after a good afternoon of rest, alot of enthusiasm. we got out of camp early and, with a good trail, were able to move fairly well even though there was a constant gain in elevation. brad did fine and the views were great. we were hoping to get to lava tower for a late lunch and, even though our pace slowed as the trail became alot rockier as we climbed, brad worked hard, kept moving, and we made it not too long after our normal lunch time. we were now at 14,544 ft, sitting in a saddle at the base of a big lava cone on one side and the steep western breach route to the summit on the other. after a short lun
ch (which brad didn't do a very good job of eating!...not even the gu gel!), some of the guys took a short side trip to climb to the top of lava tower while brad, brian and i continued down the trail toward the barranco camp. on this afternoon, we were to now descend 2500 of the 3000 ft we had gained earlier in the day, a good way to help acclimatize to the elevation...but it made for a very long day. there were a handful of tricky downhill rocky slopes that slowed our pace
considerably. the slow pace then allowed the sun to move to create alot of shadows for brad making every step more difficult...which slowed our pace some more. which allow time enough for the clouds to roll up the mountain with some drizzling rain...which slowed our pace some more. which allowed the sun to start going down for the day...which, of course, slowed our pace some more. this was a VERY difficult day!!! you talk about a chain of events. the long term problem wa
s that with every situation that slowed our pace, that meant that brad had to visually concentrate for that much longer, putting more stain on his already wore out eyes...but he did it! day four was over and brad was able to lay in his tent and rest his eyes for...well, 'til morning. the scenery on day 4 was nothing short of specatular. huge rock walls with glaciers hanging from them loomed over our left shoulders to the north with white clouds whirling around the upper mountain as we slowily marched toward camp. as we neard camp the giant senencias and lobielias peppered the 
hill sides creating a contrast from the snow and rock that was incredible. it truly was a beautiful sight! our 9 1/2 hours or up and down on the mountain had visually exhausted bard for the day, so as brad rested to prepare for day 5, brian and i found out that the next day was to be considerably shorted and we starting perparing for the barranco wall.
ch (which brad didn't do a very good job of eating!...not even the gu gel!), some of the guys took a short side trip to climb to the top of lava tower while brad, brian and i continued down the trail toward the barranco camp. on this afternoon, we were to now descend 2500 of the 3000 ft we had gained earlier in the day, a good way to help acclimatize to the elevation...but it made for a very long day. there were a handful of tricky downhill rocky slopes that slowed our pace
considerably. the slow pace then allowed the sun to move to create alot of shadows for brad making every step more difficult...which slowed our pace some more. which allow time enough for the clouds to roll up the mountain with some drizzling rain...which slowed our pace some more. which allowed the sun to start going down for the day...which, of course, slowed our pace some more. this was a VERY difficult day!!! you talk about a chain of events. the long term problem wa
s that with every situation that slowed our pace, that meant that brad had to visually concentrate for that much longer, putting more stain on his already wore out eyes...but he did it! day four was over and brad was able to lay in his tent and rest his eyes for...well, 'til morning. the scenery on day 4 was nothing short of specatular. huge rock walls with glaciers hanging from them loomed over our left shoulders to the north with white clouds whirling around the upper mountain as we slowily marched toward camp. as we neard camp the giant senencias and lobielias peppered the 
hill sides creating a contrast from the snow and rock that was incredible. it truly was a beautiful sight! our 9 1/2 hours or up and down on the mountain had visually exhausted bard for the day, so as brad rested to prepare for day 5, brian and i found out that the next day was to be considerably shorted and we starting perparing for the barranco wall.
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