“One of the wonders of the natural world”

The Cayambe is one of many volcanoes of the Andes, Ecuador, South America. It is located north of Ecuador’s capital – Quito. In addition to being an active volcano, Cayambe’s summit is the furthest point on the Earth’s surface when measured from the center of the Earth ( however, this is still under discussion and requires further measurements).

The reason I visited this volcano is because I was invited by two of my cousins ( who in addition to both being civil engineers and also Andists) to visit Cayambe. This is not a misspelling of the word ! Andinism, which is different from Alpinism, is a mountain climbing technique specific to the Andes and its volcanoes.
The final destination of my trip was not the summit of the Cayambe, but its lake. This was because my cousins told me that “the opportunity of seeing it with your own eyes was worth its price in gold”.

It took me almost 2 hours to walk (or climb depending on what you define as walking) the 500 meters between the refuge Ruales-Oleas-Berge (altitude 4700 meters, 15420 feet) and the mountain pass from where we were to admire the Cayambe lake.
While I was struggling to get to that mountain pass, my two guides/cousins seemed to be casually strolling up the hill. Watching them climb could almost make you forget that you were climbing a mountain almost 6000 meters high (19700 feet).

Finally, I managed to get to the mountain pass in a semi-conscious state (mostly due to the effort it took to climb combined with the lack of oxygen due to altitude). Once there, I could appreciate, but only for a very brief period of time, the whole splendour of Cayambe. It is surprising that this mountain is not very well known, internationally speaking, among mountaineers.

But that all that effort was worth it, just to watch this for a little time.

Memorably, the trip down to the refuge ‘granted’ me with an acrobatical fall to the ground. Luckily nothing serious and it happened just moments after I took this picture. So now I can say that I had my first mountaineering accident!

Oh! By the way!
The view from the mountain pass perfectly displayed how majestic and grandiose Cayambe lake is (altitude of 5000 meters). This was the reason that we came here in the first place.
So let me share with you this last image so that you can also appreciate and admire the indescribable presence of such an immense “wonder of nature”

 

To get to the city of Cayambe:
Buses leave all day from the Carcelen Bus Station. (main access with the ecovia bus service)
on google maps: here

To get to the refuge Ruales-Oleas-Berge:
You can hire for the day, one of the pick-up trucks in the main square of Cayambe. Be sure to agree for a go and return price and do not hesitate to haggle the price (in Ecuador that is the national sport).
The car can easily get to the refuge Ruales-Oleas-Berge until about 4700 metres.

Important note:
Do the hike to the Cayambe lake unless you are guided by someone who knows the way. There are no signs or a defined trail so it is easy to get lost.
Moreover, Cayambe is a volcano with a permanent snow cap, which when combined with the changing weather can easily become very dangerous. On weekends lots of andinists go there and you can always ask one of them to show you the way or to guide you.

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