Yesterday when we were without Jens and had only a short time to do an outing because we slept in, we went up the Panecillo, which was fun. We drove up, which means we didn't test our lungs and legs, but we didn't get mugged either - one of the chronic threats in that part of town.
The Panecillo is a hill in the middle of the Quito valley. It used to mark the southern end of the city, but now is quite centrally located. On top of it is an interesting statue, which was put up in 1975. The angel is standing on some strange snake/crocodile/dog creature on top of the world.The view gave us all a reminder of the different landmarks Quito has. Here we are looking northward.
Today, we were more ambitious. We left at 10:30 a.m. for Cerro Ungüi, which is at the southern end of that huge mass that is Pinchincha Mountain. Ungüi is a mountain in its own right, in my opinion (and that of my legs, this evening), regardless of its name being "cerro," which means 
hill. We found the trailhead despite the distraction of hundreds (thousands?) of people who were celebrating the Fiesta of St. Francis right at the saddle in the road where our trailhead was. This picture shows only the crowd on the west side of the saddle.Anyway, Caleb and Natalie encouraged me enough that all 3 of us made it to the top, which was just over 12,000 feet above sea level (we started at about 10,000 feet). The views from the Ungüi trail and mountaintop were fabulous - of the city of Quito on the east, of the picturesque valley with the village of Lloa on the right, and of the ever-changing mountains and light above us on the huge mass that is Pichincha Mountain.
Quito to the east:
The valley with Lloa to the west:
Pichincha above:
It was steep sometimes:
We made it to the top!
Now we're all very tired and wishing we had a nice bathtub to soak in. But we're happy.-Spee
No comments:
Post a Comment