Mon, Mar 3, 2014

Hello from Loja, our final resting spot in Ecuador. Our trip from Cuenca proved to be as challenging as we thought. We had a few short days with huge mountains to climb and camped out in the rain quite a bit. Seth got sick again (luckily we were already in a hotel), and we ended up thumbing a ride to Loja.

Here are a few pictures from our last leg of the journey.

Kelly's bike loaded, conveniently resting against a humungous rock wall.

Our first night camping south of Cuenca. The road off to the left is the Pan American Hwy. Yep, we were that close and that exposed, but it was the only flat land we could find that wasn't farmed.

Countryside along the way....can't see it in this picture, but we could see how far we had climbed.

It's definitely pretty in these parts. And you can see Kelly's bike resting against Seth's bike. This is how it's typically done -- this is the most stable so that Kelly can get off and do things like refill water bottles or get snacks and such....

Kelly getting the stove together for a nightly dinner. We had rice and lentils on this night, Seth's 31st birthday. It also happened to be one of the best camping spots of the trip -- secluded up an old dirt road that was deserted.

The view of the valley from our secluded campsite. It was beautiful that afternoon but in the morning, we could see nothing but the clouds hovering over us like a weighted blanket.

The common area of the hotel we decided to splurge on -- a hot shower is amazing after days without running water and being in the cold rain. Plus they had super sweet staff and this is where we were when Seth got sick. Not a bad place to be "stuck." They even had great satellite TV with English channels!!

This picture doesn't do justice to the length and magnitude of these climbs. Can you see the tiny buildings up on the hillside to the left?! We had come flying down that hillside, only to climb right back up here.... It's a common theme in the Andes. Up, down, up, down, up, down.....

This is Leo and his dad with Seth. They are the gents who gave us a lift from the roadside all the way to Loja (about 100km). They spent 8 years in New York, too, so even spoke English. They were so kind, our guardian angels.

Sorry for the short post -- not a lot has happened, but figured it'd be good for people to know our status. Tomorrow, Wednesday, we board a bus for Piura, Peru. Then we'll bus through the coastal heat to Trujillo, where we'll be meeting up with a good friend -- Jared. He's coming with a fresh attitude and food from home. We can't be more exited -- friend, food, and a new country!!

Also, an article was just published in Women's Adventure Magazine, written by Dana McMahan (thank you, Dana!). She did a story on Kelly, you can check it out here:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/external_clips/565327/portlandtopatagonia.pdf?1393869376