Summer Flashback: Photo-paxi

Or, the photographic proof that we did, in fact, make it at least part of the way up Cotopaxi without asphyxiating.

En route to Cotopaxi. Pretty tranquil, no signs of exploding lava so far.

Coca tea, to help us acclimate to the altitude. Don’t worry, Mom, it’s perfectly safe. And legal.

Gazing across the volcanic plains, marveling at nature’s majesty, and so on

Now we’re talking. This looks more like the craggy terrain I was expecting

The first joyous glimpse of the wild horsebeasts!

baby horse baby horse baby horse!

Ehrmagerd SNOW

You guys seriously can’t comprehend how filled with joy I am at the sight of this snowy goodness

Clouds, clouds, go away. So I can find some snow to play…. with. (this rhyme brought to you by Jean-Ralphio)

And then we saw the horses again! More of them!

Look how fuzzy he is! Don’t you just want to snuggle him?

You look like a painting, horse. I like you, horse.

Onwards! To conquer the mountain!

Hummingbirds, what are you doing all the way up here? Do your wings even work in air this thin?

We begin our intrepid trek, full of confidence!

That’s where we’re going. It looks so close, doesn’t it? HA.

I kinda feel like the Mars Rover or something up here. Except I don’t have a room full of nerds cheering for me

Just….keep…putting….one….foot…in…front…of…the…other…

My friends, trying not to fall off the edge into the abyss

Sometimes, hiking a volcano feels kind of like you’re on another planet

If only I knew at the time how much fun this would be to slide down

Hark, other (better-prepared) humans!

OH GOD IT’S STARTING

Standing at the edge of the world, or something close to it

That’s fine, ground. We won’t miss you

Hah! Puny other humans! Look how much higher we are! With so much less oxygen!

SO CLOSE. If only my body still felt like moving.

AH, THE SWEET TASTE OF SUCCESS.

Well-deserved victory soup and hot chocolate.

Preparing for our gleeful slide back down

How do you DO that, atmospheric conditions?

We just CLIMBED that. Feeling pretty badass right now.

Oh, also there was a very scenic little lake nearby. A good place to finally catch one’s breath.

I could probably hang out here for a while, too. If my hands weren’t freezing.

Bye, Cotopaxi. It’s been real. I hope this isn’t the last you see of me. Until then, enjoy being the world’s most photographed volcano. You deserve it.