Chimborazo...High in the Sky, Apple Pie Hopes

The entrance to reach the refuge.

At the end of each quimester (made up word... "Semester"), we take a well-earned break. The last two years, my parents and their spouses came to visit, giving me an opportunity to revisit places in or around Quito, Otavalo and Mindo. In the first year, we had two consecutive weeks so I ended up going to Panamá with Kara and her friend, Boxer. This was my first quimester break without visitors. (Mind you, my only visitors so far were my parents and their spouses. Do I need to guilt trip some of you to visit me? Ecuador ama la vida!) This break, I had to dig a little bit for motivation. It is so easy for me to tell myself I am going to stay home during breaks, especially when I get the apartment all to myself. This doesn't make for good stories. If I were to write about these times, the entries would read something like this: 

I woke up at the same time I do for work, but without an alarm. After trying to fall back asleep for an hour, I decided to slowly prepare myself to leave my bed. Two hours after waking up, I rolled out of bed to make coffee. It took me 45 minutes to leisurely finish one cup, so I made myself one more. By this time it was after 10 AM, too late to go to Mr. Bagel to buy a variety of bagel flavors I am craving. Instead, I put on a show from either Netflix or my iTunes account. When the show finished, I took a two hour nap. When I woke up, the clouds were rolling in and I never want to get caught in the rain... It is impossible to find taxis or not get crushed in a bus when it's raining. After doing some things around the apartment, I decided to take another nap. Then it was time for dinner, followed by episodes from another show and finally bedtime. 

Chimborazo

Thrilling, huh? I know it seems like I am always up to some adventure or another, but I have a perfectly "normal" life in Quito. So this break, I broke from routine. Yeah, I did have to finish grading and complete assignments for my master's program. But I knew I had to do something. With two, maybe three, pages left in my passport and saving them for a potential Central American or Caribbean trip for Semana Santa, I decided that I haven't seen enough of the beautiful country in which I live. Kara mentioned to me a few weeks back of a tour she did around Riobamba. It involved biking down Chimborazo. This inactive volcano happens to be the highest point in Ecuador and the furthest point from the center of the Earth. Had it not erupted (either 1,500 or 15,000... I was distracted when the guide was talking about this) years ago, it could have been the highest point in the world. But then it blew its top off, so thats another thing Ecuador isn't known for. Seriously, this is a beautiful place, and terribly underrepresented. Except for that terrible Ricky Gervais and Eric Bana movie (Special Correspondents). I laughed when they made it from (what seemed like) Esmeraldes to Quito in less than a few hours. I wish. (On a serious note, what do I have to do convince friends to come here!?) So, as stated before, I went to Riobamba to bike down Chimborazo. 

Geologic history of Chimborazo's eruptions

I had been in contact for a couple of days with a company that operates biking tours down and around Chimborazo, called Pro Bici. I 100% ENDORSE AND RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY! I also plan on taking some friends who are leaving Ecuador after this school year to do this adventure. It was worth well-over the $60 cost for this particular route. If you want information about their tours (because they do much more than just biking down Chimborazo. That just happens to be their most popular trip), open the link above and contact them. Not only were they quick to respond, but they were friendly and thorough. I felt like I was well-informed for this trip.

Vicuña

Right before going to the operator's office, there were no other people registering to do this trip... and then one of the operators emailed me stating that there were a couple of Germans in the office. By the time I reached it, there were six people total getting information to do this trip. It was a truly international experience-- three Germans, one French, and one Swiss. And of course Ecuadorians. After fitting the equipment, we got a list of supplies to purchase/bring along and some safety information. In all, it took a couple hours to complete all of this so I returned to my hotel (Hotel Montecarlo) and got some shuteye because I was going to be picked up around 7 A.M. to make the ascent to the refuge. 

Snow on Chimborazo

We began the ride at Carrel refuge at 4,800 m (15,744 ft.), but hiked up to the Whymper refuge at 5,000 m (16,400 ft.). It is rare that I feel the effects of altitude in Ecuador anymore, and this was one of those times. Along the hike, I was the closest to snow than I'd been in at least a year. (I'm not counting when I went to Colca Canyon because I was in a vehicle as we passed snow). Deeming it too cold to stay up there, I ventured back to the Carrel refuge. As I made it down, our driver/guide Fausto passed me. He was carefully picking up trash on the way up that had been tossed by visitors. Now, one thing that we were told during the safety briefing the previous day was how Chimborazo was a god and it will grant safety to those who pay it respect, humility and reverence. Fausto and my other traveling experiences inspired me and I began picking up as much garbage that I saw. It was a lot and it was saddening. If there is something I care about more than education, it is the environment.

Chimborazo opened the sky for us.

If you recall, I biked Death Road in July 2015. That ride was definitely more immediately life-threatening... but Chimborazo was hands-down more dangerous. The ride is mostly off-road, but did involve paved roadways a couple of times. Of the off-road portions, a lot of it was a combination between sand and loose rocks. Rocks, not gravel. This first section of the ride has only been open for about six weeks, and it was an honor to be have access to this trail. However, the substrate alone posed great challenge, resulting in me falling off my bike twice. BUT, I wasn't the only person to fall! I saw at least two others fall once each. You can see three of the falls in the video below:

This ride was incredible. While Chimborazo hid behind clouds most of the time, it did reveal itself to us near the end of the ride. The entire time we were biking down between the refuge and entrance, we were engulfed by clouds / fog. As we reached the entrance, the sky opened up to give one of the most beautiful sights in my entire life. Continuing down the volcano, we rode the old access road to the refuge. On this path, we crossed with many vicuña, a much more elegant relative to llamas and alpacas. We passed a cliffside that used to be home to Andean Condors (Nido de los Condores), an old barracks that were "conquered" by the Incas about 50 years before the arrival of Spaniards (el Cuartel de los Incas), drink fresh Chimborazo mineral water from a spring, and through farming communities.

Vicuña on Chimborazo

This trip also restored my faith in humanity and other tourists. After the ride, we returned to Riobamba. One couple (the Frenchman and one German) met with me to get dinner and drinks at Heart Rock Bar, modeled after Hard Rock Cafe. It was so nice to have good company and a unique adventure.

A section of an old Inca Fort

I did not stay around Riobamba very long, but I look forward to returning. And the invitation to return remains open.