Cayambe Hut, Thursday January 12

We drove up to Cayambe Hut which is around 15,000 feet high. It was a long bus ride up to a turn around spot where we had to hike up the last 2 miles. The 4x4 took all our gear up so Gary and I had a nice leisurly stroll up to the hut. We had some food and then we did a little rope tying practice which was fun. After dinner we all went to bed in anticipation of hiking to the glacier the next morning to do some crampon practice. Around bed time, it seemed that everyone was feeling a bit of the altitude with small or large headaches and dizzyness. Around midnight I got really sick and made several visits to the toilet to throw up. Jose said to let him know if any new symptoms showed up so I woke him up. Several more visits to the toilet and a massive headache and I started hyperventalating and had maybe a panic attack of some sort (ok, so I freaked out gary). Jose said I had to go down now. Gary also had a huge headache and decided to go down to the Hacienda as well. On the drive down Jose started getting sick as well. Also the other guide was sick and the guaridan of the refuge also got sick. We all noticed a strange smell and we realized that they had treated the floors with some sort of sealant that we think was the cause. Jose had everyone come down the next day so that they wouldn´t have to breath the fumes anymore.