After Hell Hill, I could start to feel my toes again. First, a sort of tingling--similar to when they fall asleep, then a shooting hot pain that signaled their return.
Shortly after I could feel my toes, we crested, or alternately and simultaneously, the sun crested a ridge in blinding morning light. Glacier glasses went on but the layers stayed as a cold wind still cut at the mountain. 10 steps at a time we began our ascent of the ridge that would take us to the summit. Suntan lotion needed to be applied but it was frozen solid--into the inner pocket to join the summit snickers, clif bars and goo. An hour or so later, a crampon point would be used to free some 50 spf, but too late for my poor red nose.
After gaining the ridge, we saw a set of tracks leading up towards the summit. This was our second sighting of evidence of another party. The first had been a set of trakcs leading up a ridge near our camp 3. Disappointed as we were, we followed the trakcs up soft slush snow 10 or 15 steps at a time.
Right now I am flying at 35,000 feet on the last leg of our trip. We have been traveling for over 24 hours now. We left our hotel in Arequipa yesterday at around noon, arrived in Lima at 4:30 and had to wait for our Lima-New York flight at midnight.
To pass the time we took a taxi to the plaza de armas of Lima to see what we could see. Joe was almost mugged while trying to take a picture of a McDonalds a block away from the plaza.
Right now, I am about to be served an award winning AA meal. This is a very exciting moment. I know this is exciting because I was told that much by the award winning AA inflight magazine.
Wow, indeed that was an award winning meal. While on the subject of food, yesterday I had a doble de chocolate donut from a Dunkin Donuts at the Lima International Airport. It was full of donutty goodness. The day preceeding that I ate a bunch of corn flakes with beber de yogurt de durazno (Peach yogurt drink) while Joe lay in bed with food poisoning of some sort and we watched crap-ass cable television.
Arequipans like their so-called iced cream and I like their iced cream as well. I had a guava flavored ice cream cone my last night there.
Our journey through customs consisted of passport stamping, waiting for luggage and the question: 'what's all this' asked by an obviously highly trained customs official addressing us and our 80 plus kilograms worth of gear. 'Uh, blankets' was our response. Welcome to America (as if we hadn't just been in another America). SUVs bigger than Jose's house on tow trucks with fat-necked schlubs gaping at each other and grunting words of a supposed shared and common language. We're home. I want to be back in Peru.
