The shoes (a request)

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Hello all,

With less than a week until my departure for Egypt (four days and counting...) I have already been asked if I am planning on taking another picture of my shoes. For those of you who might not have followed along on my last adventure (and therefore are wondering why someone would expect to see a picture of my shoes), a brief recap, with photos...

Not long into my last trip (into the rain forests of Central America) a Costa Rican friend and I decided to spend a day on an extreme hike up an inactive volcano in the middle of a cloud forest. Having reached the summit much more quickly and easily than anticipated, we mutually concluded that the only logicial course of action would be to climb back down- on the inside of the volcano. Admittedly, this plan violated all the rules of free climbing (not to mention several of the laws of the Republic of Costa Rica), but I was on vacation and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Little did we know...

The descent into the volcano was also rather easily accomplished, although we both slid more than climbed down the last quarter-mile. When we got to the bottom we found a narrow shoreline of around three feet width, with the rest of the interior being filled with a lake of exceedingly chilly water. From time to time the wind would blow, the clouds would part, and we could see across the lake to the opposite embankment (see photo). It looked almost identical to the way we had taken down.

After splashing around in the water until our toes turned blue, we had lunch sitting on a tree branch jutting out over the water. Then, we turned our thoughts to the serious business of getting ourselves out of the volcano. To neither of our credits, it took a few attempts at retracing our steps before we realized how serious was our predicament. The natural moisture of the cloud forest, which leaves the soil boggy and generally covered with moss or fern, was compounded in the volcano, where the moisture from the clouds was more effectively retained. Thus any progress we made at gaining a foothold or a solid grip was defeated as the dirt in our hands or beneath our feet practically melted away.

After twenty minutes of futilely trying to climb our way back up, we found ourselves still on the tiny beach, whereby we decided to call for someone to set a top rope. That plan would have most likely worked, had cell phone coverage extended into defunct volcanos. Faced instead with no signal and no hope of finding dryer, more stable ground, Miguel unleashed a string of profanity that would have shocked most sailors, while I alternated between 1). figuring how long it would take for someone to notice we were missing and conclude we were in the volcano, 2). trying to determine which saint could be most successfully appealed to in this circumstance, and 3). calculating the likelihood of my travel insurance covering my emergency airlift from the interior of a volcano that I only managed to get into by climbing over signs that said 'Danger. Do Not Enter' in every language except Braille.

Eventually, having come to the conclusion that the airlift would leave me with a debt that would exile me from Nordstroms for the rest of my natural life, I agreed with Miguel that we just HAD to get out of there, no matter how we did it. And, in the end, get out we did. I won't say more about the ways and means, except to acknowledge that I will never again be able to boast of practicing ecotourism, or leaving the environment in the same condition in which I found it. Moreover, by the time we reached the top we were both a rather frightening sight- covered with mud and moss and God knows what else.

The only part of me that I was willing to have photographed at that point was my shoes- hence the original photo, which was published on my blog in celebration of our narrow escape, and to convince the skeptics out there that I really do own a pair of shoes sans three-inch heels.

For those of you who have asked, rest assured- Amil and I are planning on climbing Jebel Rum on this trip, so there should be plenty of opportunities for shoe-shots in the coming weeks.

However, it does give one reason to ponder... when I return I will have hiked the Inca trail, climbed Kilimanjaro and the Great Wall of China (the illegal bits!!!), scrambled the highest mountain in Jordan, and danced (sometimes literally) across the Jungfrau, but yet I have never been able to ascend to the top of a much closer landmark, now turned National Shrine (www.cathedralsaintpaul.org). Father Johnson, what gives?

Oh, and in response to another request, I have uploaded the video of my ziplining above the cloud forest...yet another thing I am pretty sure my travel insurance wouldn't have covered.

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