Imbabura: 15,000 ft --Peering over the precipice of brilliance, I find myself materializing in the footprints of the steps that lie ahead.

At 3am this past Saturday morning, a few friends and I woke to climb the volcano nearest to Otavalo, Imbabura. It was dark when we first set out, and, unfortunately, I was the only person equipped with a headlight on our entire crew. Altogether, we were five: myself, Alyssa of Colorado, Julie of Pennsylvania, Ben of New Zealand, and Cesar, our guide from Otavalo. With Cesar´s help, we weren´t worried, luckily, about route finding in the sometimes thick layers of clouds that accumulate around the volcano (none of us has brought even a compas to the country), but instead we were focused on the difficulty of the climb based on its elevation. To others, this mountain is known as a practice or acclimitazation route, but to us in definately presented a formidable challenge. Before leaving, I was confident in all of our abilities, but, as we approached the base, heavy breathing and near-pitch dark conditions caused me to question myself a bit.

As we rose higher throughout the morning, and the sunlight began to rise amidst the clouds on a horizon that seemed to be at eye-level with us, a fever of excitement and adventure came over me, and each step seemed lighter than the last, as the realization hit that each one carried me to the summit that we could all now nearly see beyond the next ridge. The site of neighboring peaks such as Cayembe, Cotopaxi and Cotocachi that would accompany us up much the rest of the climb stood as luminous and reassuring reminders that we were all now approaching the heavens themselves.

















Alyssa and I reached our lunch destination first, a saddle from which all directions became visible--Mountains to the South, and West, hills and valleys to the east, and Colombia to the North. Julie and Ben followed behind us, but, unfortunately, Julie seemed to be having difficulties with the cold conditions, and both she and Ben turned back after we ate. The rest of us went on up as they descended.

Nearing the top, our steps became more measured and are breath more audible, as we began the scramble up to the 4630m (over 15,000 ft) summit. We had started at 3,000 meters. At about 4,5 hours, though, the climb seemed to me, amazingly, to grow shorter as we inched our way upward to the magnificent volcanic formation perched on top step by step. That is to say, before as I had gazed up at the towers above us, I had almost imagined that we weould never reach the. But now, as we did, each stride or move upward seemed to carry me farther than I had dreamed in could.
















Gazing out over the vast fields of clouds, earth, and sky, I felt as if I might burst with the pressure of my own happiness and the sense of fulfillment pushing out from within me. Coming to Ecuador, this climb was definately something that I had set out to acheive from the beginning, but I wasn´t sure if it would be possible. And there I finally was!









On our way down, we got the chance to stop and view some of the amazing and unique plant species in the region, which were unbelieveable, and almost seemed extraterrestrial to the likes of us. Hard and brittle yet utterly beautiful, these equatorial alpine flowers reminded me that there is still so much in the world to discover, and the many different kinds of complexity that are yet out there unbeknownst to me represent the richness of potential which life every day can grow to embody.















We hitched a lift on the back of a pickup truck back to the city of Ibarra not long after we reached the cobblestone road leading to the small town of Esperanza. Like a tide of images and emotions cresting at their breaking point in my mind, I sat back and allowed the flood of my own experience to wash over and then sink down into me.

Being wholly here, with my eyes open and ears listening attentively to the word around me as I make my way through it, as I change it and as it changes me continually, I now realize, is indeed one of the greatest tasks I can possible set out to accomplish in this or any land.