Day Five: Laguna Cuicocha Hike - Continental Divide
Up one level

Day Five: Laguna Cuicocha Hike - Continental Divide

We spent the day hiking around this beautiful crater lake, then enjoyed a homemade picnic of pesto pasta, roast beef, empanadas, cerveza, and fresh fruit! Afterwards we drove along a winding back road up across the Ecuadorean continental divide along the eastern range of the Northern Andes (Cordillera Orient).

IMGP7723.jpg

Pilsener is one of two local Ecuadorean cervezas, the other being Club. But since a grande Pilsener (750 mL) only cost about 85 cents, why order anything else?!

IMGP7728.jpg

On a journey to visit friends...

IMGP7731.jpg

Hola, mi amigos!

IMGP7734.jpg

Laguna Cuicocha, a crater lake at 10,638 feet near Cotacachi Volcano.

IMGP7743.jpg

IMGP7747.jpg

IMGP7753.jpg

Yes, there will be a lot of crater lake photos :>

IMGP7754.jpg

This is a live fence. The posts actually take root after being set, and grow into trees.

IMGP7757.jpg

This bird is carrying something in its beak. Hopefully not a mouse.

IMGP7765.jpg

IMGP7768.jpg

IMGP7771.jpg

IMGP7779.jpg

IMGP7783.jpg

IMGP7791.jpg

IMGP7795.jpg

IMGP7796.jpg

IMGP7801.jpg

IMGP7802.jpg

A tree covered in bromeliads and epiphytes.

IMGP7805.jpg

IMGP7806.jpg

IMGP7818.jpg

IMGP7819.jpg

IMGP7822.jpg

IMGP7825.jpg

IMGP7829.jpg

IMGP7830.jpg

IMGP7834.jpg

IMGP7835.jpg

IMGP7838.jpg

IMGP7840.jpg

IMGP7841.jpg

IMGP7842.jpg

IMGP7845.jpg

IMGP7847.jpg

IMGP7852.jpg

IMGP7853.jpg

IMGP7857.jpg

IMGP7859.jpg

IMGP7868.jpg

You can see the path along the crater lake ridge.

IMGP7870.jpg

IMGP7871.jpg

IMGP7877.jpg

IMGP7882.jpg

IMGP7885.jpg

IMGP7888.jpg

IMGP7890.jpg

The clouds in Ecuador are amazing! Especially in the highlands where one side of a mountain will be dry and the other wet like a sponge catching all the rainfall to funnel it into the Amazon basin.

IMGP7891.jpg

IMGP7892.jpg

IMGP7893.jpg

IMGP7894.jpg

IMGP7903.jpg

This little piggy... (and friends)

IMGP7912.jpg

Taking the higher back road over the mountains. Below is the main highway primarily used by the oil companies. One of Ecuador's largest exports is refined oil piped from the highlands down to the coast.

IMGP7918.jpg

Flat Stanley at the Continental Divide at about 13,000 feet! Sandy and Toby helping Stanley to create one trickle of water that will run west to the Pacific and the other east to the Amazon and, ultimately, the Atlantic.

Up one level

Copyright © 2012 by Giselle Hicks & Bill Ross

http://gisellebill.org

All rights reserved