Ecuador: Grom & Team Ready for Cayambe Summit Bid
Hello again everyone,
All is well here in Ecuador. We had a slight technical issue yesterday which delayed our ability to send a dispatch.
So let me bring everyone up to speed. Yesterday we checked out of our warm and comfortable hacienda and made our way to the famous Otavalo market. It's the largest market in Ecuador and one of the largest in all of South American. The team spent a few hours negotiating the endless maze of goods for sale and worked on our bartering skills- some did better than others. :)
After everyone satisfied their shopping desires we headed uphill towards Cayambe, our first major climbing objective. The road to Cayambe is long, rough, and an accomplishment in itself. We were amazed that our bus was able to make it so far on what is clearly a 4x4 road. There were several times I was sure the mud was going to win, but somehow Hector, our daring driver was able to make it through. We hiked the final hour to the hut at Cayambe to help with our acclimatizing and spent the remainder of the evening relaxing.
Today the team woke early with a big breakfast and plenty of coffee. We then hiked up to the start of the glacier which is about an hour away, and spent a few hours refreshing our skills for tomorrow's climb. While out on the glacier we were not only amazed at the beautifully clear day, but also incredibly lucky to see a condor soaring not far away! Once back at the hut we reviewed the plan for the upcoming climb and got everything packed up and ready to go. A special thanks to Leon for whipping up one heck of a nice meal for everyone.
The team is off to bed now as we are waking early for tomorrow's climb. Wish us luck!!!
And one more thing... Keep your cell phones handy tomorrow morning. One lucky trivia winner will be making a satellite call from the summit if all goes well.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
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Comments (4)
Good luck tomorrow! Sending good vibes from Cali. Go Dale!!!
Love, Erin
Posted by: Erin on
So glad you all had good weather today! Hope it continues on for the summit!! Glad to see an update and that besides updating the blog there haven’t been any other issues! Keep on keeping on!
Posted by: Liz on
First snow is now falling here in the mountains of Oregon….covering the ground and trees, bringing thoughts of Cayambe. Happy trails, clear focus, big smiles—- Onward and Upward Team!
Posted by: Blythe on
Good luck team! May you all dream big and climb high.
I’ll have my cell phone on Doug. ;)
Love, Belladonna
Posted by: Donna on