Cojitambo y Paute

After spending a night in Cuenca, Drew and I took off to do some climbing in Cojitambo, a small town about one hour by bus fromn Cuenca.  Once we got in town and settle at the hostel, some of the members of the Ecuadorian National Climbing Team showed up including the president of Ecuador's daughter.  It was awesome to spend some time with these folks, and watch them climb the following day. 

Two days later, we took a bus to Paute, another town close to Cuenca with about 50 different routes to climb.  We got here pretty late and did most of the hike in the dark with headlamps.  Our original plan to climb into a cave a couple pitches from the ground was scratched for plan B...sleeping next to the cliff.  After dealing with mosquitos for a couple hours, it started to rain, and Drew and I were stuck under an overhang trying to keep ourselves and our gear and dry as possible.  Once the rain passed, we went back to sleeping with the mosquitos for a few more hours on and off due to more light rain. 

The next morning, Drew led a pitch en route of the cave/shelter, only to get rained on once again.  I lowered Drew and we decided to keep our gear under an overhang while we hiked to the summit of the mountain.  Aside from the thorns, wet shoes, and steep slopes, we had a good time, and met up later with some of the Ecuadorian National Climbing to climb a few routes.