this past weekend i climbed a big volcano. i don’t know anything about volcanoes, but this is what the Bradt travel book says: “Of all the volcanoes in the world, I know of no other where the evidence of a giant lateral collapse, involving hundreds of cubic kilometres of rock, is so spectacularly preserved. Even for professional vulconologists, this is an awesome place.” considering the grueling 4,000ft ascent (with an average 35 degree incline), the book’s description strikes me as anticlimactic, but conor gately may beg to differ. here are some pictures of (1) the volcano from horseback the evening before the ascent, (2) looking northward (at me) off the rim, and (3) descending the south face:

             

since there are no trails up or down, a friend thorston and i hired a 12yr old boy to lead the way. ernesto, in the third picture above, has 27 siblings and 4 mothers. cape verde, in general, has a severe shortage of men, so studs like ernesto’s dad are not altogether uncommon.

the hike up was tough, and was a lot like sahale glacier, for those volleyball players out there. the book calls the terrain lapilli, a “treacherous veneer of loose ash and gravel …like walking on marbles.” this is much worse than it actually was. mostly, the lapilli was frustrating - for every step up, you slide a half step back. and since the volcano is still active, digging beneath the surface of lapilli can get very hot. our feet were not happy, but the views were incredible, and ernesto and i had contests to see who could stick his hand deepest into the lapilli without getting burned. i think ernesto had an unfair advantage because his hands are small. then again, he is 12.

the best part of the hike came on the way down (marcel should appreciate this). since the lava scree is basically sand, the easiest way down is to run, jump, and slide. what took four hours to get up took 45 minutes to get down. i took some low-quality videos of (1) me running into the crater, and (2) thorston running down the outside of the volcano:

         

it seems unfair that this is what conor is going to be doing for a living.