Charlie’s Experience in Ecuador: Part V
Our final venture was upward towards the sky so that we might be among the clouds and if we were lucky, perhaps grasp them gently with our fingers. Towering Eucalyptus trees lined the roads on our way to the lift that would bring us to a ridge a top Toca el Cielo. Small mountainside ranches lined the gondola route and horses grazed among the tall grass.
Toca el Cielo, which translates to “Touch the Clouds” in Spanish, is located just west of the Quito sprawl. It looms over the city at 15,696 feet like mount Olympus over Litochoro. It’s a short ride up the gondola to the volcanoes lowest peak. From there a series of trails lead upwards. In the distance Ruku, one of the volcano’s two tallest peaks extends towards the heavens. Clouds wrap themselves to the rock like suckling calves to their mother. 
Known formally as Pichincha, Toca el Cielo is an active stratovolcano. Pinchincha erupted twice in the last twenty years. Once in August of 1998 and again in March of 2000. The latter eruption is known as a phreatic eruption, meaning it blasted steam and dust into the sky instead of magma and lava. The event killed two volcanologists working in the lava dome.
A group of us, only a small fraction of the entire volunteer party, decided to hike up the rumbling giant. After a series of false summits and a few near casualties, a result of the altitude, we decided to cut our losses and quietly stare in awe at the beast before us. A light wind swept through the tall grass and for a moment I was tricked into believing I had been granted entry into the Elysian fields.
We were only given brief glimpses of the tallest peaks before they were shrouded again in another wave of clouds. I can’t remember how long we sat watching the city below as mist and fog danced slowly down the mountainside. Maybe it was an hour, maybe less. Although, I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t matter how much time you spend in a place just as long as you spend enough time taking in the entire scene. All the smells, growth, people, tastes and sights. Of course, some places leave you so breathless that this is an impossible feat, and you are often left yearning to return and soak it all in.
To read other installments from Charlie’s series click here
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