Cajas

This past weekend, Slocomb and I went with some of the CEDEI study abroad students as well as the student teachers from Wisconsin to camp in Cajas, the national park about 30km west of Cuenca.
We started out Saturday morning (with a frustrating attempt to get a taxi - Slocomb called for one and since they have our phone number, they sent it to our house instead of the place where we were meeting Kelli and Johanna, the student teachers) a little late. But we drove out of town (to the west) and into Cajas.
The first place we stopped was called Tres Cruces (three crosses), and it commemorates all of the people who died trying to get from Cuenca to Guayaquil and vice versa. The altitude in Cajas is a good bit higher than in Cuenca, so the temperature can be frigid. And before reliable transportation and good roads (the current one wasn't finished until 1985), it was a very dangerous trip. Tres Cruces is also the highest point in Cajas, and you could definitely tell by the alititude and temperature.
Next we embarked on our hike. We each were provided with rubber galoshes, which actually came in handy. Cajas was formed by glaciers in the last ice age, and there are still a lot of lakes in the park. Also, we're moving into the rainy season, so the ground was very moist.
We saw lots of different species of trees and plants (almost no animals, strangely enough. Slocomb thinks that our speaking English scared them away). Part of the hike was through a Quinua forest, which was very surreal. The trees, even along the trail were so close together. It reminded me a little of Roan Mountain when the rhodedenerons are blooming.
The hike lasted about 3 hours (plus a stop for lunch). Our stopping point was (theoretically) the camp site, which was a small field above a large lake. We didn't hike all of our stuff in; the bus met us about 10 minutes away from our campsite, but we still had to pack all of our food and tents, etc., in the last 10 minutes). The site had no running water, so we were all on our own for bathrooms. Slocomb and I brought a 5L jug of water, which was really handy. We were both really thirsty because of the hike and the altitude. Everyone was jealous of our ingeniousness.
We spent most of the afternoon setting up camp and hanging out. Slocomb's and my tent had some issues (one of the tent poles appeared broken), but we got it worked out. I stayed at the site to chat with some of the other people, and Slocomb went down to the lake to fish. He only ended up catching one fish, but I'm pretty sure he had an awesome time.
We had pasta and soup for dinner, some of which we had to cook over the fire because the stoves weren't strong enough to make the water boil. But after we put the pasta water over the stove, it boiled very quickly. Slocomb and Ryan (one of the study abroad boys) were the fire builders, and the did an excellent job.
Pretty soon after dinner and cleaning up, I went to bed. I had a headache (from the altitude), so I had no energy. I'm not sure what all happened after that, but you can ask Slocomb.
We woke up quasi-early the next morning (as one always does while camping), and spent most of the morning doing breakfast and breaking down camp.
I guess it wasn't a very eventful camping trip, but it was incredibly beautiful.
On the way back to Cuenca, we stopped at the sanctuary of the Virgin of Cajas. About 20 years ago, a young Cuencana had a vision of the Virgin Mary in that spot, so now there is a large outdoor sanctuary there. I'm not sure how I feel about these appearances of the Virgin Mary, but it was an interesting cultural experience.
After that, Slocomb and I came home to rest and get ready for the week. And then the week started, and now it is Tuesday. How the time flies!