
Pico de Orizaba - 18500 |
| Date Posted: | 03/22/2009 |
| Modified: | 03/24/2009 |
| Date Climbed: | 03/22/2009 |
| Author: | centrifuge |
| Peak(s): |
Pico de Orizaba - 18500 |
| Date Posted: | 03/22/2009 |
| Modified: | 03/24/2009 |
| Date Climbed: | 03/22/2009 |
| Author: | centrifuge |
| Beneath The Star Mountain in March |
|---|
|
The Itinerary in Brief Day 1: Fly to Mexico City - Flight Leaves Denver at 8:10pm Day 2: Finish travel to Tlachichuca and final preparations for the hut Day 3: Arrive at Piedra Grande Hut (14,000ft) and begin acclimation Day 4: Acclimation Hike 1 & 2 - Take time to do some trash clean up Day 5: Acclimation Hike 3 Day 6: Summit Day - Leave the Hut by 1am - Meet Victor and return to Tlachichuca Day 7: Return to Mexico City Day 8: Flight to Denver Detailed Trip Report The Beginnings On January 24th of this year I read a Trip Report by Jesse (JB99) about an attempt on Pico de Orizaba made earlier that month. It ended with an invitation to message him if anyone was interested in joining him and his fiancée, Jessica, for another attempt this year. I responded, and before I knew it was training and planning for my first major international climb. Nearly 2 months of planning and training later I was heading to the airport for one of the most memorable weeks of my life. 3/13/2009 On the Move... Getting there I could not have been happier with my decision to take the whole day off work on Friday. It meant that I got to spend the whole day before heading to Mexico with my wife, Susan. We don't spend that much time apart, and she was not the happiest about me going, though she was extremely supportive, knowing how important climbing is to me. We had a great lunch before heading off to the airport, where we met up with Jesse and Jessica. The first obstacle was passed by keeping my bag with all my gear under 50lbs. We made it to the gate with plenty of time to spare. The first flight to LAX was completely straight forward, and we were excited to hear the flight was shorter than expected, which meant a 3 hour lay over... plenty of time to find the gate, get food and chill out for a while... or that's what we thought. If an airport is a reflection of the city it is in, LAX speaks volumes. It took us over 1.5 hours, 1 very creepy horror movie super sterile hallway, 1 Montel sighting and another hallway to nowhere before finally finding the Mexicana check-in desk. Our flight departed at 12:30am, and we happily left LAX behind. the creepy LAX Hallway  a close up of the signs on the creepy LAX Hallway, clearly designed to make all passersby feel good about being where they are...  3/14/2009 On the move... continued Our flight landed in Mexico City at about 5am. After the adventure that was our layover at LAX, the Mexico City airport made total sense. This says a lot given my lack of ability to speak Spanish. Customs was straight forward, and before we knew it the 3 of us were at the Estrella Roja desk. 184 pesos later, we were standing on the platform awaiting our ride to Puebla.  The bus left at 6am and was nothing like what most people would imagine when they think of an intra city bus in Mexico. It had reclining seats, foot rests, came with soda and a snack came with the cleanest bus bathrooms I have ever seen.  First light spread across the Mexican horizon just in time to catch a glimpse of Itza and Popo smoking in the distance... but those are for another trip. The reclining seats of the bus contributed to a long nap. I woke as we approached the last toll before entering Puebla. It was not much longer before our bus arrived at the Puebla bus station. We had decided that the best way to handle the errands we needed to run would be for one of us to stay behind at the bust terminal, while the other 2 make the trip to Wal-Mart to pick up provisions that would have been pointless to pack. We found a safe place, and Jessica stayed behind with our piles of bags, while Jesse and I took a cab to the Wal-Mart that was 10 minutes away. An hour later we arrived back at the terminal with bags of food that would remind us of home (yay Oreo's!) and lots of toilet paper and paper towels.  this alter was in the Puebla bus station but alters like this were peppered throughout Mexico, this was one of the cooler ones  Weighted down with our bags, we got a cart man (I am not sure what else to call them other than baggage gods) and he pulled our bags to the terminal for the small bus that would transport us to the small town of Tlachichuca.    This bus was much more like what one might expect. The smaller bus set off from the bus terminal at about 10am. Shortly after departing a stout lady stood up near the front of the bus and began a very enthusiastic sales pitch. We think she was selling hand cleaner, but are not really sure. She got off at the last toll terminal, and shortly thereafter a man got on the bus with a large number of helium balloons... I mean a lot of balloons. He was a very nice man, who at one point really felt the need to talk to me, though my Spanish was not nearly good enough to understand. He was very insistent that I understand, but his stop came up before he was able to make his point... but he was very pleasant about it. Shortly thereafter came the ice cream man, well we think it was ice cream... I didn't try any so there is no real way to be sure, but it looked like ice cream.   We arrived in Tlachichuca at noon, after 16 hours of traveling. We got off the bus, and were greeted by a friendly elderly gentleman who worked at the bus station. Apparently it was pretty obvious that we were a bit out of place. He asked us where we were headed, and upon Jesse's reply, he proceeded to personally guide us to the front door of Servimont. This type of helpfulness perfectly characterized the way we were treated by everyone we came across in rural Mexico. It resonated in every interaction; no matter how short or trivial, regardless of whether or not there was the potential for a tip or any monetary gain. It made me feel ashamed of the way American's treat foreigners on our soil. Welcome to Servimont Dr. Reyes and Victor met us at the door, and Victor helped me carry my large duffel into the climbers hostel. I had previously let the Dr. know about my fairly large number of significant and severe food allergies. He made sure to double check what I could and could not eat before anything else, something that meant a lot to me. We were also introduced to Karina, the good Dr.'s wife. Since we got there at lunch, and had eaten very little since leaving Denver we ate lunch at Servimont. This also served as an introduction to Lucia, the cook at the compound. She makes the most amazing soups I have ever had, and for lunch we got a Broccoli Soup that was perfectly seasoned. Yum. When we arrived there were only 2 other climbers there, and they left pretty much right away with Alejandro (a guide that works with Servimont). We sat outside in the courtyard to organize our gear for the upcoming climb and acclimation period, in hopes that the clouds would clear from the mountain so that we could see what was ahead. Unfortunately this didn't happen, so the long view of the summit remained a mystery!   The rest of the day was spent relaxing, and wondering the small town. I have a fascination with taking photos of industrial equipment, and old objects so the Soap factory remnants managed to hold my attention span for hours and hours. the park at the center of the town  a small store we stopped in that looked cool inside  some of the photos I took of some of the cooler trinkets around the soap factory      As I wondered I caught a glimpse of the pay phone, and decided to use my AT&T calling card to get a hold of my wife. In Mexico, the pay phones require payment before use regardless of the type of call you are making, and the calling card system would not recognize the type of dial tone that was used. Between the two issues, I could not for the life of me get the card to work. The good Dr. did help out, and let me use their normal phone to use my calling card via the toll free number. I should mention that the issues with using the calling card continued throughout the trip, and I was not able to make it work again the entire time we were in Mexico. In other words, don't waste your money on a calling card! We ended the night with another of Lucia's wonderful soups, and dinner. It did not take long for us to fall asleep, taking advantage of the last good night sleep we would have for a while. photos of the sleeping area that i took before going to sleep   3/15/2009 Final Preparations I woke up first, and looked out the window next to my bunk to see the sun rising, casting light across the massive mountain that is Pico de Orizaba. I took the time to enjoy the quiet morning and take my last warm shower for the next four days, and shave. I also took the opportunity to take some last photos around the compound one of the Iris Plants  Jesse and Jessica woke up at about 9am, we had breakfast and were given sage advice by Dr. Reyes about the upcoming climb. We had made arrangements in advance to purchase fresh food for the time we would be at the hut. Jesse and Jessica had learned a lot from their previous stay at Piedra Grande, and we all decided there would be no reason to not have as much fresh food as possible. Karina and Dr. Reyes laid out all of the food they were preparing and let us figure out what we thought we would need, and what we would not. They even let us use a cooler to keep the food fresh. We loaded everything up, and had everything ready to go by 1130am. The Drive to the Hut I was able to ride in the front seat of the truck with Victor on the way up, which was really nice. It is amazing how much you can communicate without speaking the same language. The drive on the paved road was spiced up by dirt devils the size of small tornados that were kris crossing the planes. The biggest had to of reached 300ft into the sky!  The road itself is not all that different than some of the rougher 4 Wheel Drive roads that serve as access to Colorado 14er's. By the time we headed up the road, clouds had already descended upon the upper reaches of the mountain, so as the Piedra Grande hut came into view, we could only see the lower half of the climb. As we pulled up you could see the "outhouse"... literally. It had the frame for walls, but was otherwise utterly exposed to the elements. I pointed and said to Victor, "Bano?", he laughed and said, "no! no Bano!" and gestured towards the entire area surrounding and said "Bano". Piedra Grande: Acclimation Day 1 I was not entirely sure what to expect as I walked up to the Orange building that would be our home for the next 3 and a half days. One of the young men who was at the hut was helping Alejandro with the two Frenchmen he had led up the mountain that day. The hut itself was very busy when we arrived, but it emptied out quickly. The hut is tall with large bunks, 3 stories high on the right hand side, and two large tables with metal bolted to the top on the left, serving as cooking surfaces. An older gentleman wearing a bright red jacket was quick to offer up the lower bunk in the rear of the hut, saying that they would be leaving in a couple of hours. This older gentleman that I simply call the General was a wealth of information. He said that he had first climbed the mountain in the early 1950's and that he had climbed it over 50 times since. He said that the last time he climbed was in the early 1990's but that he still comes up regularly. He was a lot of fun to talk with, and had strong opinions about routes, as well as the crumbling aqueduct that serves as a quasi sidewalk up the first 100 feet of the hike, talking about the futility of humanity attempting to tame this mountain. Jessica and Jesse talking to "the General"  Jessica and Jesse trying to eat some soup shortly after settling down in the hus  me feeling a bit spacey but happy on my platform on day 1  Before long, most of the people in the hut had left, and the effects of being dropped off at 14,000ft were taking hold. Normally in Colorado, getting to 14k involves a gradual assent on your feet, so the overall effect of the reduction in O2 is not as obvious. But if you have ever driven to the top of the Mount Evans or Pikes Peak Roads, you will recognize the lightness that you feel in your step, and the overall out of breath feel that depositing yourself straight at 14k has. Remaining there feels entirely different. While I did not experience much more than fatigue, lightheadedness, a mild headache, and a significant reduction in appetite, Jessica really suffered that first night. By 3 or 4pm she had begun throwing up. Jesse and I nervously watched, and monitored her as this continued throughout the night. She told us that there were no other symptoms of AMS, so we did not ask for a ride down, but that did not make anyone any less nervous. Especially given the giant yellow sign that decorates the first wall you see in the hut outlining the potentially life threatening aspects of AMS, HAPE and HACE. While we watched Jessica for signs of deterioration, Jesse and I continued to force ourselves to drink a huge quantity of hot tea, and delved into the books that we brought along to occupy our time. I brought Into the Wild, a great book, but not one I would necessarily recommend for an adventure like this. I hiked around a bit before Jessica started getting sick, taking photos of the cloudy landscape, but was not very interested in doing much more than that on our first day at the hut. a photo I took of the highest tree after it had been engulfed by clouds  3/16/2009 Acclimation Day 2 After a long night, I woke up to sunshine and a perfect view of the mountain. Looking down at the valley below, I could see a blanket of clouds covering the planes of Vera Cruz, while the Puebla side remained clear. I decided to go ahead and make sure that my SPOT would be able to get a GPS lock and send check ins, so I fooled around with that for a while, and soon discovered that it can take a long time for it to get a GPS lock after you have moved more than 600 miles from the last place you used it. I was very glad I decided to take the time to do this now, rather than waiting until I needed it. Once I was sure that Jessica was feeling better, I packed up my stuff, and decided to take a short hike up the mountain to see how I felt while Jesse and Jessica slept in. a memorial on near the hut that I took a photo of before heading out on my hike  Some locals had shown up, and had taken a short hike up the mountain, so I felt good making and excursion without my partners, so long as I kept the Hut in view. I set off up the path, and lost view of the hut at about 14,600ft. I sat down, took a few photos, and headed down, hoping that even that little bit would be useful. Shortly after I came back, Jesse and Jessica woke up. Jessica reported feeling better, and she was able to keep liquids down, and to get down some carbs. We took it easy the rest of the morning, deciding to wait until the afternoon to take our acclimation hike. The next set of climbers started arriving at a little after noon. The first group was a trio of students on spring break from Texas that were new to climbing, planning on hitting the summit that night. They were fun to talk to with their youthful outlook and ambition. Next came Victor, with 2 brothers from Texas planning on an ascent the same day as us, and another trio from Austin who were also shooting for a summit attempt later that night. Somehow word had already made it to Servimont that Jessica had a very rough night. Showing a significant level of concern, Victor went into the hut to personally check on Jessica. He made several to drive Jessica down if she was still struggling, but since she had already made a 180 degree turn around in how she was feeling, she decided to stay. Most of the people who had arrived decided to take acclimation hikes in short order, with us not far behind. All 3 of us felt really strong as we headed up to 15,200ft. on our first group acclimation hike   It was an amazing day, with a nice mild breeze. It was the clearest afternoon we had on the mountain, with a few clouds up high, and the rest remaining in the valley below. The 3 college students and their guide were heading down as we came to the top of our climb, and one expressed the need to borrow a pair of gloves, displaying the only hand protection he had, a wool fingerless pair of gloves. Luckily Jesse had brought an extra pair of waterproof gloves with him, and promised to loan them to him as soon as we got back to the hut. As we headed down, we began a quasi-competitive effort to pick up all of the trash we saw on the way down... excluding the Orizaba prayer flags. While we all had our chance to be in the lead, in the end Jessica took the trophy, hands down. The abnormally clear skies provided us with an amazing sunset and awesome photos. some photos taken upon our return from our acclimation hike   Jessica looking out at the landscape  I began to have significant concerns about the 3 college students who were still planning on heading up that night, none of them looked any better than we had the night before, and one of them was having the same issues Jessica had experienced. They indicated they had planned for another summit day if need be, and I was beginning to sincerely hope they would avail themselves of another day of acclimation. As I went to sleep for the second night, my hopes were high that I would wake up in the morning to the sound of them sleeping, but I was wrong. They headed up at 2am. 3/17/2009 - St. Patrick's Day Acclimation Day 3 We woke up earlier than the day before with hopes of making it through the Labyrinth in the day light. We headed up for our acclimation hike at 11am, and made very good time. As we headed up, we kept our eyes on the glacier, hoping to see the groups that had left that morning on their way down. heading up for our St. Patrick's Day hike  Instead we saw one group coming down, and one group only halfway up the glacier. We approached the first high camp at about noon, and stopped to change layers. As we did, we watched the trio from Austin heading down the Labyrinth as we simultaneously watched some nasty clouds coming in from the West. Jesse and Jessica eating snacks while looking at the Labyrinth  a photo of my hanging out at the same spot as the photo above with the Labyrinth in the background  these are the clouds that made us feel it might be better to head down, by the time they all joined up the fog reduced visibility to 10 feet or less  We figured there was no way we would make it up and down the Labyrinth before the clouds hit, so we headed down, making it to the Piedra Grande hut at about 1pm. We felt strong, and became excited for our summit attempt that night. When we got down we had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Turner, a climber from Maine who had hiked up the road from a camp at treeline. He was planning an ascent that night with Alejandro. The trio from Austin made it down at about 2pm, and we were happy to get a report of the conditions from them. They reported ice on the lower reaches of the glacier with thin but solid snow above. Excited, we made our way to the hut to begin winding down for an early bedtime. I however struggled to fall asleep. I am a worrier by nature, and as the hours passed, and the fog thickened I became increasingly concerned about the 3 students we had met the day before. They eventually showed up after 4pm looking frazzled, and reporting that they had not made the summit until 130pm. The student who had borrowed Jesse's gloves gave them to me, saying that the gloved had saved him. I congratulated them on making the summit, and relieved to see them safely down I was able to fall asleep at about 430pm. When the alarm went off at 1130pm, I awoke feeling excitement pulsing through me. I had slept the best yet, with several hours uninterrupted and was ready to go! 3/18/2009 - Summit Day! The Ascent Because we woke up so early, we were able to take our time as we ate, and made hot tea for the trip up the mountain. I turned my SPOT on, and we headed up at about 1am. It was a beautiful morning, with the stars creating a sea of shining points in the sky. We could see that we were behind 2 headlamps that we knew had to be the brothers on their way up. A cloud made its way over the mountain for a short time, but cleared away as we reached the first high camp, the point of our last Acclimation hike. Every step after this was a new personal altitude best for me, and that really felt neat. Up to that point we had ended up stripping down to t-shirts, but the light breeze necessitated another layer, along with me turning on my iPod. I jammed to Violent Femmes and Beatles cover songs as we made our way to the Labyrinth a short distance away. It seemed like we made it to the high camp at the base of the Labyrinth in no time at all, it was time for another layer there as well. We caught up with the brothers where they were taking a break and beginning to get their crampons on. the Glacier from from the highest established camp point below the Labyrinth  The Brothers getting ready for the Labyrinth  Jesse and Jessica bundled up and ready to start up the Labyrinth  Our plan was to avoid the snow and ice in the Labyrinth by scrambling up the rocks. On our previous acclimation hikes we could see a large amount of ice in the snow, and really wanted to avoid crossing that if at all possible. However, when we reached the base of the climb, we could not find a clear path up the rock without the benefit of daylight. We resigned ourselves to climbing the snow, put on our crampons, ditched our poles with a wand to mark the spot, and pulled out our ice axe. Jesse decided to take lead, and I brought up the rear. The ascent up the snow quickly became exactly what we had feared it would be. Small amounts of snow littered by brittle clear water ice. The grade at the crux was about 50 degrees, and made for a very spicy climb that tested everyone's nerves. I think it would have been significantly easier had we been able to scout it the day before, but without the route finding benefits provided by the sun, it was nearly impossible to plan the route as we went. The result was a very slow ascent of the Labyrinth. Jesse and Jessica just past the crux point on the Labyrinth, the brothers had moved above us moments before and can be seen at the top of the photo  As we toped out, Jessica's nerves had been pretty rattled by the lack of security provided by the ice we had just ascended. There was a good deal of discussion as we approached the foot of the glacier about how to proceed. Jessica agreed to climb about a hundred feet up the glacier before making the final decision as to whether or not she wanted to wait at the bottom for us. When we reached the cairn at the foot of the Glacier, Alejandro, who passed us at some point in the Labyrinth indicated that he had even lost his bearings due to the abnormally icy conditions of the section of the climb we had just completed. Jesse and I were encouraged to hear that the level of difficulty we had just overcome, was not in our heads, and that the remaining climb would be significantly easier (technically). The 3 of us started up the glacier behind the brothers, and at the same time as Alejandro and Mr. Turner. We decided to head to the left side of the glacier as a start, given its more shallow character in the hope that Jessica would get her snow legs back. It was not to be, and Jessica made the decision to turn back, and wait at the foot of the glacier at about 17,400ft. Both Jesse and I were endlessly proud of the fact that Jessica had overcome a number of fears to get herself to that point, and cheered her achievement. We decided that she would wait by a large grouping of rocks that sat at the foot of the glacier that would also provide a shelter from the breeze. Jesse and I decided that it would be best if he accompanied her to the foot of the glacier, while I stayed high, took some photos of the sunrise that had just begun and then started to traverse over to the line that the brothers, Alejandro and Mr. Turner had taken. The sunrise was absolutely breath taking. Beginning as a blue and orange line cutting the gently curved line of the horizon, it quickly brightened as the sun burst above the line, lighting the glacier's sun cups and more pointed penitents, throwing orange shadows across the previously blue snow and ice. first light  looking up the glacier  I turned to take this photo with my canon after i had started across, but I ouldn't pass this up  Once I felt I had enough photos, I started my way across the glacier, aiming for the line the other climbers had followed, as I looked up and saw them a hundred feet or more above. I was able to traverse over fairly quickly and waited as Jesse made his way up to the point I had stopped at. Jesse heading up  a photo Jesse took of me heading up after we had joined back up  Once Jesse and I met up again, we made fantastic time. We could we making significant gains on the climbers above us. We crossed over the first of 2 long, but thin crevasses between 17600ft and 18000ft. The second was crossed about a hundred feet higher, as the steepness of the glacier reached about 45 degrees (its steepest grade). Jesse near the top of the glacier  Once we passed the 18k mark, we started to really feel the elevation, It seemed as though we were taking 1 step for every couple of breaths. We became excited as we saw small clouds sliding quickly in and out of existence not far above. Then I watched Alejandro and Mr. Turner disappear over a crest not far above. When the brothers followed not far behind Alejandro I started referring to it as "Alejandro's Crest", since I was positive that the place they crossed over represented the top of the glacier. We followed close behind, and I was ecstatic to see four people sitting at the top of the glacier as we came over the crest. I hiked back over the crest point to take this photo  It felt almost as though the mountain was cheering our arrival as we watched thin wisps of clouds materialize just above our heads reflecting rainbows as the light refracted through them. We marveled as we watched them slide effortlessly through the sky like waves headed to shore, then they would spiral up and sink into the crater... dissipating as they sank into the void below. photos I took while taking a break in the wind shelter provided by the glaicer and crater rim    Jesse took this one of me   Alejandro and Mr. Turner left their packs and headed to the summit not far above, but just out of sight. The brothers, Jesse and I stopped to drink water in the wind break provided by the crater rim and the glaciers ridge. After about 10 minutes of break, we decided to leave our packs, taking out ice axes, camera's and water to the summit. As we headed up, Alejandro and Mr. Turner passed us on their way down, not wasting much time at the summit. It did not take us long to reach the summit, which was much windier than the small shelter we had found. For some reason I was expecting the metal cross to be a bit more structured than it was, instead it seemed to be a mass of metal crosses. summit photos - the brothers then Jesse and I   some other photos I took while at the summit   We took photos of the brothers, and the brothers took photos of us before we headed back down to our packs. a photo Jesse took of me heading down from the summit back to our packs  Total time on the summit could not have been more than 10 minutes. When we got back to the packs we drank more water and I had a candy bar that was the best tasting candy bar I had every eaten. The Descent Once we had finished consuming our food, we got our packs on and started down. John, one of the brothers, had some questions about descent techniques, so I took up the rear, and helped him make sure he was properly using his ice axe. We moved fairly quickly, so we hit the upper crevasse in no time. It had opened a tiny bit more, and was well over a foot wide, the snow that had partially covered it on the way up had fallen in, making a bit more pronounced. It was not big enough to kill you, but was certainly big enough to break an ankle or a leg if you were to fall through it. After we passed the upper crevasse, Jesse wanted to move a bit faster so that he could get back down to Jessica. I checked in one last time with John, and we turned up our pace, attempting to glissade a couple of times, though the sun cups made it a very painful experience each time we would get moving. We were back to the foot of the glacier just after 1030am, and Jessica seemed happy to get moving again. We reapplied some sunscreen, and headed to the top of the Labyrinth. Jesse and Jessica decided to take the rock down, while I decided to follow their route on the snow. In the sunlight, we were both able to pick out rational routes down. With how much the sun had softened the snow, I was able to gain much more purchase with my crampons than had been possible on the way up. Additionally, with the light of day I was able to find a route that came close to completely avoiding the ice. Jessica downclimbing the last of the rocks  It seemed like we reached the bottom in no time at all. At the wand we had placed to mark our poles, I packed up my crampons and Ice axe, pulled out my hiking poles and we got moving. The hike down from the base of the Labyrinth was totally uneventful. The most exciting part was the sighting of a big green truck, Victor, making its way up the road to Piedra Grande. There was without a doubt a certain amount of sadness that went along with rolling up my sleeping pad, and stuffing my sleeping bag into its sack... but the motivation I felt to get down to a warm shower overwhelmed any desire to stay! Returning to Servimont The trip down was pretty uneventful with the exception of one stuck truck just below the Hut that everyone helped to push out. I am certain that after the nearly 2 hour trip down, when the doors to the truck where opened it had to of been a pretty awful smell. I had brought a small bag of whiskey shots for the celebration of St. Patrick's Day, but had decided on the mountain to skip that for our return. When we were coming down the glacier with the brothers, I told John, who was a bit nervous about the descent that when we got safely back to the Reyes' I would do a shot of Jameson's with him. One of the first things I did was to dig out those shots, and did a shot with John. As the afternoon wore on, all 9 climbers who came down from the mountain worked diligently to take quick showers and organize their gear. Dinner seemed to come up quickly, and was a time that everyone spent sitting around the table discussing the lives that awaited them upon their return from Mexico. The 2 climbers waiting to go up sought information from the climbers who had come down, and Juan, a climber from Canada seemed the hungriest for good information and was a blast to talk to, giving suggestions on new climbing books to read. Dr. Reyes arrived after dinner and made his rounds, checking on the returning climbers, celebrating everyone's success with them. I found myself going to bed earlier than I had thought I would, anxious to get back home to Susan. 3/19/2009 - Returning Home Waking up in the morning was met with another amazingly clear view of the mountain. I could not help but look on it with a tremendous amount of respect and love. Like nearly every mountain I have ever climbed, I was left with the knowledge that I did not conquer the slopes that I had been on; the Mountain had graced me with the privilege of discovering her beauty. By the time breakfast rolled around, the trio from Austin had already headed out. We had one last wonderful meal prepared by Lucia before everyone else went on their way. While Jessica and Jesse got ready, I wrote my entry into the log book that sat on the table in the common room of the hostel. The 3 of us, decided to take one last walk through the town that had found its way into our hearts in the short time we had been there. the last photo I took of the mountain before heading back to Servimont  Jesse was able to find the street vendor food he had been craving and we were back at Servimont by 10am. We organized our gear, and stacked it by the door to carry to the bus terminal, then went to find Dr. Reyes. We thanked him, and I have to say leaving felt a little bit like we were leaving a new family. It had become so clear to me that everyone at Servimont genuinely cared about every climber who walked through the doors. We got photos with Victor and Dr. Reyes, wished Juan a safe climb and carried our gear through the doors of Servimont, and the short distance to the bus terminal.  Before we knew it we were on the bus to Puebla. This time it was a nicer bus, but it would not have mattered to me. I was focused on watching the mountain as we caught our last glimpse of it before the bus made its last turn onto the road to Puebla, and home. The Link to Jesse‘s TR is: http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=5749&cpgm=tripmain Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow): 
|
| Comments or Questions | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Caution: The information contained in this report may not be accurate and should not be the only resource used in preparation for your climb. Failure to have the necessary experience, physical conditioning, supplies or equipment can result in injury or death. 14ers.com and the author(s) of this report provide no warranties, either express or implied, that the information provided is accurate or reliable. By using the information provided, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless 14ers.com and the report author(s) with respect to any claims and demands against them, including any attorney fees and expenses. Please read the 14ers.com Safety and Disclaimer pages for more information.
