May 30, 2208 (Friday)

Today started out with some eggs, like most days so far. Today we would be heading up to the glacier that we would be climbing. We got together our warm clothes and met the guides out front. We all loaded up on the truck to head out long journey up a mountain. The terrain changed as we went higher and higher, from trees and brush, to shorter trees and brush to bushes to rocks and snow, and then finally to snow only with some bigger rocks seen in the distance. As we traveled through the tiny farm towns that were clinging to the mountain side we saw a minga, which is where people in the community get together and harvest crops, or as in this case, move pips to another location. Several of us helped move the incredibly heavy pipe to where the rest were. The people still had a lot more pipes to move, but we had to be on our way to the glacier. The bus could not make it all the way up the mountain, so we all had to load up in jeeps to take us the rest of the way up the mountain.

When we finally arrived to the lodge, we went up and put all of our warm socks, gloves, jackets, long underwear, etc. We met the guides that would be taking us on our glacier climbing experience. Then we got our gear: boots, ice axes, harnesses, etc. Then we hiked over rocks and dirt (which used to be glacier, but due to global warming was not longer ice). Finally ending up at the glacier we learned how to walk with our clampons in the snow and ice. We learned how to go up and down and side ways, and of course, how to fall. Then we went and had a snack and got our ice axes. Several people got sick from the altitude change and had to take is a bit slower, others, got to experience ropes and such. Mindy and I climbed to a beautiful ice cave using our clampons and our ice axes. It was beautiful. It was a very tough climb, but so rewarding to finally make it.

Then we went back, had lunch with the guides, turned our equipment in, and loaded up the jeeps and headed back down the mountain. As we headed down the mountain the people that were feeling under the weather began to feel better as the altitude got lower. We met the bus and said, good-bye to the guides and went the rest of the way down back to our hotel.

-Michael Anne-