I wake up and wipe hundreds of dead black flies off the side of my face. I feel around for my phone to check the time; it’s 5 AM. It's time to get up; I have a long day ahead of me. I’m disappointed to hear raindrops hitting my tent. I crawl outside my tent wearing my eyeglasses and underwear only.

I am climbing up a volcano at an altitude of 19,500 feet. It is 3 AM. I haven’t slept in 21 hours. My guide and I are the only ones on the mountain. The only sounds I hear are unobstructed whistling winds and crunching into the glacier from my crampons and ice axe. The only sights I see are what my headlamp illuminates, mostly the rope connecting our two harnesses