Entries By 12/2019

We said goodbye to Quito this morning and made our way north out of the city. Patchwork buildings turned to patchwork farms and lush green at every turn. We eventually made our way up a cobblestone road to start with our day’s objective - an acclimatization hike on Fuya Fuya. Our arrival on the shores of Laguna de Mojanda had everyone excited to get out of the bus and get moving. We hiked for the next couple hours through the tall grass accompanied by our local Ecuadorian guide, Pablo, and found ourselves perched on the eastern summit of Fuya Fuya feeling strong at almost 14,000’. The clouds and rain were kind to us on our ascent as we took in some amazing views of the lake and surrounding hills. The rain finally caught up with us, but only briefly as we made it back to our shuttle only a little damp and headed downhill. We’re now enjoying hacienda life tucked into a eucalyptus grove in the hills above Otavalo. Tomorrow we’ll visit the most famous Indian market in Ecuador to explore and shop, then point our shuttle southeast in the direction of our first big objective. The team is feeling strong and excited to make the switch to climbing mode. We’ll check in again tomorrow from the lower slopes of Cayambe! 

RMI Guides Mike, Jess and Team

On The Map

This is Mike checking in for the Ecuador Team. Apologies for missing yesterday, we just had to much fun getting to know each other and walking around Quito. We went to the equator and watched a bunch of parlor tricks relating to the Middle of the Earth. We also learned about the art of Amazonian head shrinking. We concluded the day walking through the beautiful streets and plazas of Old Town which was built in the mid 1500’s.

This morning we met up with one of our Ecuadorean guide,Pablo, for an acclimatization hike on Rucu Pichincha. We rallied up in taxis to the teleferico (gondola) which takes you to 13,500’. The views of the greater Quito valley were spectacular. From there we hiked to 15,700’ and got some views but we were mostly in the clouds with cool temperatures. The goal today was to stretch the legs and lungs a bit and just get out to see the beautiful Ecuadorean countryside. The trail wandered through grassy slopes and a lot of flowering shrubs.

Everyone is back at the hotel for some rest and packing. We will head out tomorrow for another day hike and travel towards Cayambe for our first climb of the trip. Thanks for following along

RMI Guide Mike King

On The Map