Today was our first field trip! The class took a one hour long bus ride up to the super páramo, the second highest level of the páramo, the high altitude ecosystem between the upper altitudinal limit of forests (i.e., the tree line) and the border of perpetual snow. It extends from Venezuela to Argentina. Basically, on a cloudy and windy day it's really really cold. We can leave it at that.
FROST!!! We started hiking at 4300m (around 13,400ft) with a temperature of 0°C (with the wind chill it got down to -2°C...yikes), stopping to examine the local flora we had just learned about the previous day. Even with the cold temperature and super strong winds that probably helped send quite a few people down on their butts, it was a thrilling experience!
During this great experience I got the opportunity to discover something new about myself...altitudes greater than 11,000ft will affect me. There's this cool plant you can eat or make tea out of while hiking to help with altitude sickness...well, I don't really think it helps. Just sayin. Water. Lots of water. I probably drank a galloon of water today.
Our guide and Tropical Ecology Professor, Esteban, at Parcacocha Lake. The many lakes in the páramo were formed from glaciers and do not contain any life. This lake helps supply electricity through hydropower. Because lakes in the páramo aid in supplying power to the people, if there is a water shortage the cities will have scheduled brownouts.
After hours of breathing difficulties and heart pounding we reached the grass páramo, a slightly lower elevation containing bushes and other interesting flora.
Mucus plant. Seriously. The younger growth is surrounded by a mucus-filled sack. Actually, when you rub it over your hands it leaves them really soft. Now, I don't suggest trying this with your own mucus, but if you're out in the páramo wilderness and your hands feel dry or you're really thirsty and don't have any water (yes, this plant has more than one uses), then this is a very good option.
Awesome hike! Next stop...
...The hot springs of Papallacta!
The ride home. Jurassic Park anyone?
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