#425: Route Q-45 near Abanico town - 2017-04-10
February 16, 1996. 10:30
María:
Eliana, wake up! We need to get off the bus here!
Eliana:
I am awake! You can't sleep in this road!
Rosa:
Are we already there? What kind of place is this? Why it isn't cold?
María:
We're at the entrance of the town of Abanico, 800 meters above sea level. We're 11 kilometers away from the entrance to the Laguna del Laja National Park, and 16 away from our destination. We'll go up a slope of more than 2000 meters.
Hugo:
Wow, it'll be many hours of walking.
María:
Right. When I went there alone I made it in five or six hours. As you're younger, you should't have problems to make it there.
Hugo:
But we're not used to climbing mountains!
Rosa:
Speak for yourself! In order to make me lose weight, Eliana brought me to climb all the hills surrounding our town!
María:
But that's not the same, Rosa. The hills near the coast don't go above 400 meters. This is the mountain, only for the brave.
Rosa:
I don't care! Let's get going!
Eliana:
María... there's a detail that you forgot to mention about the altitude.
María:
Huh? What do you mean?
Eliana:
Altitude sickness. There's an altitude above which it starts happening. I already told you all that I wanted to use my hair in order to climb down a tree, and I ended up soaring up in the skies. Well, I ended up way too high, and I got a headache. When I descended, the headache faded away.
María:
That happens when you ascend suddenly. We have to go up slowly. I don't think it's going to be a problem, but if anyone starts feeling bad, I have an oxygen tank.