A Quick Update (with some plans for the next couple of weeks)…

I don’t want to take a bunch of time on this one, but, I wanted to post something about what we have been up to, what we are about to be doing, and when I may actually get some new posts in here.

To start with, as you may know, we are in Quito, after being at the beach for a couple of months.

What I haven’t filled you in on is that we just took the best hike I have ever been on. We took three days to complete the hike, over five days, and we were kinda way out there, so I haven’t really had the time to edit photos and videos and start writing things up yet.

I wanted to start writing it up, but ran out of time because we are about to leave on another excursion… this time into the Amazon.

Starting this evening, we will be eight days paddling and boating upriver on the tributaries in the Amazon basin from somewhere near Cuyabeno over to the Peruvian border.

I do not believe we will be well connected during this trip, so I will try to get some writing started about our hike after we return on the 10th of April.

In any case, I would like to share a few photos of this unbelievable hike before we leave.

It was a few days of walking, each day straight downhill into a valley, across a river, then straight up the mountain on the other side of the valley. Three days of this, for a total of twenty-three miles, and a total elevation gain of 8,150 feet. The whole thing was up and down from 9,000 feet to 13,000 feet, ending at the Quilotoa crater rim. It was in the Andes, South of Quito, and it was worth every step and every relentless climb along the way.

Absolutely beautiful.

The morning of day one (we were still looking pretty fresh).

Behind us is the first valley we would descend into and cross the river to climb all the way up to the top of the ridge on the other side at 10,000 feet.

This was the easy day.

This was half way into the brutal climb on the second day, again after descending deep into the valley, crossing the river, then climbing all the way back up the other side.

This time to 11,000 feet.

This was just one of the beautiful canyons we crossed on the way to the crater rim on the third and final day (you can actually see the rim at the top of the horizon in the photo). This was the longest day, but the two descents into valleys and the nearly 4,000 feet of elevation gain was not as bad as day two.

The scenery was as breathtaking as the altitude the entire way (we have been living at sea level for the last decade, so not in the best shape for this).

Anyway, the crater lake at the top of the volcano was the goal for the entire hike of the Quilotoa Loop Trail:

Absolutely gorgeous.

I took this from the crater rim, at the town of Quilotoa, at 12,700 feet. This was the morning after we finished, and the play of light and reflection on the water was stunning.

So, as not to give away too many spoilers about this amazing experience, I will stop here.

I will be putting together a few posts about our time up there as soon as we get back from sweating it out in the rainy-season Amazon.

Until next week…