Orizaba: the summit

I knew it was going to be cold and the last thing I did was melt the snow and boil the water to put in the water bottle in the bottom of the sleeping bag. It was completely dark by 7, and we planned to get up at 3:00 am to start the hike. I was up at 12:30, set the alarm for 2:30, and then methodically got ready in the dark.  I had put everything in the sleeping bag except for my boots and I knew immediately that my feet were going to be cold. I made the hot chocolate, and Don set off first to stay warm while Spence and I got ready. It was dark but a clear night.  We put on the crampons, helmets, they had ice axes and I had Whippet.
 The first problem was finding the route up the mountain in the dark.  We knew there were several routes, but we found some flags marking the way.  The second problem was hiking at that altitude, which required many traverses up the huge glacier.  The most worrisome problem was my feet, which were very cold, I could not stop for even a minute. Slowly the sun begin the lighten the sky, and we saw the headlamps of the rest of the group far below us.  They had stayed up all night and started hiking around 1:00 am. It was cold, but my down mittens worked great, I just did not want my toes to freeze off. After many long and beautiful hours, I reached the rim of the volcano, where the sun was shining.

 The rim of the crater of a volcano!  I walked along the rim of the crater toward the summit, and stopped just below the summit to wait for the others.  I make a platform where the volcanic soil met the snow, and took my boots off to warm my feet in the sun.  18, 461 feet.  In the distance, Popocataptl had a large plume of steam. The Mexican climbing group we met yesterday said that they climbed it frequently and would be glad to take us up. Next project: climb an active Mexican volcano.

 After a while, we were joined by a few other climbers, and unfurled the Brighton banner. Along the way, we could see the shadow of the mountain being cast into the distance.