Category Archives: Trip Reports

The posts in this category detail some of our more memorable trips and events.

Climbing Ecuador’s Volcanoes

Mountaineering attracts an eclectic mix of people from weekend thrill-seekers to hardcore life-long adventurers. They travel to — even enjoy — some of the coldest and highest places on the planet. Why do they do it?

 

— An Excerpt —

CONTRIBUTION FROM STEELE BURROW

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The Highlands of Ecuador would be hard to describe without a mention of volcanoes. They occupy the skyline, the local history, even the original recipe for traditional ice cream.

unspecified-2Volcanoes’ prominence in Ecuador’s landscape is exceeded only by their place in local folklore. Stories scatter the landscape. Spanish conquistadors established their first fort on the slopes of a crater near Volcan Cayambe and the earliest forms of local ice cream — so the legend goes at least — were made from ice harvested from the upper slopes of Cotopaxi. At over 19,000 feet, that’s not exactly a short walk to Baskin & Robbins.

We were in Ecuador to attempt climbs on two of the country’s highest volcanoes—Cayambe, 18,996 feet high, and Antisana, a more technically difficult climb at 18,714 feet. Our group included two New Yorkers, three Washingtonians, and a lone Texan. Between the six of us, we each had our own reasons to be there, but we all wanted an adventure.

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Guided Climbing: Ecuador Volcanoes

Join us for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

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5 Must See Trails In The WMNF – Number 3

Castle Ravine Trail

This is the third installment. Check back each week as we count down to number one!

CONTRIBUTION BY ELIZABETH KANE

The Castle Ravine in its glory

The Castle Ravine in its glory


History: The Castle Ravine trail was first cut by the Randolph Mountain Club between 1916 and 1922 and still remains under their stewardship. As with many WMNF trails, the long reach of the logging industry spelled disaster for the virgin forests of this ravine. The area was heavily logged in the late 1800s/early 1900s and the mark of destruction is still evident on the lower reaches of this trail. Continue reading

Single Day, Super-Extended Pemi Loop – a lesson in suffering

CONTRIBUTION BY NATE WEEKS

Dawn breaks at Bondcliff, 2.5 hours into the loop.

Dawn breaks at Bondcliff, 2.5 hours into the loop.

At long last, Andrew finally came from from the PCT last Friday. When I talked to him earlier in the week, we both figured out that we wanted to have a big day over the weekend, so we figured we’d tackle the Super-Extended Pemi Loop. This loop is the standard Extended Pemi, plus Zealand, Hale, and North Twin. We weren’t quite sure of the mileage or elevation gain, but we knew it would be 40+ with well over 12,000′, so we decided to do it with a goal of 16 hours. Continue reading