Renting a tent and sleeping bag the previous day, jumped on a 7am bus, dropped off in front of a smoldering Ubinas in the middle of nowhere by 10:44am (4300 meters), multiple dust devils swirling in the distance.
It took me until 2pm to circle the volcano, to find a suitable place to attempt a climb in the morning. Set up camp. I figure the altitude of my camp must be near 5000 meters for my head was pounding by 5pm. Slept for three hours and woke refreshed, the headache gone.
Next morning, at 5:54am, started to climb. Stepped onto the rim of the crater at 7:50am, witnessing the expulsion of steam and ash from the crater hole.
About 9am I made the decision to descend from the rim into the crater. Not five minutes later the volcano let fly a large, black ash cloud rising a couple kilometers into the sky. Not wanting to be gassed I remounted the rim to watch developments, taking movie footage of the event in the meantime.
Satisfied with the climb, clouds moving in to block sunlight, I nix the idea of descending into the crater. Start descent at 10:30am, reaching camp in 45 minutes, the road 90 minutes later. As there is only one bus per day in these parts I walk for five kilometers, find a place to set up camp, and settle in for a night under the stars.
Next morning another ten kilometers walking. The bus finally rumbles around a corner and I am bound for the city of Arequipa.
