Hello from Expedition Skills Seminar Ecuador. Today we finally packed our duffels, checked out of our nice hotel and headed for the mountains. It may sound a bit confusing that we stood in ankle-deep snow yesterday at 15,200 feet but weren't actually "in the mountains". Strangely enough, yesterday's mountain took ten minutes by taxi to get to followed by two hours of hiking. Not exactly the adventure one thinks of when breaking the 15,000-foot barrier. Today was a different story. By 8:00am, we were packed and ready to load all 22 duffel bags into Victor's magic bus, point that thing north and drive for three hours toward a large concentration of volcanoes which includes the 19,000-foot Cayambe, famous for being the only location on the actual equator to hold year-round snow. Things started smoothly, picking our way slowly through heavy Quito morning traffic. By 11am we had reached our turn off in the renowned market town of Otavalo. From the main road our plan was to turn off and head up a large extinct volcano to a beautiful crater lake and then hike 2,000' to the sharp summit of Fuya Fuya. Two miles up the road we ran head on into a sign that read Detour! We quickly asked another driver what the road was like and he responded by saying no big buses could make it to the lake. With some quick phone calls, a bit of luck and some willing participants, we hired two 4x4 trucks, loaded them full of 12 climbers and powered upward. Thirty minutes later we arrived at Laguna Mojando. From the lake, two hours of strenuous hiking brought us to our first Ecuadorian summit. We had light rain and distant thunder but overall very pleasant hiking conditions. The team did great sticking together reaching the summit in very good style. Although this summit was only 14,000', we still felt the strain and know it will play an important role in preparation for our bigger objective starting tomorrow. After the hike our trucks returned and carted us back to town where Victor and all of our things were waiting. Once regrouped, we drove directly to the "House of Sun" or Casa Sol, where we enjoyed learning knots by the fire and had a fabulous traditional Ecuadorian dinner. Reports keep coming in from the higher mountains of deep snow and abnormally bad road conditions. We have plans around these challenges but it should keep things interesting. Stay tuned for what's to come...... Everyone sends their best to loved ones back home. Buenas Noches, RMI Guide Adam Knoff