Back from the north-east pass of Chimborazo I spotted some snowy peaks in the distance. It turned out to be an actual place you can hike to - an old volcano named The Altar.

I wasnt sure what to do, I changed my mind several times between booking it to Peru on the Trans Ecuador bike route or doing the hike. When I packed up, I started packing for hiking so that would work, a 3-4 day hike. There were many buses to Penipe but only 4 per day to Releche where the hike starts, I hitched a ride with the locals half the way there.

It was good weather and no cars so I walked the rest, past the suspicious horses and barking dogs of Candelaria.

Donkey is up to no good and horse is covering for him!

later dogs were way more relaxed

Ecuadorian poodle making sure everybody does their job

At Releche, I spoke to the ranch hand who said its better to leave early tomorrow because the ranch charges $20 for camping on their property and it is their land for most of the 9 hour hike. I did not have the heart to ask how much their rooms were if camping is 20...

The ranger station below offered free camping and with running water and a view like this it was a no brainer.

It was a nice morning to be going up, a little cloudy and perfect temperature.

I saw some horses hanging out...

...and then another tried to photo bomb us...

I sit here thinking... man I am so glad I do not have my bike with me right now...

First break was with a friendly white horse, whom I surprised initially but he seemed to like the trance song i was listening to.

Eventually the valley flattened out and it seemed there was just one big climb to the big mountains.

It was slow going at the end but barely 5-6 hours total, nothing like the 9 hour expedition I expected. Maybe he meant to say 9 hour return hike?

Contrary to what I was told, there were several perfectly good campsites on the volcano rim, offering medium protection from the wind.

A group of tourists poped up to take some photos and left but I found best to spend at least a day or two here. Waiting for the rainbows and sunshine and listening to rocks fall into the lake from the peaks across.

Although I eventually ended in one of those shots!
A group pf 6 was scouting the trail for a running event few weeks from now, they concluded that it is all good but perhaps a cable would be good at one rocky part.

The clouds almost cleared up and I spent another day doing something I am very good at - doing nothing.

The camera had some interesting options, making drying your socks look pretty cool...

Not to mention the snow and the sunsets!

My attempts at night shots were met with strong resistance by the autofocus and the results were far from good, taking a photo of the moon with the gopro is okay though

I caught a little glimpse of blue sky in the morning as I packed up but clouds soon took over again.

The downhill was quick but slippery at times, the best decision i ever made was to go get my feet wet right away. Then I didnt have to worry about it and that made things much quicker and easier.

The mean dogs of Candelaria again, although the second bunch were pretty friendly so they got to parttake in a feeding frenzy involving the remainder of my tortillas, few boiled eggs and even a little bit of questionable quality chicken sasuage.

he doesnt like rain or people pointing cameras at him

Waiting for the bus I admired the lifesized jesus painting at the passenger window of a gravel truck, that is what it takes to drive on these ecuadorian roads!

I think the merrells have just one more hike left in them... we'll see, ,aybe Cajas park near Cuenca or perhaps a trip to Sangay volcano?

most dissapointing shoe investment: 80$ done in 4 months, the last pair of $150 merrells did not last the entire Canol trail (15 days)