Hiking Loma Lombosí

Road up to the top - am I there yet?

So from what I can find online there is very little information about this hike.  The only information I could find about it is what was in my guidebook (which in my opinion was very much lacking).  So I will do my best to sum up the hike and add some additional details which I would have found helpful.

Let me first set some expectations for this hike:

1. You will not see any other hikers or tourists on this hike, people will look at you like you are crazy and be prepared to receive attention from school kids and locals who will just stare.  I am used to this because I have blonde hair – I expect to be a spectacle so it’s really no different than any normal day.
2. You are not on trails; it is majority on roads so if you are looking for peace and quiet you will get some but be prepared to share the trail with cars. It is through a bunch of little villages and I’m sure I was on people’s personal property (but there is no way to avoid this unless you take the roads the entire way)
3. There isn’t much shade so bring ample water and make sure to wear sunscreen
4. Total climbing ~2200 feet (I wouldn’t classify this as easy by any stretch of the imagination, I know this goes against what the book says).  This is not meant for a morning ‘stroll’ like I was envisioning originally.
5. Total distance (including detours and the walk up from Orellana) ~ 6 miles, a little less
6. Total time ~ 2 hrs 40 mins
7. Some positives: Great views of Quito, feels like you are a world away, in the middle of the country with farming and livestock and a different pace of life.

I found what looked like an easy little hike in the Ecuador Climbing the Hiking Guide called Loma Lumbisí.  I figured it would be a nice morning walk, a break from my school work for a few hours.  I decided to do it in reverse order from how they recommend in the book.  I wasn’t sure I would be able to successfully take a bus from the La Marín plaza to the Via Oriental interchange; I was worried I wouldn’t be able to recognize the intersection and I would miss it altogether and end up who knows where.  So instead I started from the Mirador del Guápulo in González Suárez.  I took the Ecovía to the Orellana station and walked up Orellana until I got to the traffic circle.  Be really careful at all these street crossings – people drive fast and they don’t wait for pedestrians.  Now, at the traffic circle make sure to turn left onto González Suárez heading northeast (if you head straight you will end up taking an extra detour like I did).  The road curves north and you will see Hotel Quito on the right hand side.  At the next street take a right and further down the street you will see the Mirador del Guápulo overlooking the valley.  Take a moment to look down and see how far you will descend before you start hiking up.  Make sure you are ready for at minimum 1000 feet of climbing on the other side to get to the very tippy top of the ridge on the other side.  You can turn around at any point (which was my plan) HOWEVER the hike down to the river requires walking along some narrow busy streets (not a trail for the majority of it) which I didn’t love so I decided to do the entire one way hike.  In addition there are so many twists and turns and streets and stairs that I wasn’t confident I wouldn’t get lost trying to get back.  My map that I printed quickly in the morning left much to be desired as I quickly learned.

Mirador del Guápulo

 Okay, so once you are at the Mirador you want to:

1. Make sure you have a few hours of spare time and at least $0.25 in change to get you back to Centro Historico at the end of the hike
2. Take some pictures
3. Find the stairs just to the left of the main sign (green railings)

Start walking down the stairs and continue to follow them until you get dumped out onto the road. 

The stairs going down from the Mirador

Continuation of the Stairs, descending into the valley

Stairs ending in windy road

 

Cool narrow roads and alleyways

Follow the road until you see short cuts down (like the one above, usually with more stairs) and follow those until you get back to a road.  Your goal in all of this is to find De Los Conquistadores and the main town plaza (small but recognizable as a plaza/open space).  If you see the Spanish embassy do not take the stairs next to it – this will take you on a detour.  Instead you want to continue down the street.  If you see a traffic light this is a good sign, you want to go on Conquistadores at that point (there is no sidewalk on either side of the street but have no fear, you are close to the square).  On Google maps it is right underneath the words Unidad de Policia Cominitaria de Guápulo.   You can also see on the map below how the road zig zags down into the valley

View Larger Map

From the main square you will find a trail which you follow until it turns into a road.  This road will bring you to the main road where you will turn left.  Follow this road all the way down to the bridge.  As you are walking down the road you will see the trail on the other side of the bridge (yes, an actual trail)!   

If you look closely you can see the trail going straight up the hill

The Bridge

Taking a break, he just sat there like a statue, barely noticed I was walking by

After the bridge take the trail straight up for a while until it ends in the road.  Cows along the trail…

Continue on the road for a while which eventually becomes a dirt road.  Take that up to a white house where the dirt road seems to end.  Off to your left there is a tiny trail that cuts back across sort of the direction where you just came.  Take that and then you will be back on the main road.  Continue to climb up and up and up until you get to the very top.  From here you should celebrate because the hard part is over.  Enjoy the views of Quito – they are fabulous!

Continue to follow the road until it forks.  Bear right and continue down.  Off to the left there is a small path that will cut down to the road again.  I followed locals all the way down which made it easy!  Continue to follow the road (Sicalpa) until it dead ends into stairs.  


View Larger Map

Take those stairs down and turn left on Carlos Polit.  Follow Carlos Polit all the way down to the bus stop on the Pan Am Highway.  From here jump on any bus that says ‘La Marin’on the front of it.  It should cost $0.25.  Once you are at La Marín you can take any number of buses to get you back home/to your hotel.