I think he was saying that he didn't like papery rainsuit I was using as a shell, and he frowned at my homemade 1--ounce ski mask. When he saw me putting on my insulating vest, a feathery piece of poly batting with a hole cut in it for my head...well, I just pretended not to understand what he was saying.

I hadn't intended to go climb up Mount Chimborazo with such lightweight gear, but I had come to Ecuador on a courier flight, and could bring only carry-on luggage. Since I had only 12 pounds in pack to begin with, by time I put on all my clothes that night, weight on my back was irrelevant. The weight of my body, however, wasn't irrelevant. Paco had to coax me up that mountain.

Hiking On Glaciers

The glaciers start a short walk from hut, and hiking soon became mountaineering. I put on crampons for second time in my life (there was that sledding hill). During one of my many breaks ("Demasiado" - too many, which I pretended not to understand when Paco explained in Spanish), I noticed that tiny, cheap thermometer I carried had bottomed out at 5 degrees fahrenheit. I wasn't cold, but I was exhausted at times--the times when I moved. When I sat still I felt like I could run right up that mountain.

We struggled (okay, I struggled) up Mount Chimborazo, hiking, climbing, jumping over crevasses, until I finally quit at 20,000 feet. Of course I had quit at 19,000 feet, and at 18,000 feet. Quitting had become my routine. Lying had become Paco's, so he told me straight--faced that summit was just fifty feet higher. Maybe I wanted to believe him, or maybe lack of oxygen had scrambled my brain. In any case, I started up ice again.

On Top Of Mount Chimborazo

We stumbled onto summit at dawn. Well, okay, I stumbled. Paco, who seemed somewhat frail down at refuge, was in his element at 20,600 feet. Dirtbag Joe, nineteen-year-old kid from California with ten dollars in his pocket, borrowed equipment, and my Ramen noodles in his stomach, was waiting for us with a smile.

The sky was a stunning shade of blue that you actually can never see at lower elevations. Cotapaxi, a classic snow-covered volcano to north, was clearly visible 70 or 80 miles away. Handshakes all around, and it was time to get off mountain. I was told you don't want to be on Mount Chimborazo when she wakes up. She wakes up at nine a.m.

Paco kept looking at his watch and frowning. He told me to hurry, then he got further and further ahead. I thought he was going to abandon me on mountain. When I finally caught up to him at hut at nine a.m., I began to hear rocks fall out of ice above as sun warmed it. Now I understood his concern with time. We really did need to get down to refuge by nine. A thousand feet lower and my mountain climbing adventure ended with a photograph that mercifully doesn't show my shaking knees.

NOTES:

If you want to climb Mount Chimborazo, it is cheapest to wait until you get to Ecuador to make arrangements. Talk to almost any hotel owner or manager in Riobamba, and he or she will find a guide for you. It will be cheaper if you are part of a group, of course.

For more information and stories about Ecuador, you can visit pages, "Information On Ecuador," and "Banos Ecuador" on website http://www.EverythingAboutTravel.com

These ac wall adapters are relatively cheap and I recommend bringing several with you. Power adapters are easy to lose and fellow travelers will want to borrow an adapter from you. Always carry at least one ac adapter with you at all times – maybe in your backpack - because you don’t want to be caught without a power adapter when you need it. And please don’t forget these electrical adapter plugs do NOT convert electricity. Please take a look at my Power Converter page for more information.