Purace Volcano

Volcano in the clouds behind the mine
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I finally reached the summit of a mountain in Colombia after too many attempts.

Purace is a small village in the mountains about an hour from Popayan.  There is a national park, some hotspring, some waterfalls, and Purace Volcano near by(4577m).

On Monday the weather was finally nice in Popayan, so I left on Tuesday to go to the town.  Wednesday morning I woke up at 6 to catch the 7am bus with the mine workers to the sulfur mine under the volcano.

The hike was pretty easy and I didn't need a guide.  The only thing that makes it difficult is the elevation and the weather.  The clouds were around the whole morning, but were staying away from the peak... that was, until about 10 minutes before I reached the top.

Sulfur!!!
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When I got to the top, the winds were making it almost impossible to walk, and every time I tried to take a photo my fingers froze and I couldn't feel them anymore.  I waited at the top for a little while, until I finally got a view of the creator and a hole in the side of the volcano shooting some smoke.   The last time the volcano erupted was in 1977.

It took me about a half hour of going down before I could feel my fingers again.  Then I had to walk all the way back to Purace as the bus with the workers wasn't going down until 4.  My knees are still hurting from walking down the extra 3 hours... but it felt good to get out and finally climb a mountain in Colombia.

IMG_1217
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7AM Purace (?) to Mine (3400m), 1 hour by bus

8AM Mine to Base station (4000m) 1.5 hours walking on dirt road

9:30AM Base Station to Sumit (4577m) 1.25 hours

10:45AM Sumit to Mine, 2 hours.

IMG_1209
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1AM Mine to Purace, 3 hours