Waterfalls

For the past two weeks in Ecuador it has been raining.  I don’t mean the cloudy-all-day-no-sun rain, but “winter” aka the rainy season, Ecuador style.  Every morning I wake up to a brilliant sun and any clouds that existed at 6am are burned off by 8am when I’m headed to the bus.  To an outsider, it would appear that rain showers would be impossible.  But between noon and 1pm, without fail, it starts raining—sometimes with a downpour and thunder and sometimes even with hail.  If you ever want an example of the phrase “appearances are deceptive,” I’ve got a great one—Ecuador weather.

The upshot of all this is that more rain=larger, faster rivers=better waterfalls.  Last weekend, during Easter break I spent some time with a family in Pintag, and we hiked through a river canyon to several spectacular waterfalls.  From now on, when people talk about the beauty of Ecuador, these waterfalls will be one of the things I think of, along with the volcanoes, jungle, and patchwork fields on mountainsides.  So, come along for a picture tour of the hike out to the waterfalls.

And not to overlook my countdown...

1 day until my parents arrive

65 days 'til I meet a new niece or nephew in Michigan!

Now let the waterfall tour begin...

Hiking down into the river valley

The adventurers - on a more well-beaten trail

The first waterfall - more of an occasional, rainy season addition to the river below

Another small waterfall

Under the waterfall (pretending that we like the ice cold water!)

Valeria and her sister stand on a tree beside the river

We came across some horses on our hike, and someone convinced me to mount this one bareback

First river crossing (the second was up to my waist!)

Wilson went fishing for river trout every chance we got along the way.

The first major waterfall

Second major waterfall

The Waterfall!  We could hear it a 1/2 mile away!

Lunch break at 2pm on the return journey.

Looking down on the largest waterfall in the distance.  It started raining right after lunch, so we opted to hike straight up the canyon wall, with some bouldering and scrambling included.  We arrived back at the house 6 hours after we left and completely exhausted.