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Country: Ecuador
Elevation: 18,996 Feet
Last Eruption: 1786
Lat: 0.00 deg. N
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The day of departure has arrived. I am as prepared mentally and physically as I can be and look forward to starting the acclimation process. I'm anxious and excited about the expedition and wonder what the mountain has in store for me. Having communicated with Ramiro via email, I already have a rapport with him that I anticipate will come in handy while climbing. I asked a few of my friends if they wanted to come to Quito while I was there, but it's a bad time of year for most to travel on such short notice and I didn't really expect anyone to have the same interest in Ecuador as I did. Until Kimberly texted...
Kimberly: "Hola! I hope you had a good Thanksgiving! Did you spend it in town or were you on the road? I'm thinking about signing up for a Spanish class... I'm getting bored."
Me: "Want to go to Ecuador?"
Kimberly: "I love how you skip right to Ecuador and ignore my question."
Me: "I was in California for Thanksgiving. It was very nice. I'm flying into Quito on the 15th and staying until the 23rd. I would love the company. Are you in?"
Kimberly: "I'm in! This is going to be great!"
Who said spontaneity was dead? Everyone, say hello to Kimberly:
Kimberly is an experienced traveler with more stamps in her passport at age 29 than most of us will acquire in a lifetime. She's been to Peru and was planning a trip to Columbia earlier this year, but things didn't pan out, so Ecuador at Christmas seemed to fit the bill for her. Sometimes things have a nice way of coming together. Kimberly also has backpacked in Southeast Asia, where she explored Vietnam and Cambodia. She has an MBA and works with C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft as a civilian employee for the US Air Force. Those are Peruvian Alpacas in the picture. Kimberly has agreed to tag along with me through the acclimation process starting with Rucu Pichincha (elev: 15.413), and we've thrown a few additional activities into the itinerary. One thing I have been batting around for a while was having a Curandero perform a Shamanic Spiritual Cleansing (more on this later). I'm not much for mysticism, but when in Rome... and Kimberly has expressed interest as well. A day trip to see Cotopaxi and a hike in a cloud forest to do some birding are in the works also. Kimberly will also join me at base camp on Cayambe. Stay tuned for updates.
We are both excited to explore Ecuador and started getting a little fidgety waiting to check in using our Delta Airlines app. If you're not familiar with the app, it keeps track of how long until check-in (days in advance), which you can not do until exactly 24 hours before take off. So yesterday, about an hour before check-in, I got a text from Kimberly letting me know we only had one hour until check-in. It made me think... at this time tomorrow, we'll be at the gate waiting impatiently to get on the plane, so we can wait impatiently to take off. So we can then wait 5 hours to get to Quito. At which point we will wait for a cab to drive us an hour to the hotel... so we can wait for the hotel clerk to check us in. And I can't wait! It's time to go.
Geek Notes
-I've talked a lot about the significance of the Equator to me this trip, and I'm not done. The great circle is the dividing line between the northern and southern hemispheres and has terrestrial and celestial significance. It is intertwined with the seasons and it separates us from the Australians. It is exactly half way between the poles, and the circumference at the equator is the longest circle that can be drawn around the planet due to the equatorial bulge (24,902 miles long). In other words, it exists as a physical characteristic of the Earth, regardless of whether we happened to discovered it.
Longitudinal lines have no such distinction - they are arbitrary lines invented by people and used to measure east/west ascension. While both longitude and latitude are important for navigation, different cultures have historically made up ethnocentric prime meridians, the longitudinal equivalent of the latitudinal equator. Today, we use the Prime Meridian as our Zero Longitude and it runs North/South through Greenwich, England. Once the Prime Meridian passes the poles, it changes from 0.00 degrees to 180.00 degrees to complete the circle (24,860 miles long). Thus, there are 180 degrees of west longitude (west of the Prime Meridian) and 180 degrees of east longitude (the other way). West longitudes and south latitudes are sometimes denoted as negative coordinates to distinguish them from east and north coordinates. I prefer to use the W and S.
-I should clarify something. There is a decent but ultimately inadequate argument for a "natural" prime meridian based on a physical characteristic of the Earth. In 1493, while crossing the Atlantic Ocean, Christopher Columbus noticed that somewhere near the Azores, his magnetic compass pointed directly at geographical north. Around most of the planet, magnetic compasses point a few degrees east or west of true north since the Earth's magnetic poles are slightly off-center relative to the axis of rotation. Matter of fact, the magnetic north pole currently sits about 6 degrees south of the actual north pole and moves about 35 miles west, northwest every year. So when Columbus was sailing the ocean blue on that fateful day, he happened to be at a longitude where the north magnetic pole was directly between his ship and the true north pole. For nearly 100 years, the Portuguese and Spanish used this meridian as their prime meridian (see map).
-So why didn't we adopt this meridian as the official prime? Simple, the magnetic poles keep moving and even reverse polarity every now and then. Up until 2012, the north magnetic pole resided in Canada. It now belongs to Russia. Commies.
-Another tidbit. Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport (ATL) sits at 84.4281 degrees west longitude. Quito Mariscal Sucre Airport (UIO) sits at 78.4881 degrees west longitude (slightly EAST of ATL). This surprised me when I looked at a map. In my mind's eye, I had South America too far west. Check it out:
The six hour flight from ATL to UIO is therefore nearly due south. Delta flies direct from ATL to UIO and back daily. And since we're flying mostly due south, we don't cross any time lines, but UIO is in the southern hemisphere, so this will be a trans-hemispheric flight.
-I mentioned starting the acclimation process. Living within 600 feet of sea level means my red blood cell count is currently too low to effectively supply my body with the oxygen it will need to summit Cayambe. Our bodies responds to the lack of oxygen at high altitude initially by increasing respiration and heart rate. Over time, the kidneys start to secrete bicarbonate and your red blood cells increase in number and efficacy (more hemoglobin per cell). I'll need 4-5 days to partially adjust to 15,000 feet. Still, the time I spend between 15,000 and 19,000 feet is going to be difficult and I won't have time to lollygag. It can take up to 45 days to fully acclimate to 15,000 feet and no humans live permanently above 17,000 feet. The highest city is Rinconada, Peru (pop. 30,000) at slightly over 16,700 feet. Acute Mountain Sickness (nausea, headache, light-headedness and confusion) can occur regardless of physical conditioning to anyone at an altitude above 7,000 feet. Above 26,000 feet is called the dead-zone because there is not enough oxygen to survive at that altitude - you simply suffocate. That's why climbers of Mount Everest have to use supplemental oxygen, although some bad-asses have made the climb without relying on tanks - they just can't stay up there too long.
Other high altitude conditions that can be life-threatening are HACE and HAPE (High Altitude Cerebral/Pulmonary Edemas). These happen if you ascend too quickly without proper acclimatization and result in fluid build up in the brain or lungs. Together these altitude-related ailments pose a significant threat above 15,000 feet. Since I'll only be partially acclimated, I don't want to spend any more time than necessary at high altitude. At the same time, ascending to quickly can trigger HAPE or HACE. We'll spend about 6-7 hours ascending the final 4,000 feet. While that may seem somewhat slow, it's about as fast as your lungs will let you go and gives your body the time it needs to adjust. If/when we reach the summit, we will only be able to spend a little time enjoying the view. As the Equatorial sun rises, it unleashes a new set of threats that I will explain in a future post.
-So when will our acclimation begin? On the flight actually. Commercial jets pressurize the cabin to simulate the air pressure at 7,000 feet. My Delta flight will decrease the pressure to simulate 8,000 feet of elevation as we descend to match the air pressure at the Quito airport. This will give us a 6 hour head start on our acclimation schedule. I'll take it.
-There is a prescription drug, Diamox (generic: acetazolmide) used to help prevent high altitude sickness. It speeds up the acclimation process by forcing the kidneys to excrete bicarbonate faster. Since bicarbonate is the conjugate base to carbonic acid, getting rid of it causes your blood to become slightly more acidic. Here's the cool part. You body assumes that the increased acidity in your blood is caused by an increase in CO2 which fools it into breathing deeper and faster. This in turn, causes your body to ramp up its production of hemoglobin to absorb more oxygen, effectively counteracting the lack of oxygen at altitude. The only problem is that it's also a diuretic, which presents dehydration issues. Kimberly and I rounded some up before leaving and will try it out during acclimation. If it helps, we will probably continue to use it on Cayambe. Diamox is also used to treat glaucoma - the acclimation benefit is actually a side-effect of the drug. The miracles of modern medicine...
-A final note. I mentioned my alpine guide, Ramiro above. Originally, I considered winging it and going solo (that's a stupid thought). I was more interested in exploring the volcano without actually summiting. Then I discovered that Ecuador had passed a law requiring climbers to be escorted by a local guide. Generally speaking, I'm against such regulations. They are typically lobbied for by special interest groups to serve their needs, not the needs of the affected group, in this case climbers. Additionally, it was difficult to find a local guide that had experience in ski mountaineering. I now feel fortunate that I took the time to procure the services of Ramiro. He is skiing Antisana this week and will be on Cayambe the day before I attempt the summit with him. That type of recon is invaluable.
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