We started this day a bit refreshed, with dry clothing and warm bones, due to our fortunate shelter for the night. But we knew that we still had at least one more tough day in front of us before getting off of the mountain. We typically get started walking around 7 am, but our game plan was to start at 6 in order to potentially utilize the frozen snow to walk on. We didn’t get started until 6:25 and were SOL as far as the snow went. We began our slow climb with headlamps on, post-holing every step of the way.
While we are following the official and way-marked E1 trail, the signs are sometimes hard to find. Get up high in the alpine environment, where all you see is snow-covered lava rock, and finding your way comes down to mostly intuition and experience. We had a hard time finding our way this morning, especially in the dark, and the idea was thrown out there to bail off the mountain into the nearest town. We put off discussing it until, with the help of Björn’s GPS, we finally found our way back on trail in the woods. There we discussed the pros and cons of heading down for the day, and we ultimately decided against it. Today was just one of those days you have to get through to get through, ya know?
I led most of the day, creating the footsteps for Björn to step in and save energy; Björn took over at times and gave me some relief. We climbed up to our highest point of the day at 1723 meters. On the way we had little water, so I scooped some of the snow that was actively falling and put it in my mouth every couple of minutes. My hamstrings had hints of cramping but I held them off. When we got to our high point, it was all worth it and we were both thankful that we pushed through.
Some relief came on our descent, and at times the snow was frozen so we could walk on top! Eventually we saw the first face we’d seen in two days: a man snowshoeing (how nice that would have been). He told us we were getting close to the refugio (a bar/hotel type) and even took a selfie with me when I told him what we were doing.
Around an hour later, at 1 pm, we finally reached “civilization”. Still at around 1400 meters, there were lots of skiers and cars, as well as a couple restaurants and refugios. We both ate an incredible amount and decided on getting a room instead of descending for the remaining 20 km to the next town. It felt nice to shower and we essentially just laid in bed until dinner time, where we gorged ourselves again.
If there is no other reason to hike long distances and deprive yourself of most modern comforts, the great appreciation for things like a warm meal or shower make it all worth it, even if just for a moment.
To check out some videos and pictures, see the Facebook photo album
See other pictures at www.instagram.com/jaredturtlechip
Hiking stats can be found here.