MacDaddy
0
It was tempting to turn around and do the whole thing over but we continued on through Pujili until we reached the city of Latacunga. At Latacunga we turned south on the E35, the same road we left Quito on. We were able to skirt the edge of Latacunga easily enough on our way to Ambato.
The road to Ambato was unremarkable and contained it's share of traffic. Ambato is a sprawling city of 180,000 people. We didn’t come for the cities though. Our route kept us moving and on the edge of town. As urban as it was, I was pleasantly surprised that just as soon as we located our turn off to Mt. Chimborazo we were back cruising in the country. We followed a canyon with tall cliffs on both sides. A small river ran through the canyon with only enough space at times for the road.
It was a lovely road that went on for quite a while. The road crossed over the river 18 times using single lane bridges. We would eventually end up near Mt. Chimborazo. Mt. Chimborazo is currently an inactive stratovolcano that rises to 20,564 feet. I’m told it’s the farthest point away from the center of the earth on earth. Anyway I have 4 shorter videos that show a slight changing in the canyon as you go. It really starts to open up in the 4th video. The road would eventually become very desolate and barren near the mountain.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj4aSa8VDHo"]To Chimborazo part 1[/ame]
Just try not to tap your toe to this one.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgWuNFhp-NY"]To Chimborazo part 2[/ame]
For anyone under 50, that was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySM6Ei4JaLo"]To Chimborazo part 3[/ame]
Guess what? Looks like I’m taking musical requests now. Mr2mch expressed interest in songs from the Yellow Brick Road album so who am I to argue. Don’t worry, I’m not reading letters and turning this into some Casey Kasem long distance request thing.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VI9Dht6o6s"]To Chimborazo part 4[/ame]
Looking back from where we came.
Where we’re heading.
Clowning around putting the layer of clothing back on that I took off 20 minutes earlier.
Chimborazo was only able to show us part of her majesty that day.
As we went around the mountain we entered a cloud bank on the backside and found ourselves in heavy fog for a while. We passed through the National Wilderness Park located there as we topped out at 14,750 feet. This is the only place where I got a chill even though I wasn’t wearing very heavy gear. We passed by some Llamas grazing nearby.
Destination for the night is Banos and we still have a ways to go.
The road to Ambato was unremarkable and contained it's share of traffic. Ambato is a sprawling city of 180,000 people. We didn’t come for the cities though. Our route kept us moving and on the edge of town. As urban as it was, I was pleasantly surprised that just as soon as we located our turn off to Mt. Chimborazo we were back cruising in the country. We followed a canyon with tall cliffs on both sides. A small river ran through the canyon with only enough space at times for the road.
It was a lovely road that went on for quite a while. The road crossed over the river 18 times using single lane bridges. We would eventually end up near Mt. Chimborazo. Mt. Chimborazo is currently an inactive stratovolcano that rises to 20,564 feet. I’m told it’s the farthest point away from the center of the earth on earth. Anyway I have 4 shorter videos that show a slight changing in the canyon as you go. It really starts to open up in the 4th video. The road would eventually become very desolate and barren near the mountain.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj4aSa8VDHo"]To Chimborazo part 1[/ame]
Just try not to tap your toe to this one.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgWuNFhp-NY"]To Chimborazo part 2[/ame]
For anyone under 50, that was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySM6Ei4JaLo"]To Chimborazo part 3[/ame]
Guess what? Looks like I’m taking musical requests now. Mr2mch expressed interest in songs from the Yellow Brick Road album so who am I to argue. Don’t worry, I’m not reading letters and turning this into some Casey Kasem long distance request thing.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VI9Dht6o6s"]To Chimborazo part 4[/ame]
Looking back from where we came.
Where we’re heading.
Clowning around putting the layer of clothing back on that I took off 20 minutes earlier.
Chimborazo was only able to show us part of her majesty that day.
As we went around the mountain we entered a cloud bank on the backside and found ourselves in heavy fog for a while. We passed through the National Wilderness Park located there as we topped out at 14,750 feet. This is the only place where I got a chill even though I wasn’t wearing very heavy gear. We passed by some Llamas grazing nearby.
Destination for the night is Banos and we still have a ways to go.