How to Cross a Landslide in Ecuador

The hot, crowded bus rolled to a stop. Looking up, I saw a line of cars, trucks and buses snaking out of view. Several people stood up and walked off the bus like they knew exactly what was going on. I was confused.

Kelsey had been lulled to sleep by the swaying bus as it carved its way through the green mountains outside of Banos, Ecuador, but was woken by the sudden stillness. We were two hours outside of Tena, a small city of 30,000 people on the western edge of the Amazon, where we planned to spend the next two nights.

Vehicles stacked up behind us as we sat waiting in the bus. The lack of movement provided zero relief from the mounting heat and humidity of that March morning. Kelsey got off the bus for a breath of fresh air and to see if she could find out what was going on. She chatted with a mother and her two young children on the side of the road and found out that a landslide was blocking the road about a half mile up and a crew was working from the other side to clear it. Another crew would be coming up from our side to help out. People had all sorts of estimates on how long it would take to clear the slide. Some said two hours, others said six or more.

Kelsey finds out what's going on

Cars began to turn around and we considered catching a ride back to Banos where we started that morning. It'd certainly be better than spending all day stuck on the side of the road with only two bottles of water and a few granola bars. A taxi driver a couple cars back sensed our restlessness and offered a ride to Banos for $20. Tempting. We couldn't decide what to do. We really wanted to get to Tena, but didn't want to waste the day stuck on the bus.

Indecision led to inaction, so I decided to go see the landslide for myself. I walked past people napping in cars and sitting back, listening to music. Kids played on the side of the road. A farmer kept his chickens cool by covering their cages with grass and pouring water over them.

I rounded a bend in the road, catching my first glimpse of the landslide. The mass of mud, trees and rocks had released from the steep slope on the left, burying the road under 20 feet of debris and continuing down the slope on the right side of the road. Power lines that ran overhead sagged only a few feet above the slide. I could see the crew working on the other side of the landslide, but despite their efforts, it was clear our bus wouldn't be getting through anytime soon.

My view of the landslide

I returned to the bus and told Kelsey what I saw and showed her a couple pictures I snapped with my iPhone. Just then we overheard talk of people walking across the landslide. That's why those passengers got up and off the bus immediately! They'd clearly done this before. We threw our backpacks on and headed for the landslide to scout out a crossing. If we were able to cross the slide on foot, we would then attempt to catch a ride on the other side that would take us closer to Tena.

I couldn't help but think, "is it even safe to be considering this?" In the US, the police would never have let anyone cross a sketchy mudslide with power lines stooping just a few feet overhead. Here, the three cops on hand were helping shuffle people across. Here's how things would go. A line of people would form. The people would get restless and want to cross. The cops would tell them no. The people would get angry. The cops would tell them no. An old woman would yell. The cops would give in and motion to hurry across, yelling "Diez personas!" We watched this happen a couple times before we decided to queue up in line and scurry across at the next opportunity.

With our packs on our backs, we stood waiting for the signal to cross. The backhoe and bulldozer pushed dirt around, dodging the power lines while workers removed broken tree limbs from the mass of mud. Five minutes went by. Nothing. 10 minutes. People were getting restless. Sure enough, just as expected, after a little yelling and pleading, the cops stopped the heavy machinery and waved us on. Go! Adrenaline surged as I scrambled up the slick muddy slope with Kelsey just in front of me. Young kids and grandmothers were crossing with us, ducking under power lines and grabbing onto the workers for support. Sliding down the other side, our feet touched pavement. We made it!

The crossing wasn't more than 30 feet and it only took a couple minutes, but it was massive. Everything that we knew was now back on the other side. The chance of returning to Banos, the option of staying with our bus, we erased those with our steps. We crossed into the unknown. Looking back at the slide, we laughed with joy and excitement, and a touch of anxiety, realizing the craziness of what just happened.

Looking back at the landslide

Turning away from the slide we took in our new surroundings. Similar to the other side, cars sat parked with drivers napping and chatting. Only, there were far fewer vehicles. This was not a good thing. We were counting on getting a ride from someone to somewhere closer to Tena. Maybe we didn't think this through well enough.

We milled around with the 20 or so others who crossed the landslide, the reality of the challenge ahead setting in. Just then, a school bus pulled up and let off a group of elementary-aged kids. Hold on a second. Here we are at a landslide in the mountains of Ecuador and a yellow school bus drops kids off. There are no houses around and certainly no schools. Where in the world these kids were going, I have no idea. As crazy as it seems, they might have been going to cross the landslide as we just had. But, that wasn't really our concern at the moment. I'm pretty sure everyone in our group had the same idea: that bus was our only way out of here.

We surged toward the school bus. An Ecuadorian man in his late 20s approached the scruffy driver and asked if he'd be willing to give us a ride to the closest town. We were all in this together. After a little negotiating, the driver agreed to give us a lift for $1 a head. Was he abandoning the kids? Perhaps. Who cares?! We had a ride and oh, what a deal!

We paid our fare, hopped on the bus and away we went, rolling down the hill, rounding steep mountain slopes and getting just a little bit closer to Tena. Where we were going, we didn't exactly know.

Fifteen minutes passed and the bus came to a stop just outside the small town of Mera. We said "gracias" as we stepped off the bus and followed along as our companions walked down the road. We arrived in Mera, a town with a stop sign and roadside shop or two. Fortunately, there were taxis there waiting. Were they expecting us? We grouped up with a few guys we befriended along the way and hopped in a taxi that would take us to Puyo for a couple dollars each. This taxi was not like a taxi in the US. We were in the back of a truck sitting on wooden planks. Sure, there was a tarp canopy to shade us from the sun, but that's about it. No seat belts. No meter showing how much you owe. It was awesome.

Walking to Mera

Looking back at where we came from

We chatted with our new friends in both English and Spanish. One man used the opportunity to practice his English and was curious to find out where we were from and what we were doing in Ecuador.

I don't remember exactly where the cab took us. It might have been to the small town of Shell, or somewhere else just outside of Puyo. Either way, when we got out of the cab we somehow figured out that we need to hop on a city bus to get to the main bus terminal where we could buy a ticket to Tena.

The city bus was very similar to a bus in Seattle during rush hour. It was standing room only and it jolted to a start as we set off towards the bus terminal. People talk about wanting to be immersed a country's culture when they travel. If you want culture, take a city bus.

We rolled into the main terminal and were now oh-so close to Tena. Just one more bus ride. Kelsey bought our tickets while I watched our bags. Twenty minutes later we boarded the bus and began the final leg to Tena.

We finally made it. It was 8 PM and the area around the bus station was bustling. The sights, sounds and smells tickled our senses. Food vendors were everywhere, with sizzling meat, fried plantains and hot quesadillas. Several competitive games of a sport that closely resembled volleyball were being played nearby. We chowed down on food, watched the game and let the energy of Tena revive us after our long journey.

Volleyball-like game 

Mmm ... food vendors in Tena

After 30 minutes or so in town, we hailed a cab to Hostal Pakay, which is up in the hills about 5 min. out of town. When we arrived, the hostel owners, Inga and Tony, greeted us graciously and we told tales from our epic day. It turned out one of their employees was also stuck behind the landslide, only she chose to stay with her bus and wait it out, and get this, she beat us to the hostel!

Oh well. We have a pretty good story to tell.

Fun with GoPro

I had heard GoPros were cool and I know a bunch of people who have them, but I had never been compelled to buy one, and I was lucky enough that I didn't have to. This summer I won a GoPro 3+ camera in a raffle at work. Let me tell you, this thing is awesome and if I hadn't won it, I'd go out and buy one today.

It's super easy to use, it captures really great video and it has some really cool photo options, including time-lapse and burst mode. So far I've only made a couple of videos, but I've shot a lot more footage that I'll eventually do something with.

Check out my vids below.

Enchantments:

Enchantments Traverse from Joe Pasteris on Vimeo.

Ruth Mountain:

Ruth Mountain from Joe Pasteris on Vimeo.

Does Anyone Still Read This Thing???

I'm writing a blog post! What?!

It's been 1 year and 3 months since my last post. Let's get caught up. Hold on tight because here's a whirlwind 60 second tour of the highlights since the last post.

• After more than a year of dreaming and reading about Patagonia, Ben and I finally made it happen. We spent 3 weeks trekking around Chile and Argentina. It was worth the wait and every penny we spent to get down there
• Kelsey and I started dating!
• I flew to Reno for Dan's graduation
• I applied for my own job and got it!
• I ran in the Ragnar Relay with friends from work 
• Zach and I climbed to the top of The Chief in Squamish 
• I competed in my first triathlon, an XTERRA off-road triathlon
• Kelsey and I visited Cape Cod. It was the first time I'd been back there since moving west in 2003
• I skied 22 months in a row, but unfortunately the streak ended in September
• I watched my good friend Melissa marry Todd on the shores of Sebago Lake in Maine
• I ran my first half marathon ... and my second
• Kelsey and I drove to Reno to spend Thanksgiving with Dan and Jaclyn
• I spent Christmas with friends and family at home
• I rang in the new year with my favorite person

Here's a photo collage of some of the highlights since my last blog post:

12 Months of Skiing

Yesterday I went skiing on the Muir Snowfield on Mt. Rainier and it marked my 12th consecutive month of skiing in Washington. This is the second time I've skied every month of the year (although, not in back-to-back years) and it can sometimes start to feel a bit like a chore in September and October. Fortunately, the Cascades received early-season snowfall this past week and it greatly improved the conditions compared to last month.

In September, Dustin and I went up onto the Muir Snowfield and found sun-cupped snow covered in a layer of volcanic dust. Not the greatest skiing conditions, but it was a beautiful day to be out.

Yesterday, with probably about 8 - 12 inches of new snow, the sun cups and dust were well buried but there were rocks hiding just enough to trick you into thinking you could let it rip. Dustin and I were conservative and tried to protect our bases. Other skiers were a little more bold and will be paying a local ski tech for it.

Let's hope the cold, snowy weather continues and many, many powder days are had!

Snowy slopes on Mt. Rainier in October

Dirty September snow on the Muir Snowfield

July: A Month of Camping

It wasn't truly a complete month of camping, but I did spend every weekend of July under the stars. Summer can take a while to get going in Seattle, so when the nice weather does finally arrive you need to seize the moment and get out there. That's what I tried to do with the month of July. Here's how it all went down:

July 6, 7 & 8 - Mt. Rainier

I climbed and skied Mt. Rainier on the first weekend of July. Mandie, Nick and I ascended the Emmons Glacier, a route I first climbed with Kyle back in 2005. This time the plan was to ski off the summit. Man, it turned to be a lot of work hauling skis all the way to top. It was definitely the toughest of the 4 times I've been up Rainier. As it always does though, that hard work paid off on the way down. Mandie and I booted back down about 1,500 ft. due to icy conditions up top before putting our skis on and cruising down to camp. Nick skied the whole route, with the exception of a spot at about 11,500 ft. where we roped back up to cross a crevassed section.

It was a challenging weekend but it felt great to accomplish the ski descent after several months of planning.

July 13, 14 & 15 - Forbidden Peak

Kyle and I teamed up to give the West Ridge of Forbidden Peak a shot on the second weekend in July. This is a route I have climbed twice in the past, but Kyle hasn't been up the classic line, so we set off to conquer it. We left Seattle on Friday night, making the mad dash to the Marblemount Ranger Station to try to secure a Boston Basin camping permit before they closed at 8 PM. We rolled into the parking lot at 7:45 and were in luck with the permit. We car camped at the National Forest campground along Cascade River Road and planned to hike up to Boston Basin Saturday morning and climb Sunday morning.

The weather proceeded to play games with us the rest of the weekend. One moment it was nice, the next it was cloudy and spitting rain. The conditions on Saturday afternoon had us questioning whether or not we'd be able to climb on Sunday but then it miraculously began clearing up around 8 PM. We watched a beautiful sunset as the clouds settled into the valley below. Spirits were high as we went to bed under clear skies.

Sunday morning was a different story though. We woke up to pour visibility and misting rain. We could barely see Forbidden. We lazed around in the tent for a couple hours discussing the possibility of climbing and turn around times if we did decide to go. A little after 8 AM the clouds began to lift, blue sky poked through and before we knew it we were standing in the hot sun. We scrambled to put our crampons on and grab our packs. Off we went.

A couple hours after leaving camp we found ourselves part way up the snow couloir that leads to the West Ridge notch where you get on the ridge. We were nearing a fairly committing spot when we heard the rumble of thunder behind us. Dark clouds were rolling in and we made the wise decision to bail before things got any worse.

We didn't get the West Ridge this time, but we can always go back!

July 20, 21 & 22 - Cascade River Road/Cascade Pass

On the third weekend in July, I tagged along on a Griggs Family Camping Extravaganza. Once again we left Seattle on Friday to get a jump on the weekend. We decided to head back out to the North Cascades and car camp near where Kyle and I had been the previous weekend. Our 2 Subarus packed with gear, beer, good food and great people rolled in the the campground around 8 PM Friday night.

Our crew was made up of Kyle, Betsy, Oliver, Katherine, Betsy's sister, Annie, and me. We ate well, drank well and had plenty of time to relax. We also conquered the 7-mile round trip hike to Cascade Pass with the 2 kiddos. Nice work Kyle and Betsy! It's inspiring to see you guys getting the little ones out in the woods at such a young age. I think this may have even been Katherine's very first camping trip!!

July 28 & 29 - Tuck and Robin Lakes

For the final weekend in July, Ben and I backpacked up to Tuck and Robin Lakes. This beautiful area has the feel of the upper Enchantments area and definitely lives up to all the hype. Tuck lake was completely melted out, but we heard reports from other campers that Robin lake was still frozen. Our plan had been to camp at Robin lake, but the thought of camping on snow had us second guessing our plan. We decided to keep on going and it paid off. We were rewarded with a beautiful camp spot near Robin lake and there was no one else around except for some mountain goats and 1 guy camped several hundred feet above us on the ridge.

That night we enjoyed a good meal and beautiful sunset. The next morning we scrambled up Granite Mountain and took in the spectacular views of Mt. Daniel, Glacier Peak, Rainier, Baker, Sloan and many more. We relaxed on the summit for more than an hour and never saw another soul. It was great.

And that's how I spent my weekends in July! I put together a photo collage of some of the highlights from the month. Enjoy!

Skiing in August

This poor blog just continues to get neglected.

In the interest of simply posting something, anything at all really, this is going to be short and sweet.

Ben, Dustin and I got in some August skiing this past weekend on Mt. Rainier. We drove down on Saturday, secured a permit from the Carbon River Ranger Station to camp in the Ptarmigan Ridge backcountry zone, then drove to Mowich Lake.

The hike from Mowich Lake to Spray Park is only 3+ miles and from there you meander through meadows full of wildflowers to find a campsite. I have visited this area 3 times now and will continue to go back. The easy access to Spray Park brings out all types of folks, but it's still not nearly as busy and Paradise or Sunrise, and in my opinion, it's more beautiful. The views of the mountain are amazing, the flowers are spectacular and the access to snow is fairly easy. The Park Service only allows 2 parties in each backcountry zone, so once the day hikers leave you really feel like you have the place to yourself.

When we reached camp on Saturday, we chilled out for several hours, taking pictures and exploring. Dustin and I threw our skis on and did a quick lap on the Flett Glacier.

We were attacked by some of the worst mosquitoes we've ever experienced in Washington and were forced to retreat to our tents early. I then discovered that my sleeping pad had sprung a leak. Needless to say, I didn't sleep that great on the hard ground.

We woke up Sunday morning to dark clouds and a few rain showers, which delayed our start a bit. Eventually the clouds blew through, the sun came out and we had great weather for the rest of the day. We left camp around 8:30, climbed the Flett Glacier, crossed onto the Russell Glacier where Ben and I skinned up to about 8,700 ft. before turning around. We had to hop a few little cracks, but other than that the route was in great shape. Views of the Mowich Glacier and Mowich Face were jaw dropping. The skiing wasn't pretty good, too!

I will post more pictures later, but here are a couple I snapped with my iPhone and ran through Instagram.

View of Mt. Rainier from near our campsite

View of Mt. Rainier and my tent

Let's Jump Start This Blog with a Post About Italy

So, I 've been saying for a long, long time now that I would get this blog going again. What better way to do so than with a post about my trip to Italy?

Back in April, I went to Italy for just over 2 weeks. This was my first time to Europe and it was an amazing experience. For the first week, I was doing the Ortler Traverse, a hut-to-hut ski tour in the Alps. The second week, I went on to Venice, Florence and Rome to do some sightseeing and eat lots of great food.

My coworker, Lulu, and her husband, Graham, were the driving force behind the trip and were nice enough to extend the invitation to me. I hemmed and hawed a bit before laying down the cash to commit, but I'm so glad I decided to go.

The plan came together like this: L and G would go over a week early with their friend, Julia, to do some skiing in Chamonix and Zermatt. Chris, Puck and I would meet up in Santa Caterina Valfurva a couple days prior to the Ortler Traverse. L, G and J would drive from Zermatt to Santa Caterina with our guides, Martin and Mike, from Pro Guiding Service, located right here in North Bend, WA. They'd pick the 3 of us up and we would continue on to the Rifugio Forni, where our adventure in the Ortler Mountains would begin.

I set off for Milan on April 6. I flew from Seattle to New York City and then on to Milan, arriving the morning of April 7. From Milan, I caught a train to Tirano, then a bus to Bormeo and yet another bus to the small town of Santa Caterina Valfurva. I stumbled my way to Thurweiser Hotel, where I met up with Chris and Puck who had spent the day skiing at the local resort. It was very long day of travel, but it all went pretty smooth, especially considering that I don't know how to say much more than grazie and ciao in Italian.

Downtown Santa Caterina Valfurva

Santa Caterina is a cool little ski town. It was pretty quiet in April, but there were some fun restaurants and bars to check out. We talked to some Italians while eating dinner. They were surprised to see Americans all they out there and had to ask what we were doing. They were friendly and introduced us to some Italian mixed drinks we just had to try.

The next day, Chris, Puck and I paid 10 euro each to catch a ride up on the gondola and then we toured out of the ski area toward Monte Sobretta (3,269m). It was nice to get out and stretch the legs and get used to the elevation. It was a cool, breezy day, but the views were spectacular. We toured up to a point at about 3,200m.

Chris, Puck and I tour out of Santa Caterina ski area

Later that day, they rest of crew cruised into Santa Caterina and picked us up and off to the Rifugio Forni we went. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. The adventure begins!

Rifugio Forni

Day 1: Toured from Rifugio Forni to Rifugio Branca. Dropped the gear we didn't need and set out on a tour up Monte Pasquale.

Incredible views all around. Taken on a tour up M. Pasquale

Day 2: Climbed Pizzo Tresero (3,594m) and skied off the summit. Returned to Rifugio Branca.

Working our way up Tresero

View from the top of Tresero

Back at Rifugio Branca taking in the view

Day 3: Toured up the moraine above Rifugio Branca in steady snow and poor visibility. Gained roughly 1,200m before turning around due to questionable snow stability.

Dinner time!

Day 4: Got up before 6 AM and left Rifugio Branca, bound for Rifugio Pizzini. Dropped the gear we didn't need at Pizzini and then climbed Monte Cevedale. Blue skies and fresh pow made for an incredible day.

Graham and Chris with Rifugio Casati and Gran Zebru in the background 

Martin on the summit of Cevedale

Day 5: Got up early for a 6 AM breakfast so we could attempt Monte Zebru, the highest peak in the area. We made good time to couloir, put on our crampons and grabbed our axes and started up. Deep snow and questionable stability turned us around. We skied back to the hut, grabbed a cappuccino, then headed back out to harvest some powder turns.

Back at Pizzini after attempting Zebru and skiing pow

Day 6: Our last day. We did a half-day tour in surprisingly good snow before heading back down the valley towards Rifugio Forni

One last meal at Rifugio Forni before driving back to the train station

At the train station, on our way back to Milan

We all spent the night in Milan and the next day I caught a train bound for Venice. Stay tuned for post about Venice, Florence and Rome!