November 20 - 29, 2015 Cayambe – Antisana Skills Expedition, Ecuador - Dispatch 3

Cayambe – Antisana Skills Expedition

Lead Guides: Jeremy Devine and Romel Sandoval

Climbers: Catherine H., Graham K., Richard L., Melissa L., Hernando M., Jason M., Thomas W., Hallie Z., Andrew Z.

Received on November 24, 2015

"It's 6pm or so here, we are at the Cayambe Refugio (15,092 ft / 4600 m). This morning we woke up at the Guachala Hacienda and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and morning. We left the hacienda about 9:30 am by bus to head to Cayambe.

A few kilometers before the Cayambe Refugio the road became too bad to continue in the bus. We transferred our equipment to a 4x4 truck, and enjoyed a mellow walk the remaining few kilometers arriving at the refuge a bit after noon. At the refugio we enjoyed a lunch of hot potato soup and sandwiches before going for another acclimatization hike. 
Everyone did great on the hike going up to about 15,900 ft / 4846 m, the highest so far. No headaches from the altitude, and everyone is feeling good. 

Back at the refugio we organized and prepped our climbing equipment, for the skills practice we have planned for tomorrow. We are planning an early start and and early finish to tomorrow allow for enough sleep before the alpine start on summit day.

The weather is still fairly cloudy but we did get some views of the expansive glaciers on our hike. Those of us from the Pacific North West feel right at home in the silence of the clouds. The forecast looks to be on the upswing so I am hopeful for clearer weather in the coming days.

Dinner is almost ready and we are looking forward to it; quinoa soup with vegetables, and pork for those of us that eat meat.

Talk to you in a few days!"

Jeremy Devine