Climbing El Misti Volcano

This past weekend I attempted my 2nd major climb of a volcano. This time it was El Misti, the active volcano and symbol of Arequipa, Peru. It is still the rainy season in Arequipa so there were more clouds, rain, ice and snow than ideal but this was our chance to go for the summit. El Misti is the 2nd tallest volcano in Arequipa (2nd to Chachani) and stands at 5,822 meters (19,101 feet). It's said that Misti erupts every 1,000 years or so and the last eruption was in the 1400's. When Misti erupts next, the people of Arequipa claim it will have a blast radius of 20 Kilometers. The center of Arequipa is a mere 17 Kilometers away and an eruption could erase this more than 500 year old city from the map. This fact made me appreciate my stay in Arequipa all the more as who is to say when this city may become a modern day lost city.

We left for our adventure at 8 AM Saturday morning with our trusty agency Wayki Tours located on Avenida Jerusalem downtown. This was the same company we used when we climbed Chachani and we did not hesitate to go back to these guys. The prices are fair and the guides are awesome. This time we were paired up with Aldo como Caldo. The daring group this time was Jacob, Micah, Shana and myself. We shared a 4x4 with Aldo and our driver Thomas to the entrance of the conservation land of El Misti and Thomas drove us on a dirt road as far as he could.




We grabbed our bags full of coca leaves, chocolate, 4-5 liters of water and all of our gear for camping and started walking uphill towards base camp which was at an altitude of 4,600 meters. The hike that first day took about 4.5 hours and was quite draining carrying all the weight of our backpacks up to that altitude. It was also raining off and on which didn't make the trek any more comfortable. Nonetheless, we arrived at base camp a couple hours before sunset and set up our tents while Aldo began preparing our feast of noodle soups. The first noodle soup had eggs and the 2nd course had tuna fish. I know it sounds gross, and I don't like tuna, but this was a welcome refueling after hiking with about 15 Kilos (roughly 30 pounds) of gear. We ate as the sun was beginning to set and the clouds began to clear so we could see the distant Arequipa way down below.

After enjoying the sunset the temperature dropped rapidly so we bundled in our tents around 7 to try and sleep before our 1 AM wakeup. It is very difficult to sleep at that altitude as the air is so thin and it certainly didn't help that the wind and rain made me wonder if we were going to get blown off the volcano. The weather eventually settled down enough to allow me to sleep for about an hour or so (which is pretty good in this situation). We awoke to Aldo beckoning us to breakfast around 1 AM. Aldo had coca tea, bread and cheese waiting for us and we ate as much as we felt comfortable eating before packing up our bags and heading out. 

The hike from the beginning was steep without much of any sign of a path. At many points we were climbing hand and foot over rocks guided by our headlamps. The higher we climbed the harder it was to breathe and the colder it got. We tried keeping our breaks to just a few minutes to prevent getting cold and stiffening up. We stopped just long enough to catch our breath, drink some water, and re-up on coca leaves. Keeping a wad of coca leaves in your mouth, coca tea and coca candies all definitely help with the altitude.

Sunrise over Pichu Pichu Volcano

The climb felt more treacherous than Chachani as it was steeper and rockier. However, we were fortunate that for much of the climb, the clouds cleared and allowed us some magnificent views of both Arequipa and Pichu Pichu volcano as the sun began to rise. After the sun had risen, we could also see the shadow cast by El Misti (badass!). Once we were close enough to see the cross on the summit it was time to put on our crampons to make our way across the steep frozen terrain. By the time we made it to the crater of the volcano we could clearly smell sulfur and we were just about out of gas yet there still was a dangerous 40 minute climb to the top of the crater and the cross at the summit. The terrain was frozen snow and an incredibly steep drop off the backside of Misti. We carefully walked up the steep hill hugging the side of the crater for fear of falling to our death. Am I being dramatic? Yes. However, had we slipped or faded off balance to our left and fell, there would have been little chance of stopping before we got slidding too fast down the steep, smooth, snow and ice backside face of Misti.

The shadow cast by Misti

Granadia break!

 After over 7 hours of climbing, we managed to reach the summit somewhere between 9 AM and 10 AM. It was a great feeling to conquer the symbol of Arequipa and my 2nd peak above 19,000 feet. We were happy to find the cross at the top was much larger and more elaborate than the cross at the top of Chachani. We made sure to enjoy the moment and spend sufficient time resting and snapping pictures so we can remember the accomplishment and not the pain. I think we waited long enough after our climb of Chachani to forget how difficult it was allowing us the confidence to attempt Misti. I'm glad I had forgotten.

 However, it wasn't over. We had to descend down safely into the crater and then carefully slide down Misti. This was brutal work on the quads just trying not to fall. Our return trip took us over 5 hours and I was spent. I couldn't feel my legs for the last 2-3 hours and was just trying to keep them moving one in front of the other. My knees were shaking with each step and I was praying I wouldn't blow out a knee flexing against the steep incline. Luckily, we all made it back to our car safely. Granted, we made it back 2-3 hours later than our guide wanted us too, but what can you do? We did it. What's next?