Where: Ecuadorian Andes
When: January 1, 2009
Partners: DB & Andy MacClure
We decided to ring in the new year with a hike up Pasochoa, one of several beautiful volcanos south of Quito, Ecuador. With the lady who ran the hostel we were staying in saying that the hike was short, we hired a driver to take us to the mountain and wait for our return in 6 hours. We'll be right back...!
As it turned out, the route, while beautiful and semi-interesting, is not "short". After 3.5 hours of hiking, we were still an hour or more from the summit. Doing a bit of math, I realized that we'd be long overdue to meet our tired driver if we continued to the top. 
Turning around with DB just above an interesting class 4 wall of wet conglomerate well up the mountain, Andy continued on alone, determined to bag the peak. And he did, 1.25 hours later!
So with more than a hint of jealousy in my heart, we returned to our sleeping driver 7.5 hours after starting out. Fortunately, I think he was too groggy to notice that we were overdue.
Celebrating the First Failure of 2009 on Pasochoa!
