The cable car of Quito is a modern, save transport facility and lifts us up to Cruz Loma mountain at 4000m. It's one of the highest cable cars of the world.

Vegetation becomes smaller and smaller meanwhile we gain altitude.

We will admire the huge size of Quito and the impressive surroundings of the capital of Ecuador.

And we may see some of the highest mountains of Ecuador! Glaciated ones are Cotopaxi, Cayambe, Antizana and Iliniza Sur. But I will show and name you much more mountains! All of them are volcanoes, some still active, some dormant and some not active any more.

On clear days the view in northern , eastern and southern direction is truly breathtaking!

The top of Cruz Loma is dotted with antennas.

There's a trail as well from Quito to the antennas.

We enjoy the unique mountain scenery around Quito: Lush green vegetation, valleys and mountains everywhere!

From the cable car station we turn into western direction and may see already our first destination: In front of us we appreciate the impressive steep and rocky summit of Rucu Pichincha (literally Old Pichincha) with its 4696m.

Only a few kilometers away from Quito, Pichincha is still an active volcano, but Rucu Pichincha is the old part of the mountain and not active any more.

We cross the open, wet grass land of Páramo, a vegetation you can find only in the northern part of the Andes Range.

You may be surprised, that we can see even flowers at more than 4000m. I will explain some of them.

Hummingbirds are dancing in the air, mainly close to the Chuquiragua plants, as this tiny birds are attracted by their beautiful, orange flowers.

Did you know that the hummingbirds reduce their heart beat, respiration and all other life functions to need less energy at the cold nights in such high altitude? After the 12 hours of darkness, early in the morning, they accelerate their metabolism again and visit immediately flowers to feed.

But the endemic Chuquiragua is a medicine plant as well and a symbol plant for mountaineering in Ecuador.

Our trail sometimes is quite steep, sometimes less demanding.

The sway of clouds may change constantly the landscape. Even if you return to the same trail on another day your experience and your impressions never will be the same!

After some 2 hours we are on a junction.

At this junction you can decide if you want to climb a really thrilling and adventurous rocky portion to the summit following a steep ridge or if you want to continue trekking on a different route up to the same summit.

If you decide to climb we will wear at the junction our harnesses and use a rope for security.

But even if you decide for the second, trekking option, you will need to use your hands to grab the rocks at some short parts, specially close to the top of the mountain.

The summit area of Rucu Pichincha is home to the Carunculated Caracara.

Birds of Caracara family are endemic to the Americas and hunt small animals like lizards and rodents, but mainly they feed from death animals. This is the reason why they don't have feathers in their colorful faces.

Unfortunately visitors feed them with cookies, fruits and other snacks for human and so this birds lost their natural shyness and approach climbers.

But you may take some good close up pictures of these beautiful birds!

Congratulations if you reached the summit of Rucu Pichincha! You are now 4696m above sea level!

If you want to save time and your energy we may skip the summit of Rucu Pichincha and bypass it. In this case we almost avoid the rocks.

After a break and cold lunch we continue our trek to Cerro Ladrillos.

As well as Padre Encantado and Guagua Pichincha we can already see this mountain and a completely new and different panoramic view in western direction.

The first part down from the saddle close to Rucu Pichincha is quite steep and sometimes slippery. With caution we will manage it.

At this section of our trek sometimes we can see the mighty Condor soaring in the sky.

In the past the local population believed that the mountains are gods and goddesses and so there exist several legends about them. If you are interested, I can reveal some of them for instance about Padre Encantado (literally Enchanted Monk), Cerro Ladrillos (Mountain of Barks) and Guagua Pichincha (literally Baby Pichincha).

The last part up to the summit of Cerro Ladrillos is steep again and demands the use of our hands. A lot of small stony towers "decorate" the broad top of Cerro Ladrillos.

Congratulations if you did it! We are 4561m high now.

If you want to save time and your energy we may bypass the summit.

Now we head in direction to Padre Encantado.

This mountain looks very hard to climb! Rocks rise up almost vertically, but don't worry the climb we intend from another side! It's demanding, because steep, but not difficult or technical.

Congratulations if you stand at the summit of 4580m!

If you want to save time and your energy we may again bypass the summit.

Now awaits for us the most demanding part of the entire day program! Only really strong and well acclimatized mountain lovers will be able to complete the climb of Guagua Pichincha.

His summit is 4794m above sea level and the highest point of all the Pichincha massif. At the same time it is the only active part. But don't worry, it's absolutely save to climb it, as the volcanic activity is controlled permanently by scientists and they would restrict the access in case of danger.

The last big eruption was only in 1999. When we approach the crater, we will smell the sulfur and (if the weather allows) we will enjoy the spectacular view into the crater and see fumaroles inside! Awesome!

We will need about 2 hours to the summit.

Respect if you reach this summit and congratulations!!

Specially the last part of climb was tough and you needed to climb a short rock section.

Mostly we will renounce to climb the summit of Guagua Pichincha and cut the route in direction to the valley shortly after Padre Encantado.

Nevertheless you may try the highest summit of entire Pichincha on another day. You don't will be disappointed!

Now we go down to the beautiful small village of Lloa, nestled between lush green vegetation and separated from the capital of Ecuador by a ridge.

First we cross partly steep sections with sandy volcanic sediments that may be slippery, later the Páramo and soon bushes are growing alongside the trail.

Later we use a unpaved road to go down.

Farmland surrounded by bushes with flowers and bird life escort our way.

Sometimes we are lucky and a farmer offers us to take us along at his car to Lloa.

The way back to Quito we do by car.

We cross a pass close to El Cinto peregrination point and arrive at Mena 2 neighbourhood of Quito after 30 minutes.

After a thrilling, adventurous, long day we are tired but happy and say goodbye.

If you want, I can bring you to your hotel, bus station or airport.