I woke up early but did not budge. I was not going to make a movement until I saw sunlight and could tell that the sunlight was warming up the crater. Soon this was the case. I could hear Rob walking around outside. He seemed eager to get started. We [me, Cristian, Clay] took longer to get moving. We fired up the small stove again and broke open foil packets to eat a kind of freeze-dried egg thing.



Waking up inside the tent.

Clay, Christian and Rob departed in order to keep working on the meteorological station. I would document Nathalie's sampling process and assist her where necessary.


[Click the image to see a larger version.]

Panoramic image of the crater lake. Can you see Nathalie retrieving samples in the distance?



Nathalie engaged in a sampling process that was similar to the one that she engaged in at the Licancabur crater lake.



Collecting rocks and soil.



Detail.



Detail of the sample.



Collecting an ice sample.



Inserting the sample into a container.



The sample itself.



Close-up of the snow.

During this sampling process, I started to REALLY feel the impact of the altitude. This is how it felt:

"Ok, now I need to get out my camera [huff puff... huff... puff... huff... puff]. "Ok, now I need to walk over to Nathalie and photograph this process."

I walked a little bit.

"[Huff puff... huff... puff... huff... puff... gasp] Ok, now I am done. I need to lay down in the tent for a few minutes before I head over to the meterological station... [huff... puff... huff... puff... gasp... huff... puff... huff... puff... gasp]"

I finally made it to the tent. I collapsed and took a short nap with my camera still clutched in my hand. Nathalie explained later that we did not experience this kind of physical condition on Licancabur because we camped at the midway point up the mountain.

When I had rested a bit, I headed across the crater to get final shots of the assembled meteorological station.



The final assembly of the meteorological station was complete.

After a while, a team of porters arrived with a second group of our expedition team. Someone brought food. The food provided me with a massive burst of energy. Quick clue: Salami and cheese are the best mountaineering food that I have found so far.



We began our descent. First, we had to ascend out of the crater. After that, it was all down hill!



Our porters carried expedition and scientific gear.



Clay prepares to head down the mountain.

Our porters for this mountain were a tough, hard working expedition support crew out of La Paz. They spend a lot of time in the mountains. When we clambered out of the crater and looked at the slope that stretched down below us, one of them turned to me and said:

"Something...something poco [which means few] something...something."

He then started to RUN down the sandy slope below. It was truly like watching skiers ski down a slope. I think that what he said translates as "don't mind me, take your time, but I am going to run down this sandy slope because it is sandy and I won't kill myself."



The porters practically run down the mountain. Moments ago they were beside me!



One of my favorite outcrops during the ascent and descent.



On the way down the mountain, we were able to quickly move down sandy slopes [called scree]. Sand like this makes the descent easy. Our descent of Licancabur was covered in rocks because the normal descent path was covered in ice/snow. It took us a long time to descend Licancabur.



The cars in the distance.

Soon we were at the bottom of the mountain. We waited for the rest of our team to descent and then loaded up the vehicles with our gear. Clay and I rode with part of the Bolivian expedition support crew while the driver played a mixed tape with 80's music.



Our driver swerves the vehicle down the rocky road and away from the mountain.



Here is a group portrait that I shot of members of the ascent and descent team. The guys on the right are members of the Bolivian expedition support crew from La Paz. Clay and I are on the left.