Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air

13,400' up in the Andes

Think a little clear mountain air might be just the thing to clear your head sometimes? 

Think again.

On Sunday morning, I woke up reluctantly and with an unstable stomach from the super-potent Ecuadorian sugarcane alcohol we call aguardiente from the night before. But I pulled myself with pocos hours of sleep out of my bed, which just gets comfier the more tired I get, at eight am to meet Jakob and Carl at their host family's house a few blocks up from me.

From there, we headed up to Avenida Occidental, the Western-most main thoroughfare of Quito, to catch a cab to the main entrance of the TeleferiQo.

From the overpass above Occidental on Sunday am.

The teleferiQo is, as I understand, a pretty direct translation for the english word for gondola or cable car. The alternative "Qo" spelling at the end indicates its location in Quito. According to my sister Andrea, the teleferiQo was a stunning attraction when it was first built in 2005. Everyone in Quito went once, twice, and by thrice...ya, they had seen it. It is now more or less strictly a tourist attraction, as witnessed by the ticket booth, which will charge you $4.90 if you are an Ecuadorian citizen, but $8.50 sin documentos. If you bought the cheaper ticket, you are in a fast pass line to the front, because it stays largely empty. Foreigners are grossly obvious standing back to front in the "express" line. For more information on the teleferiQo, because it's really QUITE a feat of engineering, you can visit this link for some quick bullet points:

http://www.getquitoecuador.com/quito-natural-attractions/quito_teleferico.html

The gondola ride itself gives you some amazing views, but the true adjustment is deboarding to a stronger wind, cooler temperatures, and an emergency hospital. The signs posted warn visitors severely of the dangers of altitude - not recommended for the elderly, the infantil, or those with any kind of heart problem. Other signs that are posted caution a slow pace with many descansos (rests): NO CORRE. Don't run!

The boys and I set off on a slightly alternative trail due to the large groups hiking to ridgeline. Now, I'm a natural speedwalker, and hiking is perhaps the easiest physical activity for me, so I was quite surprised by our kid-paced steps. But, as I could feel a little tightness and had trouble holding a flow of constant conversation, I adjusted to the pace as we headed on a mostly-flat surface toward our destination: the rocky peaks of Mt. Pichincha.

Heading up...the peak is obscured by clouds!

Mt. Pichincha

Before too long, it became clear that our "alternate" path meant we would have to turn and veer uphill to the ridgeline trail. All of the sudden, my pace slowed to that of a BABY. The uphills required more muscle concentration, but the oxygen intake each time I tried to fill my lungs was well below what my body was accustomed to. My muscles weren't getting sufficient air, so they started burning and just didn't stop. My little Ecuadorian banana breakfast couldn't even prevent those cramps!

Needless to say, descansos quickly became necessary.

Carl at rest

Jakob, unnecessarily at rest. He's part Swedish mountain goat!

     When we reached the ridgeline, my troubles were just beginning. Everything from thereon was steeply inclining to the rocky face of Pichincha, still shrouded in cloud. As we progressed, it became clear that I would need to take frequent rests. Not wanting to slow the boys down, and bewildered by my suddenly poor hiking skills, I focused my energy inward in determination. But soon I felt so deprived of air, and my head so heavy with a dull ache, that I would stop again, warnings of travelers with altitude sickness who had pushed themselves to near-fatal consequences flashing through my head.

     As we neared the peak, the boys pushed onward in the interest of time, and were soon out of sight. I continued my turtle-crawl-and-rest progress. In the back of my mind, behind the safety precautions, I knew that if I had come this far hiking the famed south american Andes, I wasn't stopping until I reached the top.

Taken from the rocky peak of Mt. Pichincha

Looking down - it's hard to see depth in photos, but that's quite a drop!

     This is where things really started to get interesting. Deeply intent on placing one foot after another, I looked up, startled, when the path I was on came to an end at the base of a steep, narrow, rocky climb that was the peak of Pichincha. I looked right, and I looked left. The trail was finished. As far as rocky surfaces go, this one was pretty good for climbing. Handholds and footholds would not be hard to find, but it was intensely steep and of bigger concern to me was the shrill drop off to either side once the peak began. The lack of oxygen had affected my head severely, and my sense of balance was quite poor. I was thinking in basic, logical steps, but I wasn't able to push them past a second or two of thought.

     Deciding it would be a poor choice to scale the rocky ridge with no one else in sight, but knowing that that must be the way the boys had gone -- where else was there? -- I walked around the peak on its slightly broader western side for another fifteen feet, where I was again faced with nowhere to go but up!

     Fuzzy-headed and physically unsure, I started to scale the rock wall. This is probably really stupid, I thought. Even if I do make it up without falling off, I have to make it back down. That's a lot harder.

     Once I had gotten about 25' up, I looked down and saw the boys' heads, bobbing along on the trail back down. Shoot! I better catch up with them. Guess that's the end of my climb. They turned back and saw me -- too far to shout, but we gave each other a wave. I snapped a couple of quick photos, then faced the monstrous task of getting myself down. With a mix of prayer, calm, and confidence, I landed back on "solid" ground and jelly-legged down the trail, my head still in the clouds.

     I met up with the boys at a spot some yards back where the trail had forked. I had originally followed the eastern fork for about ten feet before realizing that it wasn't climbing as the western one steeply was, doubling back, and taking the trail to the foot of the peak. Little had I known, the boys - and most other non-extreme-hikers - had followed the "normal" eastern trail which continues past the peak and along the ridgeline. I had actually made it much higher than the boys!

     As we gazelle-hop/hiked down the trail to make it back for lunch on time, my head started to clear. It felt like I was me, and I was there again suddenly, and I realized just how drawn in to my own little functioning conscious I had been, as if my cognition was hidden in the little contracted air bubble that didn't cover all of my brain. Getting down helped, but the few uphills in between us and the teleferiQo mercilessly sent me right back to my low-functioning state.

     I now hold a great appreciation for anyone and everyone, from my brother Michael to the military training in the mountains of Afghanistan, who undergoes extreme physical exertion in high altitudes!

     The views were quite worth it, though :)

     Back at Carl and Jakob's family's house, we were served our first Ecuadorian ceviche with camarones (shrimp cooked in lime juice with onion, cilantro, and other ingredients). It was heavenly, but didn't sit well on my funky stomach. Luckily, their extremely generous host parents then served me a cup of fresh fruit with carmel swirl in it, which cured me right up. We stayed and watched the first two games of la Copa America (soccer, guys!): Brazil vs. Venezuela and Paraguay vs. Ecuador. No goals were scored the first day of the Cup.

     At the end of the games, we were served fresh, homemade empanadas and the best coffee in Ecuador (that's it's true rating), which I don't have words good enough to describe.

     To finish the day, we went up on the roof and took some pictures of dusk falling on Quito. As night fell and stars came out, the boys saw a shooting star -- my back was turned, so I guess my wish is still coming :) The boys walked me home and I went in to greet my family and spend the evening prepping for the first day of the TESOL course...

...which was Monday. To be continued :)