A Cross on a Hill

From the valley where we live we can see the many mountains which surround us. One of the prominent ones is called 'Ilalo'. It is an extremely triangular-shaped mountain with a series of potato, corn and fava bean fields which stretch up its slopes and are framed by two forests climbing the right and left sides of Ilalo. We caught a couple different over packed buses to the town of Al Tingo which is at the bottom of Ilalo. One of the buses was so packed I could hardly get on through the back door, and it started driving away with me half hanging out, door wide open. That was fun... When we got to Al Tingo, the day was starting to warm up (a lot). We asked for directions to the trail, and then asked a woman if beth could use the washroom. She reluctantly allowed beth into the back of her restaurant (definitely not somewhere I would eat....) to a washroom. It was pretty stinky. But Beth 'braved' it. She really had no choice, she really had to go!!! It was kind of like how some people find courage on the brink of death, simply because adrenaline and lack of alternatives become the only two factors. Anyhow, she managed to pee. I was proud. After attempting to follow directions to the trail, we ended up in various peoples 'yards' who redirected us closer and closer to the trail as if people had made the same mistake a thousand times. We finally started our ascent of Ilalo, and the trail was more or less straight up. Switchbacks were simply non-existent. The sun was hot, and the hike to the top was extremely hard, however the views along the way were extremely rewarding. Once we were at the top, we found the enormous cross that can be seen by all the towns in the valley below. We snacked on some tostados (hard salted roasted corn kernals) and drank some water. We met a couple of Ecuadorian university professors at the top who were keen hikers. We decided to scout out a route down the other side of the mountain into another town. We spotted a way to descend onto a ridgeline which followed a ways until meeting a road which vaguely looked as if it went somewhere. We decided to try it. It was very fortunate to meet some Ecuadorians up for some adventure, other wise we would have never attempted it. The initial descent down the back side of the mountain was extremely steep, but the views were even better than the climb up. Beth and I had developed some sores on our feet because we were wearing relatively new hikers. We landed on the ridgeline, a lot of which had been burned (slash and burn) for farming. It was really nice to hike along that mountain pass. Eventually we hit a small 'road,' passed a farm, defended our lives against some very aggressive dogs, and descended into the new town. We were able to catch some different buses home to Sangolqui. Our new found friends are planning another hiking adventure soon, to wawa pichincha, a bigger better mountain, and we have been invited along. Hopefully we will be able to make it work out.

In the mean time we have a ton of school work to do, and need to find time to visit the placement Beth hopes to work at. It is a ministry which gives itself to microbusiness, social programs, health and education, along with bible training and spiritual ministry. It is holistic, and is really the type of thing we would like to be involved with.

Love you all, and bye for now,

~Matt