Mojanda from Fuya Fuya

Page Type Page Type: Trip Report
Date Date Climbed/Hiked: Oct 24, 2008
Activities Activities: Hiking
Seasons Season: Winter

Getting to Fuya Fuya.

Mojanda Lake.Laguna de Mojanda (3,700 m/12,139 ft)
Edgar (ECU) and I traveled north along with our German and Austrian friends to the town of Otavalo (2,550 m/8,364 ft). We spent the first day and night there. The weather was looking pretty good for the next days so we decided to go climbing Fuya Fuya the next day.

We all woke up early. After having breakfast at the hotel where we were staying at, we drove 17 km south of Otavalo by a cobbled road to Laguna de Mojanda (3,700 m/12,139 ft), a huge crater lake located at the foothills of Cerro Negro and Cerro Fuya Fuya.

We parked the truck at the northern shores of the largest lake called Laguna Grande, at the base of Fuya Fuya. The morning got cloudy a bit, but the weather was still looking good, windless and warm.

Hiking Up

A bit of scrambling.Rocky pass to the main summit.
Edgar started hiking up with Angela (GER) while I went ahead followed by Rommy (AUS) and Bernd (GER). The trail steepened a bit and Rommy seem to be faster than Bernd, so she passed us while continued guiding Bernd up to the summit.

Trail up to Fuya Fuya.Hiking on the trail.
We hiked up pretty slow but at a constant pace.











We (Bernd and I) looked back from time to time to see the amazing Andean scenery. It was awesome being up there, surrounded by those tall peaks and the beautiful turquoise lake of Mojanda below us. I felt so lucky of being up there!

Fuya Fuya s second summit.Second summit.
Fuya Fuya s true summit.Main summit (4,263 m/13,982 ft)




Bernd and I kept hiking up towards the saddle formed between the two peaks of Fuya Fuya. We followed a very well-marked trail for about three hours until we got it. Rommy had already reached the second highest summit by the time Bernd and I got to the saddle. It passed about 3 and a half hours when we finally reached the top. Bernd looked very happy of his achievement. It was cloudy so we waited for Angela and Edgar to reach the top. Suddenly the clouds drifted away and I could see Fuya Fuya's true summit in the distance. I asked Bernd if he could hold on for a few minutes until I reach the other summit which is a bit more technical than the second one, due to the 4th class-scramble that this summit involves. He agreed and I started down climbing back to the saddle and then running up to a steep rocky pass just at the base of the true summit. I started scrambling as soon as I got there and then finally reached Fuya Fuya's true summit (4,263 m/13,982 ft) at 12:05 pm.

I just stayed for a minute up there and then I climbed down and up to the saddle. Met with Edgar and Angela. I asked Edgar if he you'd like to reach the true summit while I guide Angela up to the second summit. Edgar did same thing as me. Twenty minutes later, we all were standing together at the second highest summit of Fuya Fuya. At the end, we felt very grateful of being up there in the northern part of the Ecuadorian Andes.


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