Today, December 19th, has been both bittersweet and exciting. It was bittersweet because I had to say goodbye to most of the friends I met who also studied abroad this semester. It felt weird having our very last day of final exams on campus, and it was hard to say goodbye to all the friends that I made from all different parts of the world, especially since I probably won't get to see a lot of them ever again. But at the same time, today I have been a mixture of excited and nervous as I have been anticipating my camping trip (and first trip) with el club andinismo, which is the hiking club here on campus. After saying all of my goodbyes, I went shopping to buy all my food and water supplies, borrowed a sleeping bag and other camping necessities from some of my Ecuadorian friends, and met the other members of the club on campus to head out for El Altar, an extinct volcano in the Sangay National Park in the Chimborazo province of Ecuador. After about a 4-hour drive, we arrived at La Hacienda Releche, which is a small farm that most people stay at the night before completing the long trek to El Altar. Bright and early the next morning, we packed up again and got ready for the long hike ahead of us. The second we walked outside, it started pouring rain so we had to cover our backpacks and sleeping bags with rain ponchos and garbage bags. I was so glad that I remembered to throw in an extra bag! The hike started off with a pretty steep uphill ascent, then eventually leveled out. Unfortunately, this did not last the whole hike, nor was any part of it easy because the constant rain that comes down in this mountain region makes it insanely muddy. Pretty much all of us fell in the mud several times, but it was fine because it just made the adventure more exciting haha! On top of that, all the gear we had to carry really weighed us down because we had to have all the food and water, clothes, sleeping supplies, etc. that we would need. My shoulders eventually became numb from all the weight. Over 5 hours, an elevation gain of over 2,000 ft, and 10 miles later, we finally arrived at the Refuge Collanes! Most people stay the night in the rooms and rest up before hiking the crater lake of El Altar (called la Laguna Amarilla) the next morning. However, our group decided to just set down all of our equipment, eat lunch, and rest up a bit before heading straight to the lagoon. A little bit later we were on our way! The hike to the crater started off with an extremely swampy marshland that was hard to navigate. As we began the steep ascent to the lagoon, we could start to see the incredible waterfalls coming down off the side of the mountains. At last, after trekking up the steep volcano for about 2 hours and increasing our elevation from a little over 12,000 feet to over 14,000 feet, we made it to the lagoon! We were all so exhausted from doing both of the hikes in one day. I remember just pushing through it all as I hiked up, telling myself that it is all mental and that you just have to keep telling yourself that you can keep going. I ended up making it all the way up to see the lagoon first. This was a spiritual moment for me as I got to sit and view that breathtaking lagoon in complete peace and silence. All that hard work to climb up the volcano had seriously paid off. I was in awe. Words cannot even describe how amazing and spectacular the sight was, and photos can't do it justice either. About 30 minutes later the rest of the group caught up and made it to the top. We rested a bit and enjoyed the view before the trip back to the refuge. Unfortunately, the hike back did not go according to plan. After being warned by another tourist from Spain to get back quickly before the sun set, a few of us were determined to walk back as fast as possible. Unfortunately not everyone could keep up which caused our group to fall behind. The sun ended up setting as we were walking through the marshlands again. And let me tell ya, if the marshlands were difficult to navigate in the daylight, I can't even explain how insanely difficult it was to return back to the refuge in the dark. Only two people in the group had headlamps to guide us through the swampy marshes, and every single one of us got our feet soaked because we could not see properly and slipped into the water-soaked areas as a result. I got the worst of it when at one point I sunk knee-deep in the muck. It was like I fell in quicksand, and I had to pull myself out using a patch of grass near me because otherwise I would have just kept sinking- it was insane. After that, everyone else in the group was extra careful with where they placed their feet. After about another hour of walking back in the dark, we finally made it back to the refuge. It was one of the greatest reliefs of my life. We all cleaned ourselves up as best as we could with the hose outside, changed into our warm pajamas, and gathered around the campfire for a while to stay warm. The freezing and rainy weather continued throughout the night, and unfortunately the sleeping bag that I borrowed from my friend was not warm at all. I didn't sleep a wink, which is saying a lot considering that I was incredibly exhausted from the day's hikes. The next morning we packed up our belongings one last time to make our way back to our first stop on this journey, la hacienda releche. I might have had a bad luck curse on me during this trip because on the hike back, my entire boot fell apart due to the mud. The whole bottom rubber material separated from the top part of my boot, and my friends had to tie string around my boot to keep it together. This made the hike back even more challenging, which at this point I didn't think was possible haha! This picture is me after being almost completely finished with the hike. No matter how many things went wrong and made it difficult, I would not change a single part of it all. It made for some hilarious memories and pretty cool stories, and the experience of seeing El Altar was unforgettable. El Altar holds a very special place in my heart, and gave me an experience that I never imagined I would have, but am so glad I did.
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Ashley KoboldMy amazing experience studying abroad in Ecuador. ¡Qué chévere! Archives
December 2019
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