After flying back into Quito, I stopped by the Military Institute of Geography and purchased some topographical maps of the surrounding area of Jima, as well as some around Cuenca in Cajas National Park and some detailing parts of the Inca trail. According to our map, and our best guesses at reading it, Jima is about 9,500 feet above sea level.
Lara and I started exploring almost immediately with a 10 mile walk and over 2000 of vertical feet on the Saturday the day after I got back. It was pretty amazing even to just walk the roads as we would have miles between little villages. We even found a beautiful spot on a river to have a picnic lunch. We headed in a north easterly direction on the main road to the town of Cushig and got within a few miles of the town, prompting those in Jima to think we were crazy when we told them about it…as apparently we are the only ones…ever…to go on such long crazy walks purely for the enjoyment of it. We didn’t have much trouble with dogs, as we both now carry large sticks (mine is 6 feet tall and Lara’s 4 feet) with us wherever we go. I must say, the vicious dogs really respect the stick, and a rock held high. Whenever we go for our walks, besides the sticks I also take a handful of rocks for my pocket. In the past week we have gone on 3 long walks, or hikes exploring 3 different directions. The second walk, it was extremely wet and we decided to head south east on the road that winds its way over the continental divide and into the rain forest…of course we didn’t make it nearly that far but it gave us some beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and valleys, as well as built our leg strength as we each were carrying about 1 pound of mud on each boot. The 3rd walk we headed north along our trusty running trail, which we normally do about 4 miles and over 600 feet of vertical feet. We passed our normal turning back point where the River Moya meets up with the main road. The road then became flat, with exceptional scenery and we found another beautiful picnic spot, at least that is until the local ranchers brought their cows down for a drink of the river. The cows besides gulping the water used the river as a bathroom, which has Lara and I rethinking our plans of swimming in the large pools below some of the rapids.
Paqueri or Paqi for short, our dog, one of only two white dogs in Jima (how fitting) loves to follow us on our hikes. He pees about every 15 feet marking everything, which ticks off the local dogs, prompting me to lower the stick and raise the rock every so often. He sprints around in circles everytime we stop near water, whether it is a river, reservoir, or big mud puddle.
Lara and I started exploring almost immediately with a 10 mile walk and over 2000 of vertical feet on the Saturday the day after I got back. It was pretty amazing even to just walk the roads as we would have miles between little villages. We even found a beautiful spot on a river to have a picnic lunch. We headed in a north easterly direction on the main road to the town of Cushig and got within a few miles of the town, prompting those in Jima to think we were crazy when we told them about it…as apparently we are the only ones…ever…to go on such long crazy walks purely for the enjoyment of it. We didn’t have much trouble with dogs, as we both now carry large sticks (mine is 6 feet tall and Lara’s 4 feet) with us wherever we go. I must say, the vicious dogs really respect the stick, and a rock held high. Whenever we go for our walks, besides the sticks I also take a handful of rocks for my pocket. In the past week we have gone on 3 long walks, or hikes exploring 3 different directions. The second walk, it was extremely wet and we decided to head south east on the road that winds its way over the continental divide and into the rain forest…of course we didn’t make it nearly that far but it gave us some beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and valleys, as well as built our leg strength as we each were carrying about 1 pound of mud on each boot. The 3rd walk we headed north along our trusty running trail, which we normally do about 4 miles and over 600 feet of vertical feet. We passed our normal turning back point where the River Moya meets up with the main road. The road then became flat, with exceptional scenery and we found another beautiful picnic spot, at least that is until the local ranchers brought their cows down for a drink of the river. The cows besides gulping the water used the river as a bathroom, which has Lara and I rethinking our plans of swimming in the large pools below some of the rapids.
Paqueri or Paqi for short, our dog, one of only two white dogs in Jima (how fitting) loves to follow us on our hikes. He pees about every 15 feet marking everything, which ticks off the local dogs, prompting me to lower the stick and raise the rock every so often. He sprints around in circles everytime we stop near water, whether it is a river, reservoir, or big mud puddle.
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