Ecuador day 4: We'll be comin' athirdoftheway around the crater when we come!

We woke to a bright, clear, and very cold morning. It gets pretty chilly out here, although we can't figure out why because it's almost 1,000 meters lower than Quito. There's a little woodburning stove in our hotel room and it was definitely running last night. I had three thick blankets piled on top of me, although I shucked a layer sometime in the night. The stove was wonderful, but we've been sneezing soot all day. Worth it.

We breakfasted and prepared for the hike, packing and getting water and a snack fof the trail. We each got a packet of Q'chifles, slices of fried plantain. They're like potato chips, but thicker and sturdier. Absolutely delicious.

Then we headed to the lake. It was a beautiful morning, partly sunny and bright.

Laguna del Quilotoa at 8:30am on a Monday. Pleasantly empty.

And it was time to begin the hike. It took a little bit of work to find the trail, but we eventually did and began walking. It was pretty nice for a while, just a little bit of up and down following the ridge. We were right on the ridge for a lot of it, which was great for views.

The gorgeous scenery wasn't just lakeside; looking the other way was pretty neat too.

Through dumb luck, we visited this place at just the right time of year; there were wildflowers everywhere! As we started out, they were mostly all yellow, but when we got a few miles out they became predominantly pink and white. Maybe it had something to do with the direction the slope was facing. In any case, the place was covered in color.

TOO MANY PRETTY FLOWERS

There was a neat wooden viewing area partway around the crater, close to some sort of resort/lodge thing. We paused there for several minutes, enjoying the view and the chance to sit down. Then we forged on until we got to the beginning of the climb to the tallest point around the crater. The trail just follows the ridgeline, however steep it goes (I'm starting to wonder if it's just Americans who like switchbacks). We unfortunately didn't have much time before we needed to head back to catch the bus to Guaranda, so Patrice decided to head back to the viewing area. But I really wanted to see the top of the mountain. I pushed hard and went into book-it hiking mode, which is actually pretty fun. 

The problem with this particular bit of the crater is that it's got several false peaks. I kept thinking I was almost there and then finding out that I needed to go another hundred feet or so. Then that wasn't the peak either. I vacillated several times about whether I should just turn back but it was almost a race now and I wasn't going to back down. 

The trail up. That little rocky bit up top was my goal.

Until I got to what I thought was the top, that is. I reached the outcropping I was sure included a bench and some sort of "Yay,  you did it!" sign, only to find that the actual highest point was another half mile down the road. I swore at it a couple of times, rested for a few minutes, and headed back down. 

The actual peak; you can just barely see the little sign at the top. Jerkface.

Ah well; there was some pretty neat stuff to look at from the second-highest point on the crater anyway. 

Looking out from the rim: flat flat flat CLIFF

I met back up with Patrice and after a brief respite to snack and relax we headed back towards the hotel. We had lunch, grabbed the rest of our stuff, and discovered that the bus had already come and gone. However, plenty of people are willing to take people down to Zumbahua (which has more regular buses) in their trucks for $5, so we did that. We caught the bus to Latacunga and hopped off at the Pan-American Highway. They have a really cool freeway interchange here, instead of the cloverleaf so common in the States. It's a really big roundabout on top of the freeway. From there we caught a bus to Guaranda, which took about three hours. I was getting pretty stir-crazy by the end, but it felt so good to finally hop off in the town and walk to Patrice's home. After a nice dinner we settled down for the night.