Day 4

What a day! We are now a little past the half way point. We hiked to the Lava Tower today. Started at 9:15, and yes we had the same breakfast...I ate a granola bar instead.

The hike wasn't as bad or hard as we were expecting, which was a nice relief. It even started to hail and rain for a bit, but that didn't stop us. We eventually made it to the Lava Tower at 4,630m, with mild headaches. Last night, Shabaz told us that they normally bring boxed lunches to the Lava Tower, but since it's usually cold and windy he's sending our cook and waiter up with the mess tent, so we can have a hot lunch. Unnecessary, but very appreciated. We were served macaroni and cheese, and it was delicious! I think it was the first time that we finished the whole pot of food. We stayed there for about 30 minutes, then had a 3 hour, downhill hike to camp. We passed some nice plants, streams and a waterfall (which made me look for a giant rock, if you know what I mean).

We made it back to camp around 4:30, and relaxed until supper. We were served carrot soup, pancakes, rice and chicken sauce. It was alright, I enjoy the soups. However they tend to taste the same, so I'm pretty sure it's the same soup, with a different name...you can't fool me! Shabaz and Basil came in for our briefing. They said they were a little worried about me, but noticed a difference since taking the extra diamox. They said I haven't been taking as many breaks, and noticed I don't give up and keep on going. So I guess that's a good thing? Tomorrow we tackle the Barranco Wall. This is the hike I was nervous about even before coming. Shabaz said it's very steep and the path gets very narrow in parts, so we have to be careful, we'll also have to use our hands to climb up in some spots. Yikes! Do I look like a rock climber? We can see the wall from camp, and it looks very intimidating. But after the wall, there's a few ups and downs and we should get to camp in good time to relax for the rest of the day. Besides the big rock jamming into my side, and constantly sliding to the front of our tent, I'm sure we'll sleep just fine tonight.