Summit of Cerro Toco

Thanks to the inability of Sherwin-Williams Corothane I - Mio Aluminum paint to dry in our extreme conditions, we spent several hours today climbing Cerro Toco, the mountain that our telescope is located on the side of.  From the telescope site, the climb in 600m to the top of the mountain (shown above).  We made the ascent in a little less than 90 minutes.  Climbing to the summit at 5604m (18385 ft) was by no means easy: the partial pressure of Oxygen at this elevation is about one half of what it is at sea level.  I can't imagine what it would have been like to make the ascent without having worked at the altitude for the last week and a half.  In the image, you see Reed and Dr. Devlin.  Behind them is Licancabur, a taller volcano on the border between Chile and Bolivia.  The lake you see to the right of it is located in Bolivia.  The mountains further to the right of that are mostly in Argentina.  Thus, you see three countries from the top of Cerro Toco.  

Dr. Devlin has a thing for smoking cigars at high altitude.  When we reached the summit, he enjoyed a celebratory smoke.  Lacking matches, another tool had to be used:

He is likely the first person in history to scale Cerro Toco (what I am told is the world's 156th highest peak) with a blow-torch.  Also, to prove I was there: