I didn't realize that it was dirt roads all the way down (I should have anticipated this) so I was freaking out over every rock and washout rut in the road as Sung carefully negotiated his way down. Last time we took Clio off roading we ended up paying $2000 for a new engine. I was trying not to have a heart attack. Clio did great though and we made it down without a problem. We're not sure how long that road was but it took about 35 minutes to get down from the entrance gate. I think the whole trip from Quito took us about 2 and a half hours with traffic and 2 hours without traffic on the way home on Sunday.
Tyler and Sung - great views from near the entrance gate!
We found the "area de camping" and carefully pulled our car in. Another park guy came and asked for our information and we registered with him.
The tires around the campfire pits are comfy but quite squishy!
We decided to head out hiking before the rain set in. We asked the guy for information about the trails and he sent us up this small hill nearby called El Chivo. The path starts just off the main road.
The path goes up to the saddle and then you turn right to a steep trail that goes up the hill
Sung starting on the 5.4 rock climbing section
Made it to the top! Maybe 30 minutes to get up there? It was a quick hike.
This picture shows the road that we took to get down to the bottom of the crater, yep, that really windy one, I'm glad Sung drove.
It started raining shortly after we got back from our hike so we took shelter near the bathrooms, played some cards, drank some beer, and Sung got comfy in his down booties.
We found out from our friends who joined us later that the Pululahua Hostel just next door sells a really nice map with all the hiking trails for $1! Next time we'll plan to do the hot springs hike!
