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Published: February 24th 2007
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Our Goal
To climb this volcano. Yes, it almost looks like a volcano. That's because it is one. Well! Pierre (guy from Peterborough) decided that in his last few weeks in Ecuador that he’d like to climb a volcano. Not one to say no to an adventure, I willingly said sure, let’s do it! So, we asked around for the best volcano to climb, and settled on Imbabura, a mountain just outside of Otavalo, just about 2 hours from Quito.
After a usual Friday night of debauchery, we headed, rather late, to Otavalo. The bus picked up its regular assortment of roadside people along the way, of course making it seem like hours to get out of Quito (we were glad we had seats) and arrived to Otavalo around noon or so. Had a bit of an energy lunch, which was no more unusual then just some almuerzos (set lunch), and hopped in a cab, telling him we were on our way to the lustrous peaks of Imbabura! He, of course, was a bit confused as to why we wanted to do this, but was able to suggest a starting place that he thought would work. He dropped us off and we started our assent.
First we had to walk through some fields, careful of course
Bag in tow...
Got me my shirts, pants, and tent.... not to disturb any crops, and got some weird faces from the farmers, all friendly, but a bit perplexed. It was quite warm when we started. Remember this. The mountain also looked quite devoid of trees and anything more than just tall grass. Remember this too. We took it easy, but did remember that we had started late (around 2) so had to keep a keen clip if we were to make it to the top by nightfall. The incline became increasingly steeper and it was then that we encountered the bramble and then the forest of bramble. It didn’t appear this way from the bottom. We navigated our way through this mess, coming out with scratches and packs a bit worse for wear. No fear, we trundled upwards. It was nice to reach the end of the tree line, but not so nice to discover that when there are no trees, and when you feel like you’re almost going up vertically, it’s nice to have those things to hold on to!!
So, finally we reached the top (4609 m), out of breath and after passing some grass that looked like it had been recently burned (?), pretty well
Pierre Strips Down
It was hot at the bottom, especially going up. Going up makes us heat up! as the last light was dwindling from the sky. Exhausted, we found a suitable place for our tents, set them up, and got some dinner ready. It was so very cold. Only about 7 in the evening, but without the sun, the wind was piercing indeed. We didn’t even wait for our rice to cook, we had to eat it pretty raw and crawl into our sleeping bags.
I had set up my tent on top of the mountain, Pierre, being smarter, set his up in a valley of sorts. My tent was then subject to the fierce wind which prevailed all night long. It was a terrible night. My tent felt like it was going to collapse in on itself and it was so loud (I was using a cheap tent covered in a very noisy tarp) that I hardly slept. When I did, I dreamt about either suffocating or the cast of Friends singing songs from Rent. All very weird and a bit scary.
Up the next morning to a beautiful day. I was able to catch some sleep in the morning, so all was OK. We wandered around on the top of the mountain for
Unexpected Bramble
This patch was not visible from the bottom, luckily, there was *sort of* a trail cut through it... a bit, saw some spectacular views of Lake San Pablo and the area, then decided to head down. Down is much easier. We were able to slide for the first bit on the long grasses (incredibly fun) and avoided most of the forest of bramble. Back to Otavalo for a victory lunch complete with Pilsener, the Ecuadorian beer (very light). All in all it was a test of our wills, but an absolutely phenomenal time. I had a blast and would do it again!!
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yoyo
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it was soooooooo amazing to have such tough adventure with your tent!! please say hello to him (or her?) and praise his/her nice singing and the hard-work all night long~~ hahahaha~~~