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Published: August 9th 2007
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The milkvan...
unloading the bikes as we arrived at Piemonte Who´d have thought it, snow on the equator. But yes, it exists - you just have one hell of a long slog to reach it!
The day started very very early (for me at least - I had only just got used to being at the schools for 7.30!). We had to collect the bikes and be at the bus stop in Cayambe by 6am for the one and only bus that goes to Piemonte (a good chunk of the way to the base of Volcan Cayambe). However, we got there to find that the 6 am bus had in fact come and gone at 5.30! Luckily for my poor wee legs, Oswaldo (my Ecuadorian "father") knew the score and we were able to hitch a lift on the milk van (which drives up through the communities in the hills picking up buckets of milk from each family - the milk goes to cheese and yogurt factories and the communities share the proceeds). So with the bikes strapped precariously to the side of the van, and standing among tubs of milk, we wound our way up the bumpy road to Piemonte.
From there we were on our own -
On the way to volcan Cayambe
looking down towards Piemonte with the bikes, but they weren´t a lot of use as at this point they were more of a hinderance than a help - the steep road and the altititude made it virtually impossible to cycle. So we slogged our way up the hill for 2 1/2 hrs, stopping to admire the views and wildlife and eat lots of chocolate (well, I was burning it all off!)
At that point a camioneta appeared and we took the wimp´s option and hitched a ride up the last section of the journey to the climber´s refuge at the foot of Cayambe. It may have been an easy option, but since it saved us a lot of time we were able to climb a bit of the mouintain from the refuge, which wouldn´t have been possible otherwise. The climb was a bit difficult as, by this time, we were at around 4,000m and the terrain was steep and a mixture of rocky and sandy ground. It was also cloudy so I was wondering if it all would be worth the effort. When we reached the top of this section, and arrived at a flat area where the equatorial line passes, it was
Snow!
Oswaldo with our snowman still completely clouded over, and we could see little more than the remnants of snow at our feet.
As Oswaldo had never seen a snowman (muñeco de nieve) before, I decided to make one out of some of the snow that was lying around. Very small but it was a snowman and I can now say I´ve made a snowman on the equator, at 4,200m. Oswaldo also now knows how to make a snowman - just in case he feels like climbing the mountain again in the near future!
Suddenly the cloud cleared and we had an amazing view of a small but crystal clear lagoon below. I ran down to get some photos before the cloud came over again, and it really was beautiful. Looking up you could see the snowcoated upper section of Volcan Cayambe (well you still couldn´t see it all because of the cloud, but enough to fathom how immense it is, nearly 2,000m further up).
After lunch in the refuge, and a short camioneta ride down a dodgy steep and muddy section of road, we descended on bikes. The rocky road was bumpy but otherwise it was an easy ride, making up
Snow!
Me with our snowman for the hard slog earlier in the day. We eventually emerged from the cloud that had enveloped the Volcan and arrived in a sunny Piemonte. From there we took a different, very peaceful and less bumpy, road back to Cayambe, winding through valleys and farms and woods, and with a few tiring uphill slogs (but this time possible on the bikes as we were "only" at about 3,000 or so metres in altitude).
In all a great day, but very tired after 12 hours of walking/climbing/cycling. From what I saw there is a lot of potential for tourist activity here, but it´s yet to be exploited (a good thing in some ways, as the roads and trails were quiet, but a bad thing as there isn´t a reliable bus service to get anywhere near the refuge, and if it wasn´t for Oswaldo I would never have seen or done half of what I did today).
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