Muddy Brook in Ecuador: Laguna Cuicocha and Cotacachi

I arise for breakfast and the promised info on how to get to Cotacachi, possibly with the jaunt to the "Crater Lake". Adriana is giving info and advice out to two other solo travelers, Sarah from D.C. and Lisa from Austria. Sarah did the lake the day before and has a bit more touristy advice than I could stomach. She had a personal driver. She recommends the little boat ride on the lake because the hike is too tough. Adriana does not recommend going on the hike alone, so Lisa and I agree to pair up.

As we walk to the bus station, we see this example of Ecuadorian fast food, "comida rapida".

It is a bus to nearby Quiroga, and then a camioneta up to Lake Cuicocha for $5. The driver is not to happy about all the gringos buying up land in the area and driving up the prices. He says they have their own condo complexes and restaurants. "Los gringos le han jodido al pueblo indigeno"

There is a little welcome center that is not staffed. No info on the hiking path at all...but some background on the geology of the lake.

And here is the topography...

Up we go...the lake is named for the shape of the larger island, which looks like the guinea pigs they consume so much around here: Cuy.

The views in all directions keep getting better, but of the four volcanoes, Cayambe, the snow-capped one never came out of the clouds.

There go those little tour boats that Sarah went on, out of their little tourist trap spot on the other side!

The high spot of the hike is about 3700-3800 meters. I have finally aclimatized. Lisa has youth on her side and is doing well, even though she spent the last several months on the coast. In Salinas de Guaranda, this altitude hit me hard and this hike would not have been possible for me.

Apparently the boats stop at a spot where you can see gas bubbling out of the water, though this is considered a "dead" volcano that has not errupted for a few thousand years.

Here is the high spot, about half way around (4hrs total)

Views. Cayambe is slightly visible in the cloud, but don't waste your time looking.

You can see the path we traveled...

So...Are these eggs next to that hole? Maybe a lizzard or a snake layed them and moved them into the sun to incubate?

Alpine grazing...looks like Austria

Lisa's camera shows the altitude in meters as we descend

The terrain is changing

The terrain and vegetation keeps changing and we enter into a bit of pine forest. Looks like Maine!

You have to walk about 2 km on the road at the end of he hike, but a cab appeared and there was a Belgian couple about 50 meters behind us, so we all piled in together and headed to Cotachi for lunch, a well-deserved beer and a look at the leather shops for which Cotacachi is known. Christo and Margo were in-between Med School and residencies and travelling for several months. For Margo, Spanish was the easiest common language.

That is Margo with the green hair

Cotacachi center...not much was open for a late lunch. We finally ended up in the Restaurante Tourista, which had no gringos in it, all local families. Garlic Trout and a dark beer hit the spot.