Today Dani, Carmen, and I hiked el volcán Pinchincha. You need to take a cable car up to ~4000m and the summit is about another 700 meters (3-5 hours) from there. The hike had insane views of the city and the last km was just open face rock climbing which was so much fun and would definitely not fly in the US. The summit is 15,695 feet, so the reason it takes so long from the top of the cable car (Teléferico) is due to altitude adjustment. There is a type of flower that grows all over the surrounding hills and people use it to make tea for treating altitude related headaches, dizziness, nausea, etc. There were a couple women and families collecting the plant today but I can’t find the name anywhere online! I will ask somebody local in the market tomorrow. We talked to a couple from Quito who had AMAZING dogs and really like Bernie Sanders. Also witnessed a hawk (halcón) soaring above the blanket of clouds that rolls into the valley around 3 o’clock every afternoon. Magical day. Now happily exhausted from sun, wind and a sweeet rocky walky.