Piñan trek in 4 days

Imbabura Province – Ecuador

Elevation:

(14,879ft/4.535m)

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

4 days

Itinerary

We will drive early in the morning from Quito through the Pan-American Highway to the north, enjoying the beauty of the landscapes from its Andean valleys, its towns, villages, mountains, etc., until getting the small and typical andean village “Iruguinchu”, where will meet our porters and personal who will be taking care of the horses for transporting our logistics for the next 4 days. We will start our hike up, first on the dirt road, then after on a small trail up to Churoloma Mountain (11,811ft/3.600m), from where we can see down to Otavalo town, Ibarra city, and some snow-capped volcanoes like Cayambe, and  a big mountain on our left  Cotacachi (16,204ft/4.939m),  we will continue for a couple of our until getting our first camping place located at (11,318ft/3.450m), which is known as “Pukara” (old ruins). Today we  will be hiking for about 5 hours, dinner and night in the tents (-/-/D)

We will get breakfast, will pack all our camping gear, and start walking through a very narrow trail in between the nice “andean forest” with different species of flora like muss, orchids, bromeliads, polylepys, etc. Then we will be gaining altitude until getting to the highland plains at (13,123ft/4.000m), where the vegetation tents to be shorter, it´s represented by highland straws (festuca, or stipa ichu). We will reach a very nice a panoramic view to the “Chota Valley” which is very dry and much contrast valley with the green paramo plains. We will walk further on to this trail up to (13,451ft/4.100m),  and then go down to our camping site at (12,795ft/3.900m), called  Yanacocha Lake where we will have dinner and spend the night in the tents, the total walking of today will take us 7-8 hours (B/-/D)

We will start very early in the morning, because today we have the chance to climb Yanahurco del Piñán, we will hike through a highland vegetation for a couple of hours and then follow a rocky ridge, which might be a bit scrambling and connect to the Summit, form here we can observe almost all the snow-capped mountains in Ecuador as well as the Andean Valley which divided clearly the both ranges, we will enjoy for a while on the summit and  go down to the Camping place,   called “Piedra Blanca” (12,795ft/3.900m). Today we have great possibilities to observe the Andean Condor. We will be hiking for about 8-9 hours. Overnight and dinner in the tents (B/-/D)

Today will be our last day; as usual we will get breakfast, pack our camping gear and start our hike through paramo vegetation, we will have good chances to observe some wildlife like Andean deers, rabbits, hawks, etc., and if the weather allows, we will see the central valley with impressive mountains, even the highest one in Ecuador southern “Chimborazo” (20,702ft/6.310m). The trail will finish in a small village of “Pichanchi” where we can enjoy and relax in the hot springs and drive back to Quito by late afternoon (B/-/-)

Price: Please contact us

Land transportation and transfers
Professional Certified Guide / ratio 6 trekkers – 1 guide
Accommodations in 2 persons tent
All meals during the hikes and climbs (shown above with B: breakfast and D: dinner)
National Parks entrance fees
Camping equipment (tents, kitchen utensils, chairs, tables, etc.)
Permanent communication through walkie-talkie between guides and office in case of an emergency
Fully First aid kit (Recommended by NOLS WILDERNESS MEDICINE INSTITUTE)
Rescue or evacuation service in case of any incident in the mountains. (Only Company in Ecuador)
International flight tickets
Personal equipment (Boots, sleeping bags, gloves, waterproof jackets and pants, etc.)
Insurance of any kind
Tips
Other non-specified expenses
Equipment insurance in case of loss

Piñan Trek - Ecuador