Rainbow Mountain

I've been challenged in various capacities throughout my life, some unforeseen and others admittedly intentional.  Today I met my most grueling physical challenge, a 17,000 foot summit, Rainbow Mountain. 

The day started with a 2:30am wake up call, which was a challenge in itself, and a 3 hour van ride to Chillca.  I attempted to sleep in the van, but the honking of horns on a narrow one way bumpy dirt road made it impossible. When we arrived to Chillca the air was numbing. We all opted to put on thermals and down jackets prior to stepping out of the van for a hot breakfast. 

We made our way up the mountain at a conservative pace, enjoying the culture and beauty that surrounded us.  The higher we got the less conversation we had as we focused on putting one foot in front of the other. I could see the summit in the distance when the snow began to fall.  I'm not sure how high we were at that moment, but we all began to struggle both physically and mentally. It was difficult to breathe, and we all found ourselves taking more frequent breaks. Motivation was lacking to even want to reach the summit if the colorful mountain we came to see was covered in white snow. We all felt terrible and silently in our minds thought about turning around, but aloud we motivated each other to continue on.  We were near summit when the last steep section of about 100 feet seemed out of reach. The mission to reach the top was taxing, and the snow added a dangerous aspect to our stubborn desire to carry on. We pressed ahead. Just feet away from the summit I felt the sun at my back. I turned around. The fog was clearing and the snow was melting quickly. I'm sure if I had any extra breath to spare I would have cried. Beautiful.

The locals and their horses were on standby if we needed a lift!

Hiking 

Local Home

Llama

Peru

Chewy really liked Keith

Posing on the trail

The fog and snow

So cold

5200m (1760ft), almost to the summit!

Keith, did we make it?!

We did, and the sun came out!

Summit Picture

The crew that motivated each other

Garmin Proof! (The Garmin gipped me elevation!)

Tonight is our last night in Cusco. Keith and I went to a Greens for dinner, and I got my first salad in forever!  I am really going to miss this place, especially our little apartment and Chuck-Chuck.  Tomorrow morning we head to Puno for the next adventure.


Thanks for reading,

JenniferMarie