The Quito Teleférico glides up the slopes of the Pichincha volcano, going from 3,117 meters (10,226 feet) to 3,945 meters (12,943 feet) above sea level within a few minutes. From the top station of the Teleférico, I walked out onto the hiking trail that leads to the top of Pichincha. The landscape here is characterized by an ecosystem known as páramo, a treeless alpine tundra composed of small shrubs, grasses, and mosses, along with a wide variety of wildflowers. Delicate rosette plants and flowers, ranging in size from miniscule to a foot across, dot the hillsides of the volcano.

I continued up the trail, making the was a six-kilometer hike to the top of Ruku Pichincha (There is an even higher peak of this mountain called Wawa Pichincha, but that would have been an additional four kilometers). I'm a slow hiker and took lots of rest breaks, so the whole hike took about eight hours. The elevation makes each step a major effort for the feet and for the lungs. At the top I met a nice Ecuadorian who graciously offered me some té de coca, which gave me a second wind and made the return trip a lot easier.