5 kms south of El Ángel to refugio del Voladero: Cold, wet climb on cobblestones and ripio


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Statistics for today
Distance 30.00 kms 18.64 miles
Climbed 954 meters 3,130 feet
Ride time (hours) 3.75 -
Avg speed 8 kph -
Avg climb 5% -
Max grade 19% -
Statistics for trip to date
Distance 12,660.52 kms 7,867.18 miles
Climbed 149,799 meters 491,467 feet
Ride time (hours) 1,019.70 -
On this page

Tuesday, July 16th, 2013

We headed into El Ángel in the morning for breakfast and supplies. It started raining pretty hard while we were eating and it continued on for the rest of the day. The climb up to the nature reserve started out on wet cobblestones with sharp grades then switched to dirt, rock, and mud until we got to the top. The refugio is at 3,700 meters... man was it freezing with rain and fog. We decided to quit at 2pm and stay at the refugio. We wrapped ourselves up in blankets and watched a movie.

At 6 the park ranger left and the night watchman showed up. We made a big dinner of pasta, vegies, beans, and sausage that we shared with the guard. Before we went to sleep the guard shot off a sawed-off shotgun, saying it was to scare a way wolves... I'm a little skeptical that there are wolves up there... Covered in 3 blankets the night turned out to be not so cold.

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The campsite.
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More plaza art...
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Phil finishing off a nasty climb on wet cobblestones.
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The ecological reserve of El Ángel has endless fields of these cacti that one of the rangers said were frailejones.
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Arriving cold, wet, and tired at the refugio (3,700 meters).
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Refugio kitchen.
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That is one cold Englishman.
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The sawed-off shotgun the night watchman fired off before we went to sleep. He said it was to scare off wolves...
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Making dinner.
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Two very cold cyclists.
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The night watchman at the refugio.
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Me struggling up the hill.