Up, up, up

Day 3, again a change of scenery as we enter alpine desert.

We enjoyed lunch with a view as we ascended from 3700m to 4600m to Lava Tower camp. This climb was purely for acclimatization however, and we then descended to Barranco Hut camp at 3950m to spend the night. Still feeling good and strong at this altitude, we can't help but wonder if our time spent at altitude in Ecuador has helped us with the acclimitization.

With amazing views of the mountain's peak, the Barranco Camp was by far the most scenic and beautiful. This is also where we enjoyed the first of our rationed packages of m & m almonds :).

Now, it's at about this point in the trip, when you can actually physically see the dirt piling up in your pores, every wrinkle of skin and fingernail and crevice being filled with dirt and dust that you start to really think about what it would be like to shower. Even wearing long pants, the dust seems to sneak in and attach itself like a stain. Ewww.