Fuya Fuya

I spent the day in the clouds.  Literally, I was between 12 and 14 thousand feet completely engulfed by clouds.  We decided that another adventure was in store for Saturday, so we packed up our rain gear and our camping gear and called a cab to head to Lago Mojanda.  Above the lake Fuya Fuya calls to be hiked.  1800 feet in 1.2 miles.  Now that's some elevation gain when your end summit is at 14,000 feet, but damn does it feel good at the top.  Well, it feels good until the hail/ snow mixture hits.  Although we were shooting for the longer hike, taking the saddle to the peak of Mojanda, we used our better judgement against the class 3 scramble in a hailstorm up slippery volcanic rock.  Instead we headed back down the mountain, sliding down some of the steep and muddy chutes, voluntarily or not. 

Next came our first Ecuadorian camping experience.  Oh yeah, as stated previously, it's the rainy season.  Luckily, we positioned our tent on thick enough grass that the water wasn't seeping in through the bottom.  Unluckily, we positioned our tent on thick enough grass that it was impossible to find a position that didn't have some sort of lump digging into some part of the body.  Once it got dark around six, Goldi and Aaron decided that they weren't going to risk the effects of elevation, and popped half a diamox to fight off insomnia.  I held true to my "screw you I can sleep anywhere" attitude and held strong, no sleeping pad and all.  I'll admit, it was somewhat of a restless night, but after about 12 different sleeping positions and 10 sets of generally goofy dreams morning hit, and morning at Lago Mojando is worth a restless evening.  Photos of the outing below.

Fuya Fuya

Lago Mojanda with Cerro Negro

Cerro Negro

If I was a mule, I'd want to live here