Brad attempts to hike up a mountain, weather ensues...

So this is a little story of four young American students (Brad, Suzanne, Tyler, and Nathan) who went out for an adventure on July 3rd, 2009. The Friday morning started off just like any other as the students attended school in the morning absorbing all of the knowledge their teachers bestowed upon them. When school ended for the day, four brave young soldiers made a pact that they would reach the top of Rucu Pichincha (4680 meters). Knowing the journey was not for the weary, the group decided a little carbo-loading at the pizza place down the street would give them the necessary fuel to propel them to the summit. Brad ordered a 12-inch pepperoni pizza that only cost him $4.05...awesome.

Now that the crew was ready to go they strapped their boots tight and paid the $8 each to ride the TeleferiQo, a lift that took them up the first 2.5 km. After an exhausting 10-minute ride the group took a few minutes to rest, as they knew the second half of the mountain would be slightly more difficult than the first.

Round trip for ¨fit walkers is estimated at roughly 3 hours. After the first hill, Brad began to wonder what qualified as a fit walker as he lay in the grass out of breath. The altitude was devastating but it was no match against the determined youth. They pursued on and walked for almost 45 minutes when a group of ominous looking clouds began to move toward them. Before they knew it, the group was inside of the clouds. Unforgivingly the clouds rained and hailed on the now soggy four. Knowing the weather was extremely volatile the group tried to hike through it, but after 15 minutes of freezing weather and poor visibility they headed back. After a very cold 20-minute walk back and a 10-minute ride down the group enjoyed the sunny city as they watched the storms continue on the mountaintop. When Brad arrived home he took an equally cold shower and then ate hot soup. The end.