Hiking on Mt. Pichincha

While working in Quito for a month, we decided to go hiking up on Mt. Pichincha. The mountain is so close, its pretty much apart of the city and it tops out at around 17,000ft. The cab was about 10 minutes. I had a blast. It was my first time doing any real hiking so I was instantly out of breath. But once I adjusted to the altitude, I was cool. Around 13000ft, there is a warning sign, pretty much saying continue forward at your own risk. And of course we did. And of course we got lost. But I Have to say getting lost up in the mountains in Ecuador was probrably my favorite part of the trip. We eventually found our way back, but not before getting completely away from all of the tourists, discovering a cool waterfall, having our path blocked by a river stream that we had to jump across, and observing some local indigenous people living up in the mountains.  By the way I would love to have a house up in the mountains that I could escape to thousands of kilometers away from western civilization. We also went to the equator where there was a museum and some really cool science experiments, showing special forces that only exist on the equator. We stayed at the Marroitt, which was one of the nicest I've stayed in. Met a lot people passing thru on their way to the galapogos islands. I didn't get a chance to go to the islands, but I wouldn't mind going back to check the Galapogos out. Here are some pics from my trip.