Archive for November, 2014

Ecuador Day 5 – Imbabura Summit Rim (14,764 ft)

Monday, November 24th, 2014

Imbabura Map
The Map

Rafael, Tilden, and our Perra
The Approach

Imbabura View in the Morning
The View

Clare Near Imbabura Summit
What I Thought Was the Summit!

Our next mountain, Imbabura, is the prominent mountain of Otavalo. According to Yossi Brain, “A large hill with a long walk up it, Imbabura is good for acclimatization and fitness.” I have to agree. The route we took ascended 3,905 ft and took us just over 4 hours to accomplish. At the time, I thought it was the summit, but later we figured out that we were on the summit ridge (since it’s a volcano, it’s not obvious if you’re in a cloud, to see the highpoint!). (more…)

Ecuador Day 4 – Fuya Fuya (13,986 ft)

Sunday, November 23rd, 2014

Fuya Fuya Map
The Map

Fuya Fuya Trail Head
The Trail Head Signage

Mojanda Lake
Laguna Mojanda

Guide Rafael Testing Tilden's Vital Signs
Rafael Checks Tilden’s heart rate and blood oxygen saturation.

Clare on Fuya Fuya Summit
Banana on the summit!

It was our first day of acclimatization, so Rafael selected Fuya Fuya, which means Cloud Cloud. It is a 13er just about 45 minutes drive from Otavalo. It took us 1 hour and 40 minutes to get to the summit, from Lake Mojanda. This is excellent time as it’s ~1700 ft of gain. (more…)

Ecuador Day 3 – Quito to Otavalo

Saturday, November 22nd, 2014

Rafael and His Truck
Our Guide, Rafael, and his trusty truck!

On Saturday afternoon, I met our mountaineering guide and driver for the week, Rafael. He is short, probably 5 feet tall, but with broad shoulders and calf muscles the size of my thighs. Within the first 30 minutes of our meeting, I was informed that he had summited Everest twice, Manaslu once, and Denali eight times. It was an impressive resume. He explained to me that he also does personal training and fitness coaching, along with running his guide service. He trained in Chamonix and he happens to have climbed Cotopaxi over 670 times! We were in good hands and I couldn’t wait to climb some mountains!

Our first order of business was to went to fetch Tilden at the airport, then we would travel straight to Otavalo. It took us a couple hours to reach Otavalo and we stopped once for coffee and biscochos (like biscotti). I was so excited to see Tilden and we were both equally stoked to be climbing mountains in Ecuador.

The Famous Otavalo Market
Craft Market in Otavalo, Ecuador

Transporting Goods at Market
The vendors routinely carry these bags to and from the market to the trucks for transport! It probably weighed 400 pounds and I couldn’t even lift it an inch!

After the craft market, we met up with Rafael for dinner and then walked around Otavalo. It would be an early start, for our hike up Fuya-Fuya, so we didn’t stay out too late.

Ruminahui Commemoration
Tribute to Ruminahui

Ecuador Day 2 – Quito Walking Tour

Friday, November 21st, 2014

On my first full day in country, I decided it would be cool to do a walking tour of Quito. It wasn’t until the afternoon, so I had plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely morning. Around 9am, I went downstairs to check my email using the hotel computer and I met a nice 20 something named Adam, from Perth, Australia.

Adam was about to start a 55 day tour of South America and had the morning free, while he waited to meet up with his tour group. So, we both decided to grab some coffee and walk around a bit.

San Francisco Monastary
The San Francisco Monestary

Enjoying a Break on the Steps of San Francisco Monastary
On the steps of the San Francisco Monastary

San Francisco Square
San Francisco Square

Commercial District Workers Protest
On our walk, we ended up in a square where there was a demonstration by a united group of workers who were on strike from their jobs in the commercial district. (more…)

Ecuador Day 1 – Denver to Quito

Thursday, November 20th, 2014

Tilden and I had been talking about climbing some mountains in the Alps. When we started looking at the pricing, we decided to switch to Ecuador. From Tilden’s work at the travel agency in Boulder, he knew quite a bit about the trip and set us up with some good rates on a fully guided tour. So, we made the deposits and before we knew it, it was time to climb!

At the Houston Airport
Here I am waiting for my flight to Quito, at the Houston International Airport. The flight to Quito was 4.5 hours, so I made sure to eat a good meal before I got on board.

When I arrived in Quito, it was very late at night. I had arranged for a driver to pick me up and take me to the hotel San Francisco. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the hotel. The drive wasn’t bad, but the old road was chewed up in many spots. The driver assured me that by next year, they would be opening up a direct highway from the airport to downtown Quito, which would have brand new roads!

Hotel San Fransisco
The Hotel San Francisco is a charming hotel right in old town Quito. It has a lovely garden patio area with lots of plants and flowers. It also had 2 computers with internet for use by the guests and wi-fi for those with their own devices. (more…)