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Written by Neon
Coming back up to Loja was akin to coming home – we were back ‘on track’ after a river respite. Time to move forward and work our way across Ecuador, continuing our walk north to Colombia and the Caribbean Sea. As we planned ahead, Fidgit and I decided to walk separately to the next city. This gave us space to decompress from a month around other people as well as process through swirling thoughts. We stayed a night in Loja to set ourselves up for success and make sure we would be able to stay in contact during our time apart. The next morning we made our way to the bus station and hopped on separate buses to the towns we had left off at – me to Saraguro and Fidgit to Ona.
I made it to Saraguro just before lunch and began walking. It felt so good to be walking and on my own schedule again that I attempted a few short cuts – some worked out, others did not. At one point, I found myself looking down a steep and loose dirt wall at the road I was trying to short cut to. As I neared the town of Ona in the late afternoon, the clouds rolled in and it began misting. I also noticed a pain starting in my right foot- an achy twinge below and slightly forward of my outside ankle. Every step a twinge, though it didn’t hurt when not in use. I didn’t quite make it to Ona that night walking, though caught a ride in so I wouldn’t have to sleep alone on the side of the highway.
In the morning, I came back to where I had left off the night before and walked into Ona, grateful to be turning off the pavement (which I blamed for the foot issue). My foot continued to hurt along the dirt road, but not if I stepped just so. I walked along through the windy, rainy morning into the sunny afternoon. Everyone I encountered was kind, some even mentioned my friend ahead or walking with me for a bit. I walked to the small town of Cochapata, where I learned Fidgit had stopped for breakfast. The family I stayed with in Cochapata told me she had stopped through and talked with the grand-kids for quite some time that morning. It was fun to hear what they had to say about my hiking partner. I was exhausted from a 36 km day so didn’t make it much past dinner before hobbling back to my quarters and falling into a deep sleep.
Waking up the next morning, I had more energy to offer the grandparents as the grand-kids slept in. After a tasty breakfast of chicken and plantains, I was packed up and fed, though that didn’t help my foot issue. I took some ibuprofen (a resource I was running quite low on) and walked on. I also sent Fidgit a message to update/tell her about my injury. I walked on, and made it to the small town of Nabon around lunch. Nabon had a pharmacy! I bought enough ibuprofen to be able to take some with each meal, ate some ice cream, and walked on. Following a lesser dirt road out of town, I came upon a large landslide that Fidgit had warned me about – it looked like the side of a hill had just given up and slid across the road into the creek below. It was simple enough to walk across for a person on foot, though it made the rest of the road walk to Ranas nice and quiet. From Ranas, I had a decision to make: go along our originally planned route or along a route we had seen on Google Earth Pro. As it was later in the day and I had a legitimate hobble/limp at this point, I decided to walk the original route, hoping to find a decent spot to stay for the night. I ascended a winding dirt road up and up, scowling as I hit a paved highway at the top. Walking along at the end of a long day, I came upon the area where I thought there may be some place to stay. I walked past a small one-room restaurant and found a large building that claimed to be a restaurant and hostel. It was locked up tight, so I walked back to the small restaurant and was able to get dinner. I asked if the man and woman behind the counter if they knew of a place I could stay or set up my tent and after thirty minutes or so (after another customer left), they offered me floor space in the restaurant. Grateful to be indoors, I took them up on their offer. Throughout the night, the wind howled through the spaces between the wooden floor and wall slats and shook the tin roof as the rain fell. I shivered myself to sleep wearing all my layers.
Thankfully, the building held together until morning when I packed my pack and wandered into the cloud that consumed the mountaintop. Carefully walking/hobbling along the side of a highway in a cloud after not much sleep, I did my best to avoid the cars and trucks careening through the mist.
After a few kilometers, I was grateful to once again turn off the highway on to a dirt road that followed along the crest of the mountain before descending out of the cloud. A large valley opened up ahead as the wind and rain died down. My foot pain had slowly become all-consuming and was getting worse as I tried to hobble down a steep area of the dirt track. I stopped and wrapped it as though it was a sprained ankle, which turned it from a light throb to a full on “don’t walk on this unless you want to cringe/yell in pain every step.” So the wrap came off and I stopped for lunch. I messaged Fidgit to let her know where I was (physically and . . . physically), and she requested I try to come into Cuenca sooner than planned to allow my foot some rest time. As stubborn as I am, I’ve learned when to push and when to acquiesce. After walking multiple 30+ kilometer days on a bum foot, I called it. Dejectedly, I hobbled into Cumbe and caught a bus the last 25 kilometers into Cuenca to meet up with Fidgit.
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Loja a Cuenca
Traduccion por Henry Tovar
Escrito por Neon
Regresar a Loja era como volver a casa, estábamos de vuelta “en la pista” después de un respiro del río. Es hora de seguir adelante y trabajar nuestro camino a través de Ecuador, continuando nuestra caminata hacia el norte a Colombia y el Mar Caribe. Como planeamos con anticipación, Fidgit y yo decidimos caminar por separado a la siguiente ciudad. Esto nos dio espacio para descomprimir a partir de un mes a otras personas y procesar a través de pensamientos arremolinados. Nos quedamos una noche en Loja para prepararnos para el éxito y asegurarnos de que pudiéramos mantenernos en contacto durante nuestro tiempo de separación. A la mañana siguiente nos dirigimos a la estación de autobuses y nos subimos a autobuses separados a las ciudades en las que nos habíamos quedado: a Saraguro y Fidgit a Ona.
Llegué a Saraguro justo antes del almuerzo y comencé a caminar. Me sentí tan bien al caminar y en mi propio horario que intenté algunos atajos, algunos funcionaron, otros no. En un momento dado, me encontré mirando hacia abajo por una pared de tierra empinada y suelta en el camino que estaba tratando de cortar. Cuando me acercaba al pueblo de Ona a última hora de la tarde, las nubes rodaban y comenzó a nebulizarse. También noté un dolor que empezaba en el pie derecho: una punzada dolorosa debajo y un poco adelante de mi tobillo externo. Cada paso es una punzada, aunque no duele cuando no está en uso. No pude llegar a Ona esa noche caminando, aunque me di una vuelta para no tener que dormir sola al costado de la carretera.
Por la mañana, volví a donde había quedado la noche anterior y entré a Ona, agradecido de haber apagado el pavimento (que culpé por el problema de los pies). Mi pie siguió doliendo a lo largo del camino de tierra, pero no si lo hice. Caminé a través de la ventosa y lluviosa mañana hacia la tarde soleada. Todos los que encontré fueron amables, algunos incluso mencionaron a mi amigo por delante o caminando conmigo un momento. Caminé hacia el pequeño pueblo de Cochapata, donde descubrí que Fidgit había parado para desayunar. La familia con la que me quedé en Cochapata me dijo que había pasado por allí y había hablado con los nietos por bastante tiempo esa mañana. Fue divertido escuchar lo que tenían que decir sobre mi compañero de excursión. Estaba agotado de un día de 36 km, así que no pasé de la cena mucho antes de regresar a mis habitaciones y caer en un sueño profundo.
Al despertarme a la mañana siguiente, tuve más energía para ofrecer a los abuelos mientras los nietos dormían. Después de un sabroso desayuno con pollo y plátanos, estaba empacada y alimentada, aunque eso no ayudó a mi problema en los pies. Tomé algo de ibuprofeno (un recurso con el que corría bastante bajo) y seguí caminando. También le envié un mensaje a Fidgit para informarle sobre mi lesión. Seguí caminando y llegué a la pequeña ciudad de Nabón alrededor del almuerzo. ¡Nabón tenía una farmacia! Compré suficiente ibuprofeno para poder tomar un poco con cada comida, comí un poco de helado y seguí caminando. Siguiendo un camino de tierra menor fuera de la ciudad, encontré un gran deslizamiento de tierra sobre el que Fidgit me había advertido: parecía que la ladera de una colina acababa de rendirse y se deslizaba por la carretera hacia el arroyo. Era lo suficientemente simple como para caminar por una persona a pie, aunque hizo que el resto de la carretera fuera agradable y silencioso. De Ranas, tuve que tomar una decisión: seguir nuestra ruta originalmente planificada o una ruta que habíamos visto en Google Earth Pro. Como era más tarde en el día y tenía una legítima cojera / cojera en este punto, decidí caminar la ruta original, con la esperanza de encontrar un lugar decente para pasar la noche. Subí y subí por un sinuoso camino de tierra, frunciendo el ceño cuando llegué a una carretera pavimentada en la parte superior. Caminando al final de un largo día, llegué a la zona donde pensé que podría haber un lugar donde quedarme. Pasé por un pequeño restaurante de una habitación y encontré un gran edificio que decía ser un restaurante y un albergue. Estaba cerrado con llave, así que volví al pequeño restaurante y pude cenar. Pregunté si el hombre y la mujer detrás del mostrador si sabían de un lugar en el que podía quedarme o si armaba mi tienda y después de treinta minutos más o menos (después de que se fue otro cliente), me ofrecieron espacio en el restaurante. Agradecido de estar en el interior, los llevé en su oferta. Durante toda la noche, el viento aullaba a través de los espacios entre el piso de madera y las tablillas de la pared y sacudía el techo de zinc al caer la lluvia. Me estremecí para dormir usando todas mis capas.
Afortunadamente, el edificio se mantuvo hasta la mañana en que empaqué mi mochila y deambule hacia la nube que consumía la cima de la montaña. Caminando con cuidado / cojeando a lo largo de una carretera en una nube después de no dormir mucho, hice todo lo posible para evitar que los autos y los camiones cayeran a través de la niebla.
Después de unos pocos kilómetros, me sentí agradecida de haber desviado nuevamente la carretera hacia un camino de tierra que seguía la cresta de la montaña antes de descender de la nube. Un gran valle se abrió a medida que el viento y la lluvia amainaba. Mi dolor en el pie se había vuelto lento y empeoraba cuando traté de caminar cojeando por una zona empinada de la pista de tierra. Me detuve y lo envolví como si se tratara de un tobillo torcido, que lo convirtió de un ligero latido a “no caminar sobre esto a menos que quieras temblar / gritar de dolor en cada paso”. Así que se quitó la envoltura y me detuve a almorzar. Le envié un mensaje a Fidgit para que supiera dónde estaba (físicamente y … físicamente), y ella me pidió que tratara de llegar a Cuenca antes de lo previsto para permitir que mi pie descansara un rato. Tan obstinado como soy, aprendí cuándo presionar y cuándo consentir. Después de caminar múltiples días de más de 30 y tantos kilómetros en un pie de culo, lo llamé. Abatida, cojeando en Cumbe y tomé un autobús los últimos 25 kilómetros en Cuenca para encontrarme con Fidgit.
Comments (15)
You both have done such a miraculous walk through such beautiful scenery. Those pictures must have done your trip justice after your ankle problem. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful story of how two wanderers get around on foot hiking. I hope to see more of your incredible trips !!
Thank you so much for sticking with us and taking time to share these kind words. It means a lot.
You two created this experience and I am happy to read all about it…. well done !!
Thank you so much for sticking with us and taking time to share these kind words. It means a lot.
You are very welcome. I used to hitch hike when I was a teenager. Stuck my thumb out for rides across the provinces. I really enjoyed the people I met. So kind and easy to get along with. It was unreal back in the Hippy Days !!
I read all your posts with great interest. From Ambato on, you are out of my territory and I look forward to the descriptions. Incidentally, the trekking pole is causing great wonder in Namballe!
Your knowledge of the region runs so deep, it was a delight to learn from you and to share while we passed through there. I am thrilled the trekking pole is working its wonders. =P
We are honored to bring you forward with us!
Abrazos.
I’m impressed by how the two of you work out the need for space without sacrificing safety and support. Speedy healing for your body!
Thank you! Relationship really is a lot of work but oh so valuable.
I marvel at all you both have done and how far you’ve come I am hoping your foot heals up quickly.
Thank you, Mary!
I hope a couple days rest will solve the problem with your foot. The best of luck to you both.
Thank you Carolyn! Neon’s foot is doing better. We have incorporated a “health update” to our daily check ins because of it and that has actually turned out to be a really helpful practice to supporting one another better.
You to ladies are wonderful and inspirational. I read your stories all the time.
I hike the North Country Trail . I’ve hiked all of PA and started hiking Ohio Nct. Pa was 275 miles long Ohio is 1050 miles of trail Ive got 80 miles so far. I try to hike about one to two weekends a month. Your stories inspire me to keep on hiking. The both of you are on my prayer list. Neon hope your foot hears fast. God bless and keep safe
Neon is from PA! What beautiful places you explore. It is such an honor to help inspire you to keep getting out there.
Hike on!