indermühle.com

At 4300m altitude, this lake should be frozen almost year round, but it’s not! It’s super salty, not to the taste though, the salt in it is Calcium Sulfide, i.e. Plaster de Paris! This makes for beautiful sculptures at the lee side of the lake.

As we’re approaching Lascar, the sun grazes the peak to the right and illuminates the volcanic ash plume emanating from the crater. 5 hours later, we’re standing on top!

As the sun is rising behind Agua Caliente, the snow drifts can be seen both on the mountain far away and in the snow and ash field we’re walking up on. Further wisps you can see are smoke from the volcano. It’s not particularly friendly to our ascent this time and blows all the hydrogen sulfide and other nasties down our way!

Every step is tiring, but Christof is in good shape and I have a hard time keeping up with the youngster! So since I was carrying the backpack with all the heavy convenience (and survival!) gear, I thought it would be only fair to let him help me carry all that equipment up the mountain. Well done Christof, and thanks!

80% up, at the crater rim.

Looking into that steaming crater going over a kilometer down, it’s easy to see how hell being down below where the sulfur boils was an easy sell!

Should I or should I not? I forgot what that was meant to signal, but it’s probably not what you think!

After a (for me) gruelling 4 hour climb we had made it up to the peak, 5583m (give or take a few, it’s never been measured very precisely). We were rewarded with a tremendous wind, icy cold temperatures, and the greatest feeling and view!

What a view! This shows a panorama from west via north to east, showing the slope leading down to the Salar de Atacama, Volcan Laguna Verde, Pili and Agua Caliente on the right hand side.

Time for the descent! This is where my ultra marathoning leg muscle gave me an unfair advantage… Here I’m looking back at Christof coming across the basalt field near the peak. Look at how huge some of those boulders are! Not the place you want to be when Lascar lets one go!

Feeling good on the way down! Behind my the Laguna Lejia we saw before sunrise. We’ll spend some time on its shores shortly.
The awesome La Sportiva boots were a present from Susan, they work beautifully and are warm and comfy, thank you so much again! They are definitely suitable for this kind of high altitude alpinism. You notice I’m dressed like Michelin Man, and there’s a reason for that: While thinner clothing would have been warm enough as well, when going to these extreme places, survival considerations are paramount: you dress for when something bad happens to you and you won’t be able to move. Picture yourself sitting still in a stiff breeze at -20C. That’s what you need to dress for. Because Christof didn’t have this kind of clothing, I carried my extreme cold rated sleeping bag for safety.

My climbing buddy Christof with the gopro camera on his head!

Having fun sliding down the basalt and ash fields!

At the Laguna Lejia, we look back at Lascar, Agua Caliente and Pili in the distance. We’re still at 4300m altitude here, hard to fathom!

Not everyone survived their trip as well as we did.

Layers of calcium sulfite with recent volcanic ash on top show the rich history this area has experienced with different types of animals and plants having existed there long ago.

On the way back we come by the old town of Talabre which had experienced its share of Lascar’s wrath. The town has been relocated now into a safe zone.

Looking back at Lascar from its more dangerous side (this is where the Lahars came down in 1996 wiping out old Talabre), we say goodbye to a beautiful climb and welcome the wonderful memories! I hope there will be many more coming on this trip!