testmeat photoblog

following on from yesterday's entry - i really wanted to post a photo of the view from the top of cotopaxi - and what a view it is. unfortunately this didn't happen and i didn't even make it to the summit, partly because of the weather and partly because i was cheap. i mentioned yesterday that you can pay more to go by yourself, or split the cost with a partner. however if your partner quits then you have to go down as well, as you're both roped to the same mountain guide. that's what happened about 97 metres for the top. i know that sounds like barely nothing, but we'd been walking for over 6 hours and the final 200 metres are the most demanding. physically i was ready to quit as well, but i've got a stubbornness that would make me keep going. alas my portuguese accomplice did not. in fairness the weather had turned and there was really thick cloud all around us, so if we had made it to the 5897 metre summit all i would have captured would be a grey canvas. it was annoying as the trek started at 1am to an almost full moon, which along with the stars, illuminated the volcano. as we continued to walk the moon morphed into a bright orange sphere and created amazing effects with rings of clouds. in hindsight i wished that i'd photographed those skies, but naively i thought i'd save my energy (and battery) for the crater. this was my favourite of about 5 photos i took on the hike, the snow-battered monkey who made the journey to 5800 metres on my head. lazy ape.

here's the original