From here, you imagine that if the mountains and clouds weren't there, you have the feeling that you could see forever.
One of the few planned activities on our journey to Ecuador was to tour the Parque Nacional Cajas (Cajas National Park). We had originally planned to hike the Cajas on Thursday, September 4th. But while taking the city tour via double decker bus on our first day we both got a little winded climbing stairs due to the 8,000 ft. elevation of the city. In the Cajas we would be hiking in the 13,000 ft. range, so we decided that we would need to wait until towards the end of our visit to give ourselves time to acclimate to the over mile and a half high elevation. You've heard Denver referred to as "the mile high city". Well, Cuenca is at an elevation over 50% higher than that.
The Cajas was certainly on our "don't miss" list regardless. But for a few days the hike looked to be in jeopardy. Not due to the lack of acclimatizing, but you'll remember that Jana twisted her ankle a couple of days after we arrived in Cuenca. While many days she wouldn't admit how much it was aggravating her, she soldiered through the pain. We made every effort to keep her off her feet as much as we could to give her ankle time to rest. Each time we headed out in the morning to walk the city, which as you've seen was a lot, we wrapped her ankle in an Ace bandage. Each night when we returned for the evening, we iced her ankle to reduce the minor swelling, nursing the ankle along in an effort to make sure we could hike the Cajas in just a few days.
Finally, on Wednesday this week, we felt like the ankle had healed sufficiently to commit to the hike. So we stopped by one of the local tour companies, Terradiversa, and made our reservations for the hike the next day, Thursday, September 11th, which was the last day possible for us being that we were leaving on Friday. At a cost of $50 each for an all day group tour with an English speaking guide, that also included lunch, we felt that was a pretty good deal.
We were picked up at our apartment yesterday at 8:00 a.m. by our guide, Javier. He said that we were the only ones on the tour today, so as it turns out we had a private tour. Javier is a very nice and knowledgeable young man who graduated in tourism from the University of Cuenca two years ago. He aspires to own his own touring company some day and I suspect he will be very successful in his endeavors. As we drove up to the Cajas, only a 30 minute drive from Cuenca, he explained the ecology of the Cajas to us. He told us about the four different forest zones found in the park and some of the negative effects the non-native trees have had on the native plants.
Our hike would be split into two parts. First, we would hike for approximately an hour and a half around gorgeous lake, of which I didn't catch the name. On the site was an abandoned beer distillery that had provided Cuenca with libations for over 100 years. To reach this part of the park we traveled on the same 150 year old cobblestone road we had been on earlier in the week when we visited the condo development taking place just outside the park. From this point, I will merely let the pictures do the talking. But keep in mind that the few photos below are a mere smattering of the near 400 photos I took on our trek and whittled down to a little over 200 edited pictures to be posted on my Google Plus site. If you like what you see below I strongly encourage you to click here.
The toughest part about this blog entry is selecting the photos to share in the blog itself. I have skipped so many incredible pictures to this point in the journey I again ask that you click on the link above to see the full breadth of what we have experienced. Here are a few more to whet your whistle.
I experimented some with the macro setting on the camera, as was demonstrated in the yellow "shoe flower" above. As we left the setting of the first hike at 3,100 meters or just over 10,100 feet elevation, we got back into the car and headed up to an elevation of approximately 3,900 meters or 12,975 feet. That's where we began our second hike, which last approximately 2 hours, took us over 4,000 meters (13,125 feet) and traversed a landscape like no other on Earth.
Consider the fact that it is just over 40 degrees Fahrenheit and we are merely 40 miles west of the Pacific Ocean and only about 150 miles south of the equator. However, we are at an elevation of 13,000+ feet. These three forces combine to create one of the most unique settings on planet Earth. Just think of yourself being in a desert, that has an abundant supply of water, in a soil so rich it could essentially grow anything, but an elevation that keeps the temperature so temperate that growth is stunted. It is a truly remarkable place!
To warm the bones before the hike, of course I had to have some Ecuadorian coffee!
As you can imagine, the plant life here is like that you have never witnessed, and likely won't unless you visit the Cajas. Our guide informed us that there are at least 19 plants that are endemic to the Cajas alone.
The plant above blooms only one time in it's 20 year life span. Once it blooms, it begins it's decline, as witnessed in the photo above.
Like all wonderful things, even this magnificent outing had to begin to wind down. As we headed back towards the park visitor center, we saw some of the wildlife that call the Cajas home.
And as with any good play, you expect an encore.
From there we descended back down to 11,000 feet where we feasted on our almuerzo of the day, fresh trout from the Tomebamba River, the freshest of water that originates in the Cajas National Park. We dined in a unique setting as well. Enjoy....
Fortunately, that wasn't to be our last supper. But it's very hard to even continue from here, as to relive the experience is simply that overwhelming. The trip to the Cajas was extremely moving and one of those pinnacles in life you are able to experience only on rare occasions.
However, I still owe you a report from our relaxing day the day before our trip to the Cajas and I dare not skip over our redux of Fabianos (remember incredible pizza from the last report) for our last supper in Cuenca last night. But, even beyond that is the setting from which I type this very blog post. We had no idea, but sans Cajas, we may have just saved the best for last. Stay tuned!
Hasta Manana!
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