Our goal
the second day was to get some experience hiking around the glacier.
We packed up and hiked out to the lower part of the ice sheet:
Then we paused to put
on our crampons and helmets, and to prepare our ice axes:

Geared up and pysched
up, we headed out onto the glacier (crunch, crunch, crunch):

Pepe taught us tons
of stuff about getting around on the glacier. Always walk so all the
points of your crampon dig evenly into the ice. When going uphill
choose from different walking styles to get those points in the
snow: the duck walk, the french method, the swiss method. We started
to get comfortable moving around, so Pepe took it up a notch to
front-pointing. This is flat-out hard. You try to climb very steep
ice faces using the four front points on your crampons. Your hands
are useless, and you have your ice axe only to steady yourself -- it
can't actually bite into the ice enough to really secure you.
There's some trick to getting your front points into the ice and
then leaning down on them so the pressure locks you in place. And
maybe it's easier than I thought at the time, but man was it
nerve-wracking to be hanging out there fifteen feet up the face with
just those little metal points keeping you from a very rude descent.
Well, that was the optional part, so our trip was a success even if
I didn't get the hang of front-pointing. I earned my "Ice
Man" moment:

When we got back to
the refuge, we ate an early dinner and then practiced our emergency
techniques. We learned to tie various knots, and to combine a few of
them to create a makeshift harness that we could use to hoist
ourselves up a rope. (You know... in case we were to fall in a
crevasse during the ascent.) Here's Cari practicing with the
harness:

Then we hit the sack
in order to get a few hours of sleep before rising at midnight for
the climb. We had to leave at night so that the snow and ice on the
glacier would be firm during the climb. We planned to reach the
summit a little before sunrise if all went well.
Unfortunately, when
we woke up Cari then spent the next half-hour or so vomiting in the
bathroom. We didn't know for sure whether it was food-related or
altitude-related. About an hour late she said she wanted to try to
go with us, and we set out to the glacier, lighting the way with
headlamps. It was a really neat climb. We could see the blazing
lights of the greenhouses in the distant hills. The sky was filled
with stars. It was cool, but not too cold. Once on the glacier we
were roped together. We proceeded to a little under 5,500 meters, at
which point Cari got too sick to continue.
It was disappointing
not to be able to reach the top, but I enjoyed the climb anyway. The
sights grew only more beautiful as the sun began to rise. The
weather would have been perfect for the ascent -- there were no
clouds whatsoever. On the way down Pepe even let me take the lead
and pick out the path across the crevasses.
Oh, and I forget to
mention our mascot! The guides have named him Rambo. He lives in the
refuge and very often he follows the climbing groups out onto the
glacier and all the way to the summit. He accompanied us the whole
way, appearing and disappearing but never straying for too long. Now
that was a great dog:

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