Cajas National Park

Well, I started to get somewhat caught up on my blog and then I slowed down... Here's an entry to finish off October...Only about 4 months behind now...Better late than never, though.

On the way down to Cuenca for the unofficial PC Halloween party, my friend Andrew and I made a detour to the Cajas National Park in the Central-South mountains of Ecuador. Cajas has elevation starting at 9843 feet and going up to 11483.5 feet. As you'll be able to tell from the pictures, it's somewhat barren in terms of flora and fauna, but that's part of what makes it so unique and beaitiful.

One of the most striking pictures, actually taken by my friend John when he was there.

Me, through one of the lower elevation parts with more plant life.

Andrew and I at the Laguna Mamamag, of which you can only see about one-third in this picture

Another shot, but this time it looks candid and serene…

Same lake, just different angle

Same lake again, but different angle, again.

Me, with some alpacas (or llamas, no one here seems to know what the difference really is). If you’d like to know, here’s some background info

Me, doing some bouldering around the Laguna Torera

The sunset outside the refuge we stayed at.A view of the Laguna Llaviuco from a little way up to Mamamag

On the way up from the lowest elevation in Cajas to one of the higher spots…long day.

Laguna Llaviuco and an abandoned hacienda in the national park…not the ‘ruins’ that it’s listed as on the official map, but still interesting.

The 'long day' I mentioned consisted in Liking about half an hour to get to the point where this picture was taken up over the top of that ridge…AND BACK… in one day…not to mention almost getting into a physical altercation with a bus driver at the end of the day. Over 50 cents…No joke…

Another shot of the sunrise, sorry for the lack of order

A bird and an early morning reflection on the Laguna Torera (where the refuge is located)

Me, outside the refuge, early morning. (beautiful reflection, eh?)

Dew/frost on the grass after sunrise.

Andrew and my friend Belén who got us hooked up with climbing gear for the day

Climbing...the rock maintains a temp of about 35 degrees...brrr.

The aforementioned hacienda ‘ruins’

Me, in a wedge. My friend’s camera get a smear on it, so I touched up the photo so it would look like an intentional ‘soft focus’…let me know if it worked…

Sunrise, again.

Alpacas resting at night-time. They’re about like cows. You can talk right up to them and they jusr sort of look at you. Although, don’t get to close, as alpacas spit at predators in the eyes when startled. I've seen it done to unwanted male alpaca suitors (sort of the equivalent of women slapping men in the face for unwanted attention).

The polilepis tree, which is the main flora attraction in the park

A river runs through it...

Proof I've been there.

Yet another 'ruins' shot

A cliff face we decided to climb later in the day. Pretty high... took my breath away just to throw a rock off the edge and listen to it crash

It might not look that big but to get to the ridge on the horizon in this picture it would take probably a full day or more…

Some weird insect that looked like a scorpion and would shake back and forth if you got close to it. Any help from entomologist friends?

A camouflaged toad.

Me, looking dorky.

Well, that's it for Cajas...beautiful stuff. And the coolest thing is that the whole time we were there we didn't see a single other person. Truly untamed nature.

A preview of my next post: jumping off a bridge in the Amazon Basin while Aaron and Sean were here.