Clawing for the Stars: a Solo Climber in the Highest Andes: The Prelude: a Rendering of Mountains Ascended Before My Solo Andean Climbs

© 2022 Bob Villarreal. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/09/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-5708-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-5707-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-5712-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022907378

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

PART I. A GUIDED RAMBLE THROUGH THE EQUATORIAL ANDES, CULMINATING IN THE ASCENT OF CHIMBORAZO ON THE EDWARD WHYMPER ROUTE

A. OUR TIME IN AND AROUND QUITO AND WHAT WE FOUND THERE

B. OUR HIKE UP PICHINCHA AND A DISAPPOINTMENT CONCERNING CAYAMBE

C. OUR JOURNEY TO COTOPAXI AND WHAT TRANSPIRED THERE; OUR ATTEMPT OF TUNGURAHUA

D. THE JOURNEY TO GUARANDA; OUR ASCENT OF CHIMBORAZO

PART II. CUSCO, THE SACRED CITY OF THE INCAS, WITH A VISIT TO SACSAYHUAMAN, OLLANTAYTAMBO, AND MACHU PICCHU, FOLLOWED BY GUIDED WANDERINGS IN LA PAZ, THE LAND OF THE ANCIENT TIWANAKU, CLIMBING THE CORDILLERA REAL PEAKS OF PEQUEÑO ALPAMAYO, CONDORIRI, HUAYNA POTOSÍ, AND CULMINATING IN TREADING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SIR MARTIN CONWAY ON NEVADO ILLIMANI

A. ARRIVAL AT LIMA, THE CITY OF KINGS; A TOUR OF CUSCO, THE SACRED CITY OF THE INCAS; HOW THE SPANISH CONQUERED THE INCAS; FORTRESS SACSAYHUAMAN; SPANISH DEFEAT AT CITADEL OLLANTAYTAMBO; MACHU PICCHU, THE LOST CITY OF THE INCAS

B. ON TO LA PAZ, BOLIVIA; A TOUR OF TIWANAKU; A VISIT TO LAKE TITICACA AND ISLA DEL SOL

C. OFF TO THE CORDILLERA REAL AND THE PEAKS OF PEQUEÑO ALPAMAYO, CONDORIRI, AND HUAYNA POTOSÍ

D. OUR CLIMB OF ILLIMANI, THE GOLDEN EAGLE

PART III. THE CLIMB OF ACONCAGUA, REMEMBERING KONSTANTY NARKIEWICZ, STEFAN DASZYŃSKI, WIKTOR OSTROLWSKI, AND STEFAN OSIECKI WHILE ASCENDING THE POLISH GLACIER (DIRECT ROUTE)

A. OUR FLIGHTS FROM HOME TO SANTIAGO DE CHILE AND MENDOZA, ARGENTINA; THE JOURNEY WEST TO LOS PENITENTES ; PREPARATIONS FOR OUR CLIMB OF THE POLISH GLACIER; DESCRIPTION OF THE ROUTE

B. OUR JOURNEY UP THE VACAS AND RELINCHOS VALLEYS TO THE PLAZA ARGENTINE; THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE CLIMB OF THE POLISH GLACIER

C. OUR CAMPS ABOVE PLAZA ARGENTINE; OUR ASCENT OF THE POLISH GLACIER DIRECT; OUR CLIMB OF THE EASTERN RIDGE TO THE SUMMIT; WHAT WE SAW FROM THERE; THE RETREAT DOWN THE CANALETA AND THE RETURN TO CAMP 2 BY THE TRAVERSE ROUTE; MY FROSTBITE BECOMES APPARENT; OUR RETREAT BACK TO PUNTA DE VACAS; ON TO SANTIAGO AND HOME

APPENDIX A

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

To my wonderful grandchildren:

Alexander, Jasmine, Tatiana, and Ava

TO APPRECIATE THIS BOOK TO THE FULLEST, PLEASE VISIT THE WEBSITE: http://bobvillarreal.com/ AND EXPERIENCE WHAT THE AUTHOR CALLS READ (THE BOOK) AND VIEW (THE SITE): A NEW AND EXCITING WAY TO ENJOY A BOOK. COPYRIGHTED © 2013. CONTENT INCLUDES PHOTOS FOR ECUADOR, PERU/BOLIVIA, AND ARGENTINA; AND HISTORICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS SOURCES FOR EACH EXPEDITION.

From The Highest Andes, by E. A. Fitz Gerald, published in 1899 and in the Public Domain

INTRODUCTION

I should take a moment here to describe further the events that preceded my solo climbing career I recorded in Clawing for the Stars: A Solo Climber in the Highest Andes . In Clawing’s Prologue, I briefly mentioned my adventures in Yosemite, those in the Grand Tetons, and also my expeditions with the American Alpine Institute (AAI) in the Great Andes of South America. In this book, I will tell more of those early climbing years, creating a fuller picture as to what transpired on those journeys.

I began my climbing career in Yosemite with several rock climbing courses. They introduced me to the physically demanding rock climbing world, one that I found too challenging for a man in his early forties. In 1987, I shifted to climbing mountains in the Grand Tetons. My adventure was a ten day affair, beginning with two days of preparation for the two day ascent of the Grand Teton (13,776 feet) by the Upper Exum ridge route with the Exum Mountain Guides. The training days were devoted to bouldering, multi-pitch climbing techniques, rappelling, knots, rope management, and most significantly, belaying. After the Grand came a two day climb of Middle Teton (12.805 feet) and a three day ascent of Mount Moran (12,605 feet). These climbs were critically important to my later excursions in the Andes. But these journeys were not enough for me. I wanted more. By various serendipitous happenings, I learned of the American Alpine Institute and its high altitude climbing excursions in the High Andes of South America. Thus came about the adventures I tell of in this book.

IMAGES: See Climbing in the Tetons for pictures of climbing in the Grand Tetons.

But I must say here that at this time I was no stranger to the Andean countries and the history of the Inca Nation. My wife and I had embarked upon a 17 day guided tour of Peru in 1975, and that began my interest in the Andes. We returned to Cusco in 1978 to adopt our oldest daughter at the orphanage run by the Sisters of Mercy, near the Cathedral on the main plaza. In 1982 we traveled to Pasto, Colombia, 120 miles north from Quito, to adopt our second daughter from another Catholic orphanage. Since those years, I have maintained an interest in Inca history and the Andean nations. That fascination led to my books, The Adventure Chronicles of Conquistador Pedro de Mérida, Volume I: Almagro, Volume II: Valdivia, and Volume III: Pizarro.¹

HISTORICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS: See Ecuador #7 for Harry A. Franck’s description of Pasto, Colombia.

IMAGES: E.2 is a picture of Pasto, Colombia.

But to return to my adventures prior to my solo mountaineering days, I began with mountains in Ecuador guided by AAI, culminating in a climb of the highest peak in the country, Chimborazo (20,564 feet), in 1989. Because of its height and its proximity to the Equator, it is the highest mountain on Earth when measured from sea level and closest to the Sun when measured from the Earth’s core. The next year, I went to Bolivia with the same company and climbed peaks there, the most notable, Illimani (21,122 feet). In 1991, I journeyed to Argentina to attempt the highest mountain in the Andes, Aconcagua (22,841 feet), by the difficult Polish Glacier direct route, once more with AAI. After that expedition, I felt I had the skills to try things on my own, and I tell of certain of those climbs in Clawing for the Stars, A Solo Climber in the Highest Andes..

Having kept journals of the AAI expeditions for my enjoyment in later years, I have used those writings in this book to provide accounts of my first encounters with the high Andean peaks and the cultures that live and lived amongst them. I have also included stories of actual events that occurred centuries ago in these countries to provide an historical perspective. These accounts I hope will be accepted as faithful descriptions of events as they happened. With this as introduction to my early high altitude climbing career, I shall now begin with my Ecuador story.

Chimborazo, from the slopes above Guaranda, from Travels Amongst the Great Andes of the Equator, by Edward Whymper in 1892 and in the Public Domain.

PART I. A GUIDED RAMBLE THROUGH THE EQUATORIAL ANDES, CULMINATING IN THE ASCENT OF CHIMBORAZO ON THE EDWARD WHYMPER ROUTE

A. OUR TIME IN AND AROUND QUITO AND WHAT WE FOUND THERE

T o this day, thirty-one years after it happened, I still remember quite vividly Ecuatoriana flight # 2531 and the approach to the old Mariscal Sucre ² airport in Quito, Ecuador on Friday, 6 January of 1989. It was my first visit to the country, and I was eager to land and begin my climbing expedition with the American Alpine Institute in the Andes Mountains around Quito. We clients and our guides met at the Miami airport, boarded our plane, and took off south. In a few hours we began the descent. I was fortunate to be seated beside our lead guide, Jess, who had led several expeditions to Ecuador and so was familiar with the country. He sat at the window on the left side of the plane with me in the middle seat three rows from the front and eagerly described the landscape as we flew south. Before the city appeared, he pointed out Cayambe to the northeast of Quito, with a white cone of snow about its top. I was especially interested in it, I told him, since it was one of the peaks we were going to attempt.

The northern limits of Quito were now off our left wing, stretching from north to south, its length more pronounced than its width.³ And here comes Pichincha, he said, pointing to a peak between us and the western side of the city. It isn’t as high as many of the other mountains, but it has a meaning for many since the western boundary of Quito occupies its lower slopes. That one is on our list also, I said. Next, Jess identified Antisana to the east, another snow blanketed mountain, but not on our schedule for an attempt. Right before we banked left for the line up to the Mariscal, he pointed south to Cotopaxi, another stunning example of the picturesque Andes of the Equator and one more mountain we were to attempt. Not in view from our seats, as it stood farther to the south, was the true object of our journey, the mighty Chimborazo. But more of it at the proper time.

IMAGES: E.00 is an Earth view east to Quito and the nearby peaks before turning east and then north to line up for the approach to the old Mariscal Sucre airport. E.0 is a picture from 30,000 feet of the astonishing peaks of the equatorial Andes.

And look, Bob, at the different shades of green in the vegetation. It’s a palette like no other. My sister is an artist and when she came here to visit Ecuador some years ago she counted close to fifty variations. I had noticed this phenomenon ever since the plane had begun its descent – many dark greens, numerous light greens, truly more shades than I could count.⁴

Here, take my seat so you can enjoy what’s coming next, Jess said with a hint of excitement.

Intrigued by his comment, I moved over as the 707 banked steeply to the east and then the north. We leveled off, passed over a high ridge stretching from east to west directly below us, and so close that it seemed I might reach out and touch it.⁵ The land dropped away as we flew over it. We were now at the southern boundary of the city, no more than 3,000 feet high and descending. Below us, trucks and cars were now distinctly visible in the residential area. We dropped more as we flew over the downtown quarter with its many tall buildings. As we flew by we could not have been more than several hundred feet above them. Look, said Jess. We’re lower than the top of that building. The landings here are conceived by a Hollywood special effects movie crew and I can’t get enough of them!

Things became even more remarkable as we neared the top of the runway, since neighborhoods clustered near it. Incredibly, I saw women in their yards hanging clothes from lines, children kicking a soccer ball in a field, a small crowd of people waving at us from the side of a street. I had never landed this low over a large city before, and it was fascinating. I heard comments from nearby passengers who were amazed also at how close we were to the working and living world of this once northern capital city of the Inca Empire.

MISCELLANEOUS: Ecuador #1 is a video of landing at the old Mariscal Sucre.

IMAGE: E.1 is a photo taken from below of a jet landing over a residential neighborhood.

But the surprises were not yet over. When we touched down and began the rollout, the plane bounced, first the nose and then its body. It was jarring enough that an overhead container panel popped open and a small case fell to the aisle. That’s the final thrill, laughed Jess. It’s caused by a slight depression in the tarmac that the government doesn’t want to repair. So, what do you think? Well, obviously, I said. I’ve never had a landing that low before. And it’s dangerous to the residents below the glide path.

I should add here that the old Mariscal Sucre airport opened in 1960. It had a cramped runway and the city surrounded it. This made landings challenging for pilots and nerve-wracking for passengers, workers in the business district, and the residents in the poor neighborhoods that the planes flew over. As a result, it quickly made the list of the World’s Most Dangerous Airports, compiled by Britain’s The Economic Times. The Ecuador government finally constructed the new Mariscal Sucre ten miles to the east and moved air operations there in 2013.

After landing and retrieving our gear, we left for our hotel, where the guides assigned the eight of us two to a room. I was paired with Ed, no doubt because we were the same age, forty-five. I’m not surprised that all the others are so young. I believe they are in their middle to late twenties and early thirties, he observed with a laugh. Yes, I expected this would be the case. And that’s fine. Perhaps I can learn something from them. At least, I hope that’s the case.

We were located in Iñaquito, a parish, as they call it, in the northern part of Quito, three miles southwest from the old airport.⁶ Our Hotel Finlandia sat at 9,700 feet, with a view to the northeast of Cayambe, to the south the southern area of the city, and to the west the lower slopes of Pichincha. That evening the second guide, Judy, explained that since this was an Instructional climb for those new to the high mountains, the guides would focus on teaching alpine skills. These included: use of personal and technical equipment; principles of glacier travel and roping techniques; route finding and evaluation; climbing moderately angled inclines, including French, German, and American cramponing techniques; the six ice axe positions; belaying, placement of protection, and rope management; self-arrest and application of the self-belay; high altitude physiology; recognition and response to high altitude illness; nutrition and menus at altitude; and individual and team crevasse rescue techniques.

HISTORICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS: #1 tells how to rope up on a climb.

I would like to mention here an historical item of some significance concerning this parish of Iñaquito. I came upon it in my preparations for this trip. On 18 January of 1546, Gonzalo Pizarro defeated the first Spanish Viceroy of Peru, Blasco Nuñez Vela, in the Battle of Iñaquito. The particulars were the following. In the months after his investiture as the new Governor, Pizarro learned of the Viceroy’s pardon by Judge Alvarez and pledged to hang them both when he had them in his hands. And when reports arrived that Blasco Vela was drawing a number of soldiers to his cause, Pizarro decided he must give him battle. Thus, on 4 March 4 1545, he led his army of 600 horse, foot, and arquebusiers, north towards San Miguel. When the Viceroy heard of Pizarro’s approach, he resolved to bring him to justice. But his inexperienced captains, in a cowardly display of intimidation at the very name of Pizarro, told Blasco Vela that they should march for the high country of Quito and then north to Pasto and Popayán for reinforcement from Captain Sebastián Belalcázar. And so, pursued by Pizarro, the Viceroy led his troop of 500 on an exhausting march. He exhibited now his erratic behavior, talking to himself, slapping those he disagreed with, and declaring that some of his officers were secretly on the side of Pizarro. With no evidence that they were disloyal and without a trial, he executed Juan Ocampo, Gerónimo de la Serna, and Gaspar Gil. He disallowed their burial, and the passing soldiers gazed at their bleeding remains. Many feared that they were commanded by a mad man and left in secret to join Pizarro.⁷

The Viceroy entered Quito, rode north through Pasto⁸ and entered Popayán, his force by desertion and disease now reduced to 100 men. Captain Belalcázar and his lieutenants welcomed the Viceroy and his men and saw to their needs of food and rest. In the meanwhile, Pizarro had decided to remain in Quito and await Blasco Vela’s appearance. But when weeks came and went with the Viceroy still ensconced in Popayán, Pizarro decided on deception to draw him out. He departed with most of his men as though returning to Lima, while leaving Lieutenant Puelles in charge with a small number of men and sending Indians forward to Popayán to say that Pizarro had left Quito to return to Lima. Blasco Vela believed this artifice and, with Captain Belalcázar voicing his misgivings to no effect, the Viceroy marched out of the city at the head of 400 men.

Pizarro, apprized of all this by his spies, hastened back to Quito and, united with Puelles, found high ground called Iñaquito several miles to the north that would serve as an excellent field on which to confront his rival. That night, Blasco Vela, in a disastrous conception of a surprise attack, marched his men all night around the city to its south in the hopes that he might arrive at Pizarro’s rear and effect a surprise attack. He misjudged the ground in the dark, however, and led his men on an all-night march that exhausted them by the time they attained the southern limits of the city. Deciding that he must attack despite this, he led his troops forth on the 18th of January of 1546, with the arquebusiers stationed to the front, the 350 infantry arrayed in the center, and the 140 cavalry at either side of the foot.

Pizarro had formed his 700 men in an equivalent manner. His advantage, besides his numbers, was that he had not led them on an all-night march and thus they were fresh and rested. The action began with the discharges of the muskets from both sides, creating dense clouds of smoke that covered the field. The larger number of Pizarro’s musket men caused damage to all the Viceroy’s forces, and the charge of his cavalry caused even more to the already physically weakened royalist troops. Captain Belalcázar’s chief lieutenant, Alonso Cabrera, was unhorsed and his throat slashed. The Captain himself was unhorsed and lay on the field unconscious. Alvarez, the judge who had pardoned Blasco Vela, was surprised from behind and run through by one of Pizarro’s pike men. The Viceroy fought bravely but ineffectively, like his troops. At one point, Hernán de Carbajál, the brother of the licentiate Suarez de Carbajál who was killed by the Viceroy, encountered him prone on the battlefield, having been struck in the head by a battle axe. He taunted him for the death of his brother as Puelles rode up and, recognizing the occasion for retribution, commanded his Indian assistants to cut off his head. With the Viceroy’s head now perched on a pike for all to see, the fate of the day was now decided. But the treatment of the Viceroy’s body angered Pizarro, and he ordered both body and head buried in a proper grave and then led prayers for the passing of his soul.⁹ Almost half of the Viceroy’s troops had perished, while few of Pizarro’s suffered a similar fate. The Governor identified those who had revolted from his banner to join the Viceroy and hanged them in Quito’s main square. Others, such as Captain Belalcázar, he pardoned with the strict condition that they would never again bear arms against him.

IMAGES: E. 3 is a depiction of the Battle of Iñaquito.

Thus was the fate determined of Blasco Nuñez Vela, the first Viceroy of Peru, at the Battle of Iñaquito. The period of his rule was an absolute catastrophe and disgrace. He alienated the Audience members sent to assist him in decision making. He disgusted his friends and too often turned them into his enemies. And most offending of all, he outraged the same citizens he was appointed to govern. Peru’s people received word of his passing with joy and celebration, for it signaled the downfall of the hated ordinances and the rise to authority of their deliverer and new ruler, Gonzalo Pizarro. And all this took place five hundred years prior to our arrival here, and on the ground upon which we now walked.¹⁰

To return to the present and the preparation for our climbs, we had to acclimate gradually to the elevation here at Quito, 9,700 feet at our hotel, and be exposed to slightly higher elevations before we visited the nearby peak, Pichincha. We were to tell the guides in the coming days if we felt ill. They would decide the seriousness of our symptoms and determine a course of action for us.

The next morning, Saturday, Jess and Judy described the peaks we were to attempt. These were: Pichincha (15,728 feet), Cayambe (18,996 feet), Cotopaxi (19,347 feet), and Chimborazo (20,550 feet). They followed this with a presentation of the kinds of altitude sickness, or soroche, and how to prevent them, by making slow progress upwards and frequently pausing with the rest step¹¹ to maintain steady breathing. Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is the mildest form and somewhat common. The symptoms resemble those of a hangover – dizziness, headache, muscle aches, nausea. High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE), more serious and not as common, is a buildup of fluid in the lungs that can cause death. High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE) is the most severe form of altitude sickness and happens when there’s fluid in the brain. It’s life threatening and requires immediate medical attention. The guides carried nifedipine for HAPE and dexamethasone for HACE should an emergency occur. Fortunately, each of us had brought Diamox¹² to help us acclimate and prevent any of these sicknesses.

Judy now brought up another issue. "We have something else to tell you about. It’s not a serious health issue for a climber but a nuisance, actually. Jess and I rarely encounter it with our clients, but you need to know about it. It’s a breathing condition that affects a person sleeping for the first time at around 15,000 feet. The affected individual’s breathing increases and decreases, the decrease resulting in a stop in breathing called sleep apnea. All this can last from thirty seconds to two minutes. And during this time the person stays asleep. Sometimes, the pattern repeats itself. Now, while this has health implications for older people at sea level, for climbers new to altitude it’s a sign of the body trying to acclimate to the higher elevation and is nothing to worry about.

It’s possible you may experience this with a bunk or tent mate. If you do, wait until he recovers and is breathing normally. Then give him a touch to waken him and tell him he had an apnea incident. We’ve found that a wakened person often does not experience another incident. By the way, this is called the Cheyne-Stokes respiration condition and someone may encounter it when we sleep at the Refugios on the mountains we’ll climb. So, you’re forewarned!

After this informative meeting, our day was devoted to a visit to the Middle of the World Equator monument before proceeding on to the town of Otavalo and its famous tourist market. With the help of my guidebook, let me describe this distinctive monument. The Ciudad Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World City) is a tract of land owned by the prefecture of the province of Pichincha, Ecuador, and is located sixteen miles north from the center of Quito. The grounds contain the Monument to the Equator, which highlights the exact location of the Equator from which the country takes its name. They also contain the Ethnographic Museum, Middle of the Earth, a museum portraying the indigenous people’s ethnography of Ecuador. The ninety-eight foot Monument was constructed between 1979 and 1982 by Pichincha’s Province Council to replace an older, smaller edifice built by the Government of Ecuador in 1936. It is made of iron and concrete and covered with cut and polished andesite stone. The memorial was built to commemorate the first Geodesic Mission of the French Academy of Sciences. It conducted experiments to test the flattening at the poles of the characteristic shape of the Earth by comparing the distance between a degree meridian in the Equatorial zone to another level measured in Sweden. The older monument was moved four miles west to the town of Calacali in 1985.

We spent an hour here before leaving for Otavalo and its popular Saturday market. The moment we got to Hwy 35, the mass of Cayambe peak appeared off to the east. I wondered aloud how the people here lived with such mountain beauty all about them. It’s in their blood from birth, observed my roommate, Ed, sitting beside me. Yes, it has to be, I said. And if they only live here all their lives and never travel to any other place on Earth, they probably don’t appreciate this area’s singular beauty.

Aiding our acclimation, the highway rose occasionally over ground as high as 10,000 feet, which was shaded by many hues of green, as I have remarked upon already. And Cayambe appeared ever larger to our view, until in the town of Cayambe the mountain rose eight miles to the east in a dominating manner, its lower parts bathed in clouds. We stopped for coffee and I took the opportunity to continue reading my copy of Edward Whymper’s classic Andean travelogue, Travels Amongst the Great Andes of the Equator, written in 1880. This allowed me to understand this land as he found it 140 years ago.

PHOTOS: See E.4 for a painting of this famous explorer/scientist.

A brief word is necessary regarding this man and those who accompanied him to Ecuador. Edward Whymper had started his mountain career in the Alps when he was twenty years old. He climbed many of them and at last, following eight attempts, the Matterhorn, with his assistant, Jean-Antoine Carrel. He recorded his accomplishments, and his failures, in his popular Scrambles Amongst the Alps, in the Years 1860-1869.

But his most important work, by far, is his Great Andes book, for it portrays his abilities as a traveler, an explorer, and a scientist, on his journeys in Ecuador in 1880. In its pages, we find a traveler with the keenest interest in all around him, one with an insight into everything pertaining to ventures in remote regions: the people, their history and manner of living, their character, and their arts and crafts. In addition, he offers his observations on Ecuador’s rich plant, animal, and insect life.

Then there is his topographical and physical exploration of the country and its history and evolution, particularly from a geological perspective. Of course, Ecuador is one of the most interesting places geologically on Earth, a region where volcanoes still erupt, and the fear of lava flow, earthquakes, and floods is never far from the worries of those who dwell near these peaks.

Whymper’s use of barometers on his travels gave the world information that led eventually to the modern barometer, that sensitive instrument which by recording the changes in atmospheric pressure permits weather scientists to provide more accurate forecasts and air pilots to fly blind through otherwise impassable weather and over all kinds of terrain. And also, we have the mobile GPS hand-held instruments to provide the identical data to aid our travels.

HISTORICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS: Ecuador #18, #19, and #20 are Whymper’s studies determining peak altitudes.

As for his climbs of the Ecuadorian peaks, many were first ascents. He had with him his assistant in the Alps, Jean-Antoine Carrel, fifty-two years of age, and his nephew, Louis Carrel, twenty-six. To accompany them and to ferry their gear, Whymper employed local muleteers. Throughout the book, he relates events sometimes comic in nature, which enliven his story.

In sum, his work forms a document of large value today for anyone visiting Ecuador and wanting information on it and its people. In our coming travels in this volcanic land, I shall reference Whymper and his travels when those incidents complement our activities. And that will be often, since we followed his routes on the peaks we attempted and he documented each in some detail.

As I said, we had stopped in Cayambe for coffee, and it was here that Whymper and his party arrived in late March of 1880 to learn something of the mountain. He bore a letter of introduction from the Quito Cabildo to the town of Cayambe’s mayor, but was told that he was on the plaza, engaged in an affair of importance.

As Whymper tells the story, this political dignitary was surrounded by a large part of the male population, jostling and pushing each other to get a good view of the business being transacted. It was the concluding round of a cock-fight for the Championship of Cayambe, and when it was over the mayor had leisure to attend to the explorer. He promised that a guide would be provided, as requested, but the conversation invariably bore round to cock-fighting, which in this region was considered the most rational and delightful of all sports. He expressed incredulity when told that in England it was only enjoyed by the lower orders. This surprises me, for all the best cocks come from England, he declared.

Today, cock-fighting is quite common in Ecuador, although in a slightly modified fashion. In a May, 2011 referendum, Ecuadorians voted to ban bullfights and cock-fights that result in animal deaths. Cock-fight aficionados compare the new rules to watching a game of soccer without a ball and say that cock-fights will go underground as they do in other countries. Apparently, they have. Here’s a recent post by a Quito blogger: Thankfully in Ecuador common sense still reigns and the discerning gent can witness the mortal and bloody combat of trained animal killers without interference from the man. Cock-fighting is big news in Ecuador, not quite the Premier Soccer League, but certainly more popular than greyhound racing.

We left Cayambe and continued the drive to Otavalo. The highway swung north, rising and falling gently between fields fenced with cactus or mud walls, with the town of Gonzalez Suarez tucked away in the greenery beside us. Our driver turned to the side of the road at Judy’s request. I thought you might enjoy seeing how Ecuadorians live, she said, and then described what we saw before us. In a covered shelter at the roadside, an Indian woman sold a hot soup with bits of meat and papas in it and served it in an earthenware bowl with wooden spoons. Near her, a group of natives burned over brush fires slaughtered pigs, split open and carved for the customer. A steady stream of natives in gaudy ponchos shuffled past, some stopping for purchases, some not. These kinds of places are quite common throughout Ecuador, depending upon the weather.

While we paused here, Jess handed us a sheet of paper. I mentioned that my artist sister visited Quito and the surrounding vicinity a few years ago. She became fascinated by the Indian markets in Otavalo and wrote this description of them. I thought you might enjoy it.

It read in this fashion:

"Every road, during the weekend, leads to the Otavalo markets. Each one is a ribbon that curls, loops, and knots with brightly colored Indian humanity. They come with balls of llama wool drawn from a swinging staff, fingers busy as they go. They trot down the ancient city streets, bent under the weight of goods from their fields, pottery, handicrafts. Somewhere atop their loads poke the little heads of their babies, eyes open in wonder at the sky, sun, or rain. Alongside them are burros, mules, and llamas bearing more of their wares to the plazas.

"What an assortment in the markets! And I don’t mean the one for tourists and travelers, Jess, but those for the Indians. Brilliant-hued rugs, maize, carved fruits, pigs, ponchos, lariats, woven belts and sashes, blankets, alfalfa, barley, papas, hides, silverware, vicuña and alpaca furs, dolls, knitted and tasseled llamas, pottery, shoes, sandals, fur slippers, baskets – everything they can