The Andy Hood and Gina Collignon Memorial Lagunas Hike

No, Andy and Gina aren't dead, but we did almost die a year ago when we attempted to do this challenging hike the first time. Gina, who is normally an avid outdoors enthusiast, nearly broke down mentally and physically during the hurricane-like weather we endured for three straight days, while Andy enjoyed sleeping in an icy pool of water that collected at the bottom of his violently flapping tent for two nights. Needless to say, the weather was so horrible that we never made it to the lakes.

This time around, Angela and Janet decided to join me on this epic journey to the Lagunas del Compadre located in Podocarpus National Park, just 20 minutes south of Loja. This year, we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather, and we were treated to some amazing 20-mile views. I even took the plunge and jumped into the frigid waters of one of the lakes, all of which are located between 10 and 11 thousand feet above sea level.  The trip would have been perfect if we hadn't listened to the advice of a park guard, who recommended leaving the park via a different route than we had entered.

"Just head down at kilometer 6 towards Rumizshitana and you'll meet up with the highway where you can catch a bus back to Loja," said Enrique the guard. "Awesome," we thought since this would shorten our return trip significantly and it would be neat to see a new area. "And it's easy to follow the trail all the way down?" I asked Enrique.  "Claro, no pasa nada," he replied which basically means, "Yeah, no worries, don't be silly, you've got to be a moron if you can't find your way down." OK....

Well, turns out after heading down over 3000 vertical feet on a 45-degree angle trail overgrown with exceptionally spiky plants, we ended up in a pine forest where the trail was obliterated due to piles of pine needles on the ground that killed the rest of the vegetation. The pine tree branches formed a thick wooden matrix making it virtually impossible to pass. Janet and Angela started to plan their funerals while I hunted around with my GPS for other possible ways to get down. No such luck. We would have to turn around and climb the 3000 feet we had just come down to meet up with the original trail so we could head back the same way we came in. Note that while we were heading down an hour earlier, upon seeing the highway and convinced that we'd be on a bus in less than 2 hours, we had tossed the last of our thoroughly smooshed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the woods.  Not such a bright idea...

Angela claimed that is was physically impossible to go back up, and Janet was freaking out since she had to be back in Loja early the next morning for a phone interview with a coffee cooperative back in the States. There was no other option, unfortunately, then back up. I strapped Angela's tent on my pack to lighten her load a bit and we began the grueling journey back up to 11,000 feet, each step a challenge as we blazed along at less then half a kilometer per hour, the sun blazing down on us and the thin air robbing our lungs of much-needed oxygen. Our water supply quickly dwindled to nothing and we were forced to fill our bottles from a muddy puddle we came across along the way. The water was an appetizing yellow color with an array of little swimmers, so we decided to double the iodine/chlorine tablet dosage in an effort to kill off the little buggers. Thirty minutes later and the micro-swimmers were all still swimming, but we were desperate and drank it down anyway! Luckily, I'm still alive now to tell this story. Angela, unluckily, didn't make it. Just kidding...

After trudging along for 3 hours we finally found a spot to camp. Janet and Angela passed out immediately and I made a pot of powdered soup mix which really hit the spot. Second course was one of Angela's two-and-a-half-day old empanadas that we broke into pieces and heated on the camp stove hoping to kill off any bacteria. Then we finished off with some chamomile tea. I dropped a spoonful of soup and tea on the ground as a ceremonial "please get us out of here alive" offering to the Pacha Mama (the Kichwa Mother Earth), who then subsequently blessed us with a lovely coating of rime ice on our tents the next morning.

The sun rose the next day and Pacha Mama did actually come through, blessing us with the fourth picture-perfect day in a row. To energize for the upcoming finale, we made a surprisingly delicious porridge consisting of 3-day old hard boiled eggs broken up into boiling water, corn meal, and leftover powdered soup mix. After packing up the camp, we hiked another 4 hours back to the ranger station where we had started, called a cab, devoured a piping hot rotisserie chicken and took the most blissful hot showers ever.

For any Google Earth nerds out there (like me!) you can check out our route in Google Earth direct from my GPS by opening the file below.

http://natureandculture.org/Lagunas2010.kmz

Enjoy the pics below! And thanks to Janet for bringing her little pocket camera so I didn't have to lug my big SLR camera along with my 45lb pack.

Oh, and a BIG thanks to Enrique!

 You can see a laguna and waterfall to the upper left and another to the right

Dinner!

Lakeside coffee using Andy's memorial mug

The latest in Haute Couture...

Day 4 breakfast porridge.. yum