south for winter: 2011

Friday, November 11, 2011

Ruta del Condor

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.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

spring training

Well folks, here we are in summer again. Time for a little wrap-up of the spring shenanigans and a preview of what's to come.

Perfect morning for a hike in the Andes

The rainy winter months finally gave way to summer in May but not without leaving their mark on Quito. Around these parts they say abril, aguas mil. Our building got pretty well flooded after a strong storm cell moved over the city one afternoon leaving heaps of hail clogging the drains. The garage got filled up and the storm sent a torrent through the apartment on the first floor. Luckily we weren't too affected aside from being without the elevator for a few weeks.

Our vecino surveys the flood

During the months of May and June the DandO show trained for a big end of the year hike up the glaciated peak of Volcan Cotopaxi. We thought a 6 hour slog to the top of an active volcano in the dead of night would really cap off our first year in Ecuador.

Volcan Cotopaxi at sunrise

Training included several day hikes at high altitude, preparing our legs and lungs for the climb to 20,000 feet. We endured a fair number of cold stormy days, but were also rewarded with some amazing views.

DandO near the summit of Imbabura. Weather = not ideal.

Looking down the south face of Pichincha to the town of Lloa

Volcan Chimborazo behind Illiniza Sur

Our final training hike was to summit a neighbor of Cotopaxi called Illiniza Norte (5126 meters, 16,818 feet). We spent the night at a quiet hacienda at the base of the mountains and were treated to some amazing views of the setting sun on Cotopaxi. Our 5am wakeup call came too early, but the day dawned crystal clear and the light on the Illinizas was amazing.

Sunrise on the Illinizas

The hike was a pretty brutal climb up the foothills and along a knife-edge ridge of decomposing rock. We got turned away about 20m shy of the summit because we weren't about to risk it all by scaling a crumbling rock wall with climbers above us sending down loose rocks, all the while the weather deteriorating. 20 meters, close enough? Although the morning was crazy clear, afternoon thunderstorms rolled in rapidly during descent, leaving us cold, soggy and running for the safety of our jeepcito as lightning and thunder crashed right above our heads.

Looking up the approach to the Illinizas with the fullish moon setting behind them

View from the car after narrowly escaping an electrical storm while descending Illiniza Norte

Unfortunately after all the preparation for Cotopaxi we were blown off the mountain by a blizzard on the night we were planning to summit. Although the evening started out nice, by 11pm the storm had blown in and was worsening. Wind pushed the tent down on top of our heads and snow began to bury us. We tried to hike in the hopes that the weather would improve, but after a few hours of 'fun' we decided to pack it in and head down. We'll probably try to make another run to the top during the dry months at the end of the year. In the meantime, we've certainly learned something about the power of a storm at high altitude.

Looking down into the valley from Cotopaxi as the afternoon clears

so when they say it's a 3-season tent, blizzard season apparently isn't one of the 3

The hiking party reaches the snowline on the way back home after a failed summit attempt

On the professional side of things, Devin is enjoying the summer break that comes with being a teacher again, while Oriana is busy as ever with a new work gig. She recently signed on as the jefa of operations for The Andean Collection, a new york-based fair trade accessory exporter. Her days are spent in the rural town of Otavalo, working with indigenous artisans and managing the supply chain for 8 workshops making jewelry, hand woven belts and scarves, hats, etc. So far it's been a ton of work, but she's well on her way to implementing organizational management systems that will allow her to return to her training as a high-mountain guide... at least on the weekends.

While in Otavalo recently we were lucky enough to join the village of San Rafael for the start of their Inti Raymi celebration, the festival of the sun celebrated during the June solstice. One of the artisans that Oriana works with is from the town and he invited us to join in on the fun during a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Tons of food, sweet booze, and traditional music was on offer. All was well until one of the horsemen in the parade fell off his horse because he was too drunk to ride. Did the wild west have that problem too?

this guy started early

O and Armando, artisan of bullhorn, wood, and tagua jewelry and belt buckles

Que rico!

13 piece band and the master of fireworks

This spring we also had our first visitors come test out our guest suite. Family friends Judy and Larry added a mainland stint to their tour of the Galapagos and we had a chance to take them out to the mountains and hot springs nearby.

Judy and Larry on the Cayambe-Coca hike

Judy and Larry at Laguna Cuicocha

May also marks the annual celebration of Devin's birthday and this year we did it up right. With 30+ people in our house we sort of forgot to take photos during the festivities, but this is how it started out.

Apartment ready for the party

D's birthday present - any 32 year old worth his age needs to have a full size barbeque on the porch

We'll be in California during July and August and will post our summer cell number on the blog once we get it. We're looking forward to seeing family and friends and enjoying dark beer and burritos again! Keep in touch and we hope to see you soon!

Here are a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure

Sunset on Cotopaxi from Hacienda San Jose

The hacienda dog. For whatever reason there was no way to pet this dog on the head. She'd just roll over and look at you with those eyes that said, "come on, just rub my belly."

The traditional Coraza parades through San Rafael

This little man has some big fireworks

You've got to get up pretty early in order to cook food for the entire village over a wood fire in a pot that could fit a pony

D has Spanish class on the porch with Cris. Not a bad classroom.

D got roped into a dance with these little local ladies. Songs lasted 20 minutes and were accompanied by obligatory shots of sweet wine.

Our Cotopaxi guides David, Andres, and Juliana ("chuta! pana! me cachas?")

Ecuadorian coastal paradise. This shall someday be the view from our beach house.

DandO glacier school

O gets ready for glacier school. Pockets full of high energy snacks.

A lovely evening in Quito

O climbs for a view from the coastal jungle

DandO enjoy a weekend sunset

Monkey in the trees

Ecuadorian coastal version of a U-Haul

Small but perfect waves

Cotopaxi base camp, 4800m. This was the best weather we got.

View of Illiniza Sur from the false summit of Illiniza Norte. We probably should have turned back at this point while the weather was still nice and there wasn't the risk of being pumelled by falling ice and rocks.

Cotopaxi! That's where we're going next weekend!

Check out the scale of Illiniza Norte. You can barely see two people along the ridge at the bottom left side of the picture. Inmenso!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

surf splendor

Ok people, this is another installment of our periodic plugs for the maravilla that is Ecuador, and its developing tourism industry. Come see the magic before it gets crowded and expensive, my friends.

Previous posts have focused mainly on the Andes, but the coast of Ecuador is quite nice as well. Especially when you happen to time it on a perfect swell, idyllic weather, and a personal holiday that makes for a 3-day weekend at the beach.

It was yet another weekend that made us feel grateful to live in this amazing country, where one can drop from 10,000 feet to sea level in about 4 hours. Not bad for a country where 4-lane highways don’t really exist (yet). Ecuador is a fantastic place to travel, especially since it can be done well on a teacher's salary, supplemented by health research and freelance. It’s certainly better than we could be doing in the States right now. How’s that California State budget coming along anyhow?

Our favorite beach destination/surf spot. Want to know where it is? Come visit.

So we spent the weekend at a point break perfect enough to rival Pleasure Point, with the added bonus that this spot has warm water, minimal crowds, mellow locals, and a sandy bottom. Sssh! don’t tell. With three peaks to choose from, surfers self sort according to ability and time since last paddle-out (months, in our case). All the ripping surfer locals headed straight for the barrels at first peak, leaving Oriana happily solita on the inside with steady sets of waist-shoulder high rollers that matched her 9’2” tank quite nicely. It didn’t turn worth a damn, but with two paddle strokes she was jammin down the line. Devin called the board the Wave Hog, although technically there wasn’t anyone around to hog from.
S-t-o-k-e-d! (¡estoked! en español)

Blanquita discovers her new identity as surf wagon

Devin, meanwhile, was out at second peak, avoiding the rocks and crowds at first peak and consequently surfing a continual supply of head-high waves without sharing. All to himself! A ray even jumped out of the water right next to him to say hello. Beautiful waves, a mellow scene, and a $6 plate of 2 dozen shrimp just steps away. What more could you ask for?! All in all, fue completamente perfecto.

Ecua-skin. This is what three days of surfing in the equatorial sun will do to your epidermis. Euw.

D waits for his rum batido/surf recovery shake at Negrito's

O takes down the liquid gold. Looks like that guy in the background had a few as well.

As an aside, did you know that Ecuador is one of the world’s top shrimp producers? Unfortunately, the industry has caused the destruction of extensive mangrove ecosystems, but regulations have prohibited the construction of new shrimp farms and there are the beginnings of a trend toward organic shrimp farming within existing mangrove estuaries. Other exports include bananas, cocoa, cut flowers, fish, crude oil, and tourism. You should be especially concerned with that last one on the list. Ecuador is classified as one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries, and is most certainly the smallest of the lot. With an area comparable to the state of Oregon, you can actually experience the megadiversity within a two-week vacation. I’m telling you, it is a gem of South America.