In the very early morning the clouds were enveloping the mountain refuge and it looked like we wouldn't be able to climb our second mountain, eight pairs of eyes kept on looking out of the window and suddenly as if by magic all the cloud lifted and we saw a very different scenery from the one the night before - it had snowed heavily in the night and we had a clear view of Iliniza Norte. The hut became a hub of activity and we got to know better the other 4 climbers than with their dog had arrived in the middle of the night.
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| Pampa fully kitted to climb up the mountain |
When all of us got ready, including the dog we set off together. Snow makes the mountain more technical and we agreed that we would stick together. The views from the saddle between the two Ilinizas was fantastic. And we were even able to see the summit of Cotopaxi who has been playing hide and seek with us for days.
After such nice clear start of the day the cloud came down and together we scrambled tithe summit - Pampa in spite of his short legs made it first (I suppose having 4 puts him at an advantage!) The comradery in the summit was really special - all of us felt a real sense of achievement.
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| Iliniza Norte the one we climbed |
We climbed down keeping close together because the cloud got even thicker, rested a bit in the hut and continued down with Lindsay and Rene who offered us a lift to Quito. We drove in the middle of torrential rain and got the warmest of welcomes from Luis our lovely host. Our day finished with a meal in a restaurant with the most amazing views of Quito
We were more than half way through our challenge: we had climbed two mountains and cycled over 150 k through one of the most remote areas of the country.
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| Iliniza Sur |
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| The climb |
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| The cross in the summit |
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| Quito at night |
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