rescued by Canadians at the crater lake

It's only a little ridiculous that I traveled to a remote village in Ecuador when I've never been to Crater Lake in Oregon. 

But today's adventure was a hike partway around this gorgeous volcanic crater at 4000 meters with a few friends from the Black Sheep Inn. Nicole said Lake Titicaca doesn't hold a candle to Quilotoa. 

They walked down to the lake, but they were also half my age and hot off the Inca trail. So I set off slowly on my own. I had a car waiting in a town below. 

I was surprised to find sheep on the hillside. 

The rim trail goes up and down, sometimes quite steeply. I had Joanie's collapsible hiking stick but at a few points I had to to hang onto the hillside. No one ever accused me of being a good hiker. 

Fortunately after I took the wrong path and ended up on a steep, narrow, crumbly ledge, I saw Melissa's bright jacket, and she and Jamie climbed down the hill and rescued me. 

It was tough going on Friday the 13th, a bit more Outward Bound than this acrophobic would really have preferred. But in the end we made it down to my pickup point, and the rest of the intrepid hikers continued on down the canyon and back up to Chugchilan.