A recent five day holiday led us to venture out to the mountains near Quito and attempt a route we've been wanting to do since last year. The video below chronicles our 4-day trek through the Andean páramo of Ecuador.
It was planned to be a 5-day guided trek with a horse carrying the heavy food, but ended up a solo 4-day sprint when Don Carlos dropped the ball in El Tambo. ("You mean you were serious when you called me a week ago [and confirmed yesterday] to reserve a horse and guide...??") We had to ditch our plans of a luxury trek and embrace the unknowns and emptiness of the backcountry.
Lost trails, waist-high Andean grass, marshes, bogs, and river crossings ensued.
We made the full distance a day shorter and unguided and only got caught out twice by freak electrical hailstorms on the last day.
Rewarding and beautiful but not to be repeated any time soon.
(Watch the video on full screen if possible)
Ruta del Condor - November 2011 from Devin Carlson on Vimeo.
Friday, November 11, 2011
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