Today we would head to our high camp on Izta at the Ayaloco Hut (around 15,400'). Once again, our porters Chava and Enrique put out an excellent spread for breakfast and we had the luxury of sitting at a table to eat (rather than huddled in tents!). We all tried one more time to get Gene to stick it out and just take a couple rest days, but to no avail...we'd see him back in Mexico City. The rest of us assembled the gear we'd need for high camp and a summit attempt, and then drove up the dusty, arid road to the trailhead we'd trekked from yesterday. This time though, instead of taking the trail we acclimatized on the day before, we struck off on a lower trail that actually dropped a few hundred feet before climbing steeply up again to traverse across the west side of Izta to the Ayaloco Hut below the glacier of the same name. This was the first time we'd been out with full packs, but we kept a slow, steady pace that kept everyone moving well. After our second break, Alex began having problems with her boots, and we had an extended rest to tend to blisters and hotspots. Chava and Enrique set a pace for themselves ahead of the group, in order to get to the hut and get water collected and stoves going for dinner and hot drinks.

Before long, we had regained the altitude lost from the trailhead and continued upwards above the vegetation line. Taking a break just above 14,000', the trailhead was still visible far in the distance to the south. To the north, the climbers' trail could be seen winding through the rocks and traversing across a scree slope in the distance. For the first time in a couple days the wind had subsided a bit and it was warm! Hiking steep trails with heavy packs, everyone was working up a good sweat. I was definitely feeling the effects of the altitude, too. As we continued climbing, the thin air was becoming more obvious and my breathing more labored, even with the deliberate rest-step pace we were keeping. Luckily my appetite wasn't suffering, as I took every break as an opportunity to mow down whatever I dug out of my pack. Luckily, I knew I'd need a lot of sustenance (being a big guy), so I had a lot of provisions to work with.

Finally, we turned a corner and there was the hut! Not much more than an industrial-grade shack bolted to the mountain, but still a very, very welcome sight! The sun was starting to get low in the sky, so the most immediate order of business was to get the tents set up. Rather than try to cram everyone in the hut, we decided to go ahead and use our tents since it was dry and calm. Our porters helped out tremendously as we all discovered that even the relatively tame act of pitching a tent was now a much slower and more laborious undertaking at 15,400 feet! By the time the sun set, we had camp established and were feasting on yet another excellent pasta dinner. Eric gave us a briefing for tomorrow's summit attempt, which would entail a steep climbing traverse of the Ayaloco glacier, followed by a traverse of the summit ridge all the way to the high point at about 17,300'. After the days' hike, though, we had another team member decide that it was time to bow out. Alex had too much foot damage from the hike in to high camp and didn't think a summit bid was a good idea. She volunteered to simply remain at camp tomorrow while we tried for the summit, and then climb down with us when we broke camp. So our summit group was down to six - myself, Owen and Dale were the clients, our guide, Eric, and porters (who were also seasoned climbers, in case that wasn't apparent) Chava and Enrique. We all turned in early for a 2:00am wake-up.

On to day 5...