something about it

A day to remember,

A few miles away from Polylepis Forrest, Carchi, Ecuador

0.171°0′0″S 78.598°0′0″W

It has been a long time! I apologize for the wait, but here is a worth-reading post. In my last post, I promised that I won't write again unless I finish one of my books in two weeks (I know, I'm a slow reader). I did accomplished the goal so here I am.

A lot of things have happened since I wrote last. Here is my favorite though. A few days ago, a friend and I decided to climb a dormant volcano in Quito. It's name is Rucu Pichincha and it's just outside the capital city. The province, Pichincha, is named after these stratovolcanoes. The adventure started at 8 am with a ride in the Teleférico (cable car) that took us from 2.950 mts to 4.050 mts over the sea level (9.678 ft to 13.287 ft). Riding the cable car makes you wonder how long it used to take people to get up there without the cable car!

Once we got up there, and after some stretching with our hiking crew, we were off to the top. You can see many dormant volcanoes throughout the hike, including Pasochoa and Pululahua. The amazing sight of the city is definitely another reason to visit, even if it's just to the cable car station. You realize how big the city is when you see it from that height. Here is a picture:

South side of Quito with Pasochoa in the background

Rucu Pichincha viewed from the trailhead

It took us about four hours to get to the top, taking into account long rest stops. A member of the crew got altitude sickness too, so we had to hike slower and take extra breaks close to the top. Most of the way up was easy but steep, with only one technical climb (which could have been avoided) in the whole trip. The view from the top was great and made the hike worth it. You could see Mojanda to the North, Quito to the West, Guagua Pichincha (currently active) to the East.

View from the top

Two teams excited to arrive to the top!

View to the North

Our way down. Two teams combined.

Thanks for reading :) I'll make sure to post again when a new adventure presents. Blessings!

P.S. These are the books I've finished lately. I recommend them:

The Happiness Advantage- Shawn Achor

The Power of Habit- Charles Duhigg

The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho

Cotacachi y Cuicocha

Life is a marvelous gift.

Sometimes people, situations, events, make you think otherwise.

Life gets complicated. You make mistakes. People fail you. You fail. You get distracted of what really matters.

But past is past, and a new day always comes to give you a new chance.

A new opportunity to be better, and grow.

Fly higher than you did before.

For that and more,

I thank you God.

I haven't been able to travel as much as I wanted since I arrived home. I dislike making excuses, but it has been a little rainy lately. But the summer is around the corner and I am training hard so I'm prepared for the season.

I have gone in a couple adventures though. The first one was in Quiroga, a town situated about 50 minutes from home. There is a beautiful lake formed by volcanic activity named Cuicocha. The lake itself is the crater of a volcano called Cotacachi, which is still active but with little activity for thousands of years.

Here are some pictures:

Cuicocha

Cotacachi Volcano

It was an easy but great hike. It took us about five hours to complete and we were able to see Ibarra (my city), Otavalo (very famous city), Imbabura Volcano and even San Pablo Lake!



Then, a couple weeks ago, my twin brothers and I decided to go in a crazy adventure on a rainy day. This time we went to Mojanda Lake, located 35 minutes from Otavalo. This is also a lake formed by strong volcanic activity that took place thousands of years ago. We hiked a mountain called Fuya Fuya. It's a three-hour hike and even though it was rainy and cloudy, we all enjoyed. The trip definitely left us wishing for warmer and sunnier days, but the views were still great. Here are a few pics:

Mojanda

Hike up to Fuya-Fuya

Ruben and Ricardo at the top. Needless to say, we will be back in the summer. 

I'll be posting more as time goes!

Thank you for reading!