Close to Heaven

Close to Heaven
Originally uploaded by S Hall.

Recently Stan, Landon and Dana Howard (another Nazarene missionary) hiked up to the crater of the Pinchincha Volcano. In this picture you can see that they are literally standing on the top of the world!
They were able to drive much of the way, though the road gets narrower and steeper as it climbs higher. After parking at a refuge, they hiked to the crater’s edge, a 15,777 foot (4,781 meter) summit. They were able to look down into the volcano and see smoke coming from it.
Because the atmosphere is almost non-existent, Stan had a terrific headache when they went back down the mountain. And Landon was pretty cold. All in all, though, it was an incredible journey to the top of the world! Landon kept some lava rocks as souvenirs.