Summer and Misti

Saturday and Sunday I spent climbing El Misti, which is a volcanoe right outside Arequipa. It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life. The first day was okay, the air was a little thin and my backpack was heavy, but it wasn't too bad. We hiked for 5 hours the first day to get to our campsite around 4. We stayed in camp until 3am and then we headed out with flashlights to climb the rest of the mountain. This was the hardest part of the whole trip. The air was so thin. I had to stop about every three steps to catch my breath. My heart felt like it was going to pop out of my chest it was beating so hard. We finally reached the top at around 10 am. As soon as we got there I immediately laid down and went to sleep, while part of the group went to go hike into the crater. When they got back we all went to hike another half hour to the highest point. It a very hard half hour. When I finally got to the top, one of the girls behind me past out. So I never got a picture at the top. I had to immediately run down part of the mountain to get help. On my way down I fell and cut my hand open. But on the bright side I was a boyscout and a lifeguard so both the girl and my hand are okay now.

And today is the first day of my Summer vacation. I think I'll be able to enjoy more tomorrow when every part of my body doesn't ache. In January I'm going with Rotary on a trip throughout all of Peru and in February to Lake Titicaca. And in the mean time I get to sit around all day or hang out with my friends.