Entries from Ecuador
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Today we left the busy city and headed north to continue our acclimatization and experience some of Ecuador's wonderful culture.
Our drive north took us to the small town of Tabacundo were we turned off the highway and drove up a cobbled stone road to the base of our next hike. Our hike for the day was the beautiful Cerro Fuya Fuya, which is large grass covered mountain with a small rocky summit that overlooks a small lake. Although Fuya Fuya is considered a small mountain here in Ecuador it is nearly as tall as Mt. Rainier, but not nearly as tough. Today's climb took just over 3 hours to reach the summit and make it back to our vehicles and everyone did great. Thankfully we timed it perfectly, because no sooner had we arrived back to the cars then the rain started to fall.
We quickly left the trailhead and headed for our new home for the night at Hacienda Hosteria San Luis. San Luis is nestled in between our first climbing objective, Cayambe and one of South Americas largest markets, Otavalo. Normally we would spend the day exploring the grounds of this working ranch, but the rain is still falling and now we are relaxing, listening to the frogs croak and enjoying the peacefulness and the warmth of the fireplace. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and I'm sure are looking forward to a nice meal and a good night sleep.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Hola from Ecuador. We started our day with another bountiful and colorful breakfast this morning. The main dishes varied from yesterday's breakfast. Eggs, sausages, and mini breakfast burritos were the main attractions. Rounding out our breakfast of yogurt, papaya, mini pastries and once again fine Ecuadorian coffee. After breakfast we loaded the taxis and shuttled over to the teleferico ( or the gondola ). Which was a short 10 minute drive from our hotel through the bustling streets of Quito.
The hearty breakfast was put to good use today as we had our first day of beginning our acclimatization with some physical activity. We rode the teleferico to about 13,500 ft. We then began our 3.5 hour hike up Rucu Pichincha. The weather and temperature for our hike could not have been more pleasant. We had some clouds in the area which helped to keep the temperature moderate. We all agreed that it felt splendid to stretch our legs and most importantly work our lungs, breathing hard as we hiked to nearly 15,500 ft. Conversation throughout the hike was animated, as we hiked through varied terrain of lush vegetation and some fun rocky terrain. The view of Quito throughout the day gave us an appreciation of how big this city of 2.2 million people is.
We returned to our hotel in the afternoon for a few hours of free time to relax, explore local culture and prepare for our departure from Quito tomorrow morning. Dinner tonight was filled with laughs and great conversation. We are all back at the hotel this evening preparing for a good nights rest feeling satisfied with the day, looking forward to tomorrows adventures.
RMI Guide Jason Thompson
Hello Everyone and welcome to RMI's Ecuador Expedition 2011.
The entire team safely arrived last night and headed straight to our nice hotel, Hotel Mercure Alameda, to get a little rest after the long flights. We started today with a huge Ecuadorian buffet breakfast full of delicious breads, pastries, fruit, juices and washed it all down with plenty of coffee. After filling our stomachs we sat down for a round of meet and greet that included an orientation and overview of the program ahead.
Just after 10 a.m. we headed out the door on our city tour of Quito, starting off with a visit to the colonial old town. We were lead by our local guide Jorge though the narrow roads with stops at the Basilica, church of La Campania (built in 1605), the monastery of San Francisco (built in 1535) and a visit to Independence Square to see the President's Place. Next up was a quick stop atop the Panacilla which is a small hill overlooking Quito with a 200' statue of the Virgin of Quito. The views where wonderful of this 2 million-plus city. We finished the tour by heading a little to the north to stop and visit both hemispheres at the Equator from where Ecuador gets its name. It was fascinating to see the Coriolis effect in both hemispheres with different results in just a few feet. It made believers out of most, but I hear there are still a few skeptics among us.
We headed back to our hotel for a quick gear review and a little shopping before dinner and have now returned to catch a little shut eye before tomorrow's adventure.
All is well and everyone is excited to be here.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Charles,
Have a great time. I’m posting the blog!
Debbie Growe
Posted by: Debbie Growe on 12/5/2011 at 10:10 am
Spencer, looks like a great group of people. Have fun, be careful and make sure you don’t get too “hangry”.
Ti Amo.
Karen
Posted by: Karen Geiger on 12/2/2011 at 7:59 am
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
What a wonderful adventure we have had here in Ecuador.
We woke last night to a beautifully clear and warm night. With all of the weather we have been having we were quite surprised to see a sky full of stars. We had our standard morning breakfast of not so delicious oatmeal and washed it down with some nice coffee. We left the hut with many other teams trying to take advantage of the exceptional weather.
The route from the Refugio (climbers hut) was full of surprises nearly the whole way to the summit. With crevasse crossings, steep slopes, and even a snow/ice tunnel to negotiate, the most exciting part for the team was climbing down into and then back out of a crevasse in order to continue on the route. Even with all of these obstacles, the route took us just over 6 hours and we stood on top of Cotopaxi around 7:15am with barely a breath of wind. It was so clear we could see all 10 of the 15,000' mountains in Ecuador. Having no wind and warm temperatures allowed us to linger on top for nearly an hour without getting chilled. Then it was back down to the hut to pack up and leave before the daily hail/thunderstorm moved in. We arrived back in Quito and have just finished up our last supper and have said goodbye to our team mates.
Thanks for following and we'll see you next time.
Team Ecuador
Casey called this morning from the hut after a successful summit of Cotopaxi! The team is packing their gear and will be back in Quito today.
Congratulations to the team after successful summits of Cayambe and Cotopaxi!
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Hola from Ecuador,
We woke up to a beautiful morning with beautiful views of Cotopaxi. We hung out at the Hacienda Chilcabamba, enjoying the breakfast and the sun. We began the drive up to the parking lot, running in to a crazy hailstorm, thunder and lightning, and TONS of people. The National Park is only an hour from Quito and is a popular weekend getaway for the locals. Our driver, Victor, worked his magic with the bus and got us all the way up to the parking lot in the snow. We then had dinner and hung out in the hut this afternoon.
Everyone is settling in to go to bed now. The team is psyched to get up and climb in the morning and is psyched to have guide Jaime Avila come climb with as well. We will be climbing tonight and hope to be checking in from the summit tomorrow!
RMI Guide Maile Wade
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Buenas noches from Hacienda Chilcabamba.
We just moved into our rooms after enjoying a stunning sunset on the drive out into the campo [wilderness]. The hacienda sits right on the edge of Cotopaxi National Park, and with any luck we will get a view of where we hope to stand in a few days.
Today was the big market day in Otavalo, so we braved the crowds and headed into the thick of it. The theme of the day was bargaining, and everybody had a chance to practice their Spanish in order to come away with some authentic souvenirs.
The team is well rested and excited for another climb. We'll check in tomorrow from the Cotopaxi hut.
RMI Guides Casey Grom & Maile Wade with the Ecuador Team.
Success! That's right we did it even despite the adverse conditions we have been experiencing. The weather has been less than desirable. However when we woke this morning we were greeted with beautifully clear skies. After a quick breakfast, we walked out into a calm Ecuadorian sky that spanned from the Big Dipper to the Southern Cross, one of the few places on earth you can see both. Our climb started up a rocky buttress before transitioning onto the glacier, and we enjoyed the warm night after our last few days in the snow and rain. The climb went rather smoothly and we reached the cumbre, or summit in English, just after 8 this morning. The climb took just over seven hours to reach the top with mostly low angle snow climbing and a few steep pitches to keep us on our toes. Though we walked for some of the morning in a cloud, the weather cleared just briefly as we crested the summit, allowing us views of the Avenue of Volcanoes that spans Ecuador. We could even see the Amazon!!
Currently we are rejuvenating here in La Casa Sol just outside Otavalo. Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to resting.
Missing all of our families and most of our friends. Hasta manana!
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Congrats! Brian looks so happy! And cold! Have fun on Cotopaxi! Jealous & missing my ChoOyu team! cs
Posted by: cs on 7/30/2011 at 8:47 am
Congrats, team!! So glad the weather semi-cooperated!!!
Enjoy the break before Cotopaxi!!!
Posted by: Dana Marie Buchanan on 7/30/2011 at 6:23 am
Yesterday we made our first big jump to altitude, from sleeping at roughly 10,000' to 15,000' and everyone seemed to handle it quite well. It's a good sign that everyone is acclimatizing.
Today we were greeted with moderate winds and blowing snow. Not what we were hoping for but we'll keep our spirits up regardless. We spent a little time outside today reviewing some basic climbing techniques to prepare us for tomorrow's summit attempt. We mostly enjoyed the comforts of the hut here on Cayambe. It's more of a house than a hut and sleeps about thirty climbers. It has two small kitchens and most importantly, indoor plumbing.
Everyone is doing great and are anxiously awaiting tomorrow's summit attempt. If all goes well we will try to leave here early in the morning and hope to reach the summit just after sunrise.
Keep your fingers crossed and wish us luck!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Thinking about you. Cheers for a wonderful adventure. Be safe. See you when you get back.
Posted by: L on 7/28/2011 at 7:35 pm
Hello, this is Maile and Casey checking in from Ecuador and the climber's hut on Cayambe. Everyone is settling in for a good night sleep at 15,500 feet. This morning we woke up to a beautiful morning at the Hacienda San Luis and had a leisurely morning down there, we drove in to the town of Cayambe and had a local lunch before heading up to the mountain. We were able to drive up to 13,500' before the road become too rough for the vehicles. We then walked up to the climber's hut. Everyone is doing well, it is a beautiful night and we will check in again tomorrow and we hope everyone is doing well back at home!
RMI Guides Maile Wade & Casey Grom
Load up on Snickers, Swedish fish and whatever they are serving. Remember there are TWO summits this trip. Know you are very well prepared. Praying for good weather and be safe. We are anxious to hear about it. Kathryn
Posted by: Kathryn on 7/28/2011 at 1:49 pm
Hope the Snickers hold out! Wishing you much love and good luck. Renee
Posted by: Renee on 7/28/2011 at 11:36 am
Lauren
Félicitations!
Excellent travail, je suis très heureux pour vous et pour l’équipe!
Gatorade est impressionnant:)
Posted by: Timborazo on 12/5/2011 at 12:51 pm
So Spence, I spent the day raking leaves… not sure it compares to yours. First summit bid tomorrow?
Posted by: Scott Arnold on 12/4/2011 at 4:44 pm
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