5 miles up, and 2 to get back down…
At least that was how my grandfather would state it, when he had to hike up a mountain; and that was exactly how it felt on the last camping trip. We started the day by taking a taxi for about an hour to get to a town called Vilcabamba. We then took another ride to the base of the mountains.+013.jpg)
Starting off wasn’t really that terrible actually, we were all in good spirits, and full of energy. The hike was amazing, and at many times I was reminded of when I was back in Vail, Colorado backpacking the “back country” (as the Coloradoans call it). Unfortunately we didn’t see much wildlife except for an amazing view of a hawk riding the winds of the updraft on the mountains, soaring effortlessly, though other than that maybe a few cows, a couple donkeys, and an ankle biting mutt (that talked a lot of talk, and had the worst case of Napoleon complex).
About midway through the hike, was when I started to feel it. The never ending UP over the many mountains, the weight of the bag, and the constant sun all took its toll some. There were many times when a few of us had to stop and take a breather at the end of a switch back. (Ps: For those of you who may not know, a switch back is a trail going side to side up a mountain, instead of having to go straight up.) Fortunately we brought quite a bit of water for the day… unfortunately water weighs a lot! A necessary trade-off though.
5 hours later, a little bruised, burned, but for the most part in good shap+015.jpg)
e we made it to the cabin. It was quite the sight for sore eyes, and much better than any of us expected. The cabin had a full sized living room, a kitchen with a dining area, and a second floor with enough rooms to fit 10 people comfortably. The cabin also had electricity, and a propane stove (the only thing it was missing was running water, which we took care of by going to a nearby stream fed by a hidden waterfall). As we were all getting settled in, it happened, the few storm clouds that had taunted us towards the end of the hike hit without warning, drenching everything for almost the entire night. We missed getting soaked by 30 minutes. I would say it rained like cats and dogs, but you never see cats around Ecuador… so it rained like dogs for hours.
The next morning we all got up and had breakfast and coffee, spent some time together, and started to clean up for the hike back down to the base of the mountains. W+009.jpg)
e left around 12:30pm, and started the slippery trail back home.
At least that was how my grandfather would state it, when he had to hike up a mountain; and that was exactly how it felt on the last camping trip. We started the day by taking a taxi for about an hour to get to a town called Vilcabamba. We then took another ride to the base of the mountains.
+013.jpg)
Starting off wasn’t really that terrible actually, we were all in good spirits, and full of energy. The hike was amazing, and at many times I was reminded of when I was back in Vail, Colorado backpacking the “back country” (as the Coloradoans call it). Unfortunately we didn’t see much wildlife except for an amazing view of a hawk riding the winds of the updraft on the mountains, soaring effortlessly, though other than that maybe a few cows, a couple donkeys, and an ankle biting mutt (that talked a lot of talk, and had the worst case of Napoleon complex).
About midway through the hike, was when I started to feel it. The never ending UP over the many mountains, the weight of the bag, and the constant sun all took its toll some. There were many times when a few of us had to stop and take a breather at the end of a switch back. (Ps: For those of you who may not know, a switch back is a trail going side to side up a mountain, instead of having to go straight up.) Fortunately we brought quite a bit of water for the day… unfortunately water weighs a lot! A necessary trade-off though.
5 hours later, a little bruised, burned, but for the most part in good shap
+015.jpg)
e we made it to the cabin. It was quite the sight for sore eyes, and much better than any of us expected. The cabin had a full sized living room, a kitchen with a dining area, and a second floor with enough rooms to fit 10 people comfortably. The cabin also had electricity, and a propane stove (the only thing it was missing was running water, which we took care of by going to a nearby stream fed by a hidden waterfall). As we were all getting settled in, it happened, the few storm clouds that had taunted us towards the end of the hike hit without warning, drenching everything for almost the entire night. We missed getting soaked by 30 minutes. I would say it rained like cats and dogs, but you never see cats around Ecuador… so it rained like dogs for hours.The next morning we all got up and had breakfast and coffee, spent some time together, and started to clean up for the hike back down to the base of the mountains. W
+009.jpg)
e left around 12:30pm, and started the slippery trail back home. 
