9:08am: Refugio arrived. Havenīt seen a raindrop yet. By crossing a pipeline I entered the jungle, crossed Rio Reventador, ascended / descended two short ravines, and then followed a steady incline on (old) vegetated blocky lava flows. ... With the exception of a few false starts the trail was highly visible. I suspect the visiting seismic teams of the last couple years have maintained the trail.
Up the caldera, I am not sure if that is what I think it is but the lava flows appear to be smoking. At the moment I can see 60% of the cone's base. ... This is an excellent little camp, not a formalized refugio like Tung's or Guagua's. It will do nicely to sleep in the 'kill zone' of "The Exploder" for a few days. ... The trees around here are a wild sight: burnt to a crisp, standing scorched trunks, from the pyroclastic flows of the November 3, 2002 eruption.
10:31am: Walking through several lahar channels I met the end of lava flow 2 with its 20 meter high wall. I am now between lava flows 1 and 4, the latter snuggled against the south caldera wall. Top of the cone is in clouds but there is enough eye candy without it. The entire southern flank of the volcano is steaming. Lava flows in front of me are a lot higher than 20 meters -- perhaps up to 100 meters high in stepped / tiered fashion. ... I am imagining the Nov 2002 eruption. Looking around it is not hard. This place is seriously messed. No rumbles or degassing to be heard at the moment.
12:31pm: I entered lava flow 4, at first only a few hundred meters, to get closer to one of the steaming vents. The rocks around these steam vents are baked white and very hot, spitting rain creating hissing sounds upon contact. I canīt keep my hand over the rocks for more than a couple seconds without being scalded.
I made the decision to continue into the lava field to the top of another ridge, hoping for a perfect line of vision up the cone's side with its multiple steaming lava flows. Then I heard a "Whump!!" Again, "Whump!!" I immediately stopped. It didnīt sound like cone explosions. After a minute of being motionless, ears strained, I restarted. Yet again, "Whump!!" "Whump!!" "Whump!!" It was then I realized the muted noises were coming from beneath my feet, emanating from the lava flow itself, as it continues to cool and shift / settle.
Then I looked behind me -- clouds quickly moving in to swallow the lower caldera floor. Not wanting to be caught in the clouds on a cooling lava flow in The Exploder's line of fire I quickly reversed course and exited just as the clouds swallowed me up.
1:28pm: Exploring the bottom of the caldera I caught sight of a black, four-legged creature, long tail, moving a lot like a cat. It disappeared into the trees so I squatted down among the rocks and hoped it would reappear. It did, making for my camp. I followed it. Lucky for me I did! Just as I was approaching the Refugio the floodgates tore open. I ran for cover and in my haste lost sight of the cat in the nearby jungle. Having seen a couple in zoos, I strongly suspect it was a jaguarundi. I took two pictures of it at a distance.
2:28pm: lunch eaten (picture up above), rain only lasted for ten minutes. For a volcano this active it is peculiarly bizarre to be sitting here in the midst of its caldera, sun shining, the birds singing, everything so peaceful. I am expecting, at any second, the whole cone of 1300 meters to explode before my eyes, incinerating me in the process. ... I am torn between wanting it to blow a 10 km high ash cloud -- and doing absolutely nothing.
5:39pm: the entire sky is almost cloud free, as is most of the cone. I can hear it regularly rumbling.
5:51pm: A gorgeous sunset illuminating the sky behind the cone and far caldera wall. The entire face of the cone is now visible with its scorched SW wing of 7 smoking lava flows.
6:24pm: In five minutes the entire cone disappeared into clouds. As visual just hit zero I may as well move indoors and set up dinner by candlelight. ... the small Refugio is made of sticks, plastic tarps/bags and string, big enough to fit two comfortably. Two mattresses are contained within as well as a trunk containing two blankets for warmth. Perfect!
7:13pm: Here comes the rain again ...
12:25pm: a late afternoon clearing? I wonder. Rain eased. No cone visible, however. I think it is approximately 1300 meters to the top of the cone. From here I am thinking 3 hours to make the cone top; 1 hour to get into position at the base of the cone, 2 hours to ascend. 5:30pm yesterday the entire eastern face was cloud free, lasting until 6:20pm, with sun gone by 6:40pm. If I left here at 2pm, base 3pm ... but that means I will be climbing into the clouds with no guarantee of clearance. Hmmm. Arrival 5pm, 15-30 minutes at crater, departing anywhere from 5:15 to 5:30, gives me minimum 1 hour and ten minutes to descend and make it back to camp.
1:56pm: more clouds, more rain. No climb this afternoon. I will be very surprised to see a late afternoon clearing.
4:49pm: Impressive! A large part of the cone's base is now visible, and for the first time today I see blue sky above the caldera!
5:03pm: I can see the cone's edges. Top 1/4 of cone clearly visible now.
6:04pm: not a single cloud on east and north flanks. The whole caldera is cloud free except the SW quadrant with its steaming lava flows.
7:40pm: yesterday cloud free 5:30pm, today 5:30pm. Yesterday clouds returned 6:20pm, today a very impressive open and starry sky. Lightning flashes to the south. ... I continue to think about a late afternoon climb tomorrow. ... If the clearing pattern of the last two afternoons does not happen tomorrow and I am peaked at the cone at 5:30pm, in possible heavy cloud, perhaps rain, it would be extremely negative. An afternoon climb offers such a small window of opportunity if anything goes wrong I am &%*^įš! An afternoon climb must be perfectly executed.
11:35am: Lunchtime is early today. A big lunch for a big bang of energy. Tried feeding the little birds my extra tortilla. As I have a foreboding sense of doom for this climb I figure someone may as well eat this food. I eat my lunch thinking "This is my last meal ..." and throw in some extra salami as a result.
1:53pm: Boots on. Rain has completely stopped. I am exiting the Refugio for the cone crater.
7:07pm: Home. It almost worked. Like clockwork the rain quit at 2pm. I left, racing uphill. At the base of the cone I began my first red tape marker, 2:40pm, and thought I was making great time. I cut straight up the right corridor-scar on the volcano's east flank. Every couple hundred meters, on key ridges, I would tape rocks red to mark my route down just in case things got ugly and the clouds moved in.
I could see up above that the corrider became fairly steep, so halfway up I crossed over to another ridge that (a) had more growth on it implying longer-term stability, and (b) the ridge appeared to go to the top. By 4:35pm I was in the clouds -- and they were not clearing. Not even a momentary break. I estimated my position at 85% to the peak. Becoming increasingly wary of continuing, I made the call to abort. Snapped some pictures of myself, made a quick video, collected a soil souvenir, and reversed course.
Just below the peak cloud cover I had a great view of the entire caldera (movie/pics). The rocks on the cone are covered in a slimy jungle mold, making it very slippery. My legs and feet were jerking and jarring in every direction. Thus the descent was not as quick as I would have liked. On the way down I removed the red tape markers, lest I tempt anyone to follow my path up and suicide.
By 6:10pm I looked back and the peak was just clearing. I would estimate I made it 90% to the top. But a 6:10pm clear was no good to me up there. I made the right call to abort; the afternoon clearing was late by an hour. I continued descending into darkness. By flashlight I had to improvise a route back through bush, dry stream bed and open fields. I knew the Refugio was near, could hear the stream, but could not find it. Finally I crossed the stream and said it has to be here. Mr. Owl confirmed my position (heard him do a half-dozen hoots same time every night) and I knew I was home.
It was one hell of a try. I came very close to pulling it off. ... It took me 2 hours & 40 minutes to ascend, 2 hours & 20 minutes to descend (with pics & movies too).
Do I have the energy for another attempt? I am not sure. Depends on the weather. I refuse to peak the cone in clouds; photographing the event would be worthless -- me in a fog bank by some rocks. To simply 'bag' the cone is not my objective; to record peaking the cone and crater is.
4:10pm: after nine hours of nothing I can finally see pieces of the cone's face.
6:17pm: parting photos. Exiting my position between lava flows 1 and 4. As I am out of food a morning departure is scheduled.
Round One: Reventador 1, Tsiktsik 0.