I made it to the top of the Ayoloco glacier on Izta, but had to turn back shortly afterwards because I was suffering from severe exhaustion and didn´t feel safe going farther. The hike in to the hut involved carrying 9 liters of water (for a gross pack weight of about 70 pounds) up about 3,000´ to a final altitude of 15,300´. This was by far the most exhausting climb of my life, and it left me somewhat ill. I wasn´t able to eat dinner because of severe nausea. In the morning, I felt fine aside from some pretty spectacular hunger. But the big climb plus the lack of a meal afterwards left me too weak to reach the summit the following day. It was fun, anyway. The glacier climb was my first and went well, the weather was perfect, and aside from feeling sick right at the top, I did pretty well.

At the trailhead, we ran into a couple guys who had just come from Orizaba, our next destination. They said that no one was able to summit when they were there because of extreme winds and bullet ice on the glacier. So that seems unlikely. Oh well.

Have to go eat more tacos now. Happy new year everyone.