It's the morning of Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015, deep in the Via Rica National Park in central Chile.

Nestled against the Argentine border in the foothills of the Andes, the park sprawls across 630 square kilometers of rugged wilderness and encompasses a dazzling variety of scenery.

Verdant forests carpet the lower slopes,

while the high inclines are home to dramatic stretches of rocky plains, meadowland,

and a trio of spectacular snow-capped volcanoes.

Normally this place has a striking otherworldly beauty, but not today.

A thick gray veil of ash has shrouded the landscape,

leaching it of color and obscuring any distinction between the earth and the sky.

This is the lifeless aftermath of an explosive volcanic eruption.

It is totally silent.

Nothing moves within the dead, drab expanse.

Until something breaks the stillness.

The distant sound of footsteps. A moment later,

a weak beam of light pierces the darkness, illuminating the powdery ash that falls from the

heavens like dirty snow. Two men stumble out of the monochrome haze, following the weak shaft

of light cast by their headlamps.

With their shirts tied tightly around their faces, all that's visible of their eyes.

Encumbered by their bulky rucks, 25-year-old Jeff Bryden and 24-year-old Aviv Bromberg

pick their way over the uneven alien terrain.

Jeff squints through the gloom, trying to spot any indication of the hiking trail.

But it's near impossible.

It was almost like a submarine in the blackest depths of the ocean.

...