Bill's searches for the Wawa Grande (Ecuador's Bigfoot)

[Patient]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Another little adventure, the day before yesterday. Super-hot in the direct sun, with an icy wind, quite a good combo for hiking.

No llamas (or Wawa Grandes!), but at mid-day we encountered a bunch of icicles draped over a big rock, which astonished me because in all these years I'd never seen that here before. The previous night must have been exceptionally clear and cold. I took a whole huge bunch of photos, so forgive me for sharing a few of them here:


(large image: https://projectavalon.net/Bill_and_M..._icicles_1.jpg)


(large image:https://projectavalon.net/Bill_and_M..._icicles_3.jpg)


(large image: https://projectavalon.net/Bill_and_M...s_panorama.jpg)

We continued to a high peak, very rocky, and (as last time) Mara negotiated all that just fine. It's very hard to show the whole horizon-to-horizon vista, but here are a couple of panoramas that (if anyone cares!) really deserve to be viewed on a large screen.


(large image: https://projectavalon.net/Bill_and_M...panorama_1.jpg)


(large image: https://projectavalon.net/Bill_and_M...panorama_2.jpg)

Mara was exhausted when she got back, but she's all back to normal today and while the weather is this good we'll be off up there again pretty soon.

I have seen a few pics from people here on Avalon showing the areas near their home and the back yard itself.

Bill, you are in the running for best outdoor neighbourhood for sure!

Keep you eyes and ears on alert for the Wawa Grande.

[Bill Ryan]

An interesting (though tragic) local update.

Readers with long memories may remember that I posted here, back in 2018, about the disappearance of highly experienced mountaineer Wilson Serrano, hiking on his own in bad weather in the area of the mountains where I go with my dog Mara all the time. 664 people, including indigenous trackers, army and police searched for him for 30 days before they gave up. His body has never been found.

Connected with that (maybe!), I also posted here, 2 years later in 2020, about my own solo visit to a place in the same area called The Haunted Lakes, where in perfect weather and excellent visibility I unaccountably became disoriented, and found myself very tempted to go down absolutely the wrong valley on my return journey home. If I'd made that serious mistake, I would have ended up in a very difficult, remote wild area, thickly forested with no trails, hard to get out of and many miles from any people or road.

Fortunately, I sensed that something was way wrong with my normally excellent sense of direction, so I got my little pocket compass out to check for sure which way I should go. And meanwhile, while I was figuring all this out, Mara (who back then had perfect eyesight) was staring fixedly at something that I could not see for minutes on end, growling and shivering with fear, all her hackles up.

There was nothing there that I could see myself, and I captured the whole thing on video. It was all pretty freaky. It was a long day, but we made it back without incident and I vowed never to return to The Haunted Lakes alone ever again.

~~~

So now to the present. Back on 7 September, 10 days ago, two local mountaineers also disappeared in bad weather, having gone to climb Quitahuayco, a high local mountain which Mara and I have been to many many times. I know that whole area extremely well, and though separated by several high rocky ridges it's just a couple of miles from The Haunted Lakes in terms of straight-line distance.

The two mountaineers, Wilson Bustillos (aged 68), and Diego Pacheco (37) also knew the area extremely well. But unaccountably, just like Wilson Serrano back in 2018, they never returned from their day's hike and so a search was launched.

They were found 5 days later, on 12 September, way down in the exact wild and remote area where I'd somehow been tempted to head down to when I became disoriented at The Haunted Lakes.

Clearly, they had no compass. (iPhones can have a compass app, but that's no use without a GPS signal or with a dead battery.) And though they were on a day hike, it seems they just didn't enough with them to cope well with several nights out in the open.



All this is old-style Mountaineering 101. These days, many hikers think that as long as they have their phone with them, all will magically be well. It doesn't always work that way.

And also, I should say, they had no PLB (Personal Locator Beacon), which ever since Wilson Serrano's disappearance I now carry everywhere I go. When activated it sends an SOS signal to a NOAA satellite which pinpoints the PLB's location to within 10 meters, and also notifies the local authorities. It weighs a few ounces but is a guaranteed life-saver if one is ever badly lost or injured.

~~~

Pacheco, aged just 37, survived his 5-day ordeal. But Bustillos, who was older, was very weak when he was found. The tough terrain made it extremely hard for the rescue team to evacuate him quickly. He died in their hands before they could get him to hospital.

~~~

The moral of the story, as I've written on these pages quite a number of times: you just don't mess with these mountains.

[Ravenlocke]

Very sad story..especially that one of them did not survive after he was found.
I found a news clip about them here,

From UnsionTV

Auto-translated by Grok
Confirmation of Hiker’s Death in Cajas National Park

After five days of searching, the death of Wilson Bustillos was confirmed, who got lost along with Diego Pacheco. Although they were found alive, Bustillos could not withstand the fatigue.

#ParqueNacionalCajas #Excursionistas #RescateEC #TragediaEnLaMontaña #SeguridadEnMontaña #WilsonBustillos #DiegoPacheco #UnsionNoticias

https://x.com/UNSIONTV/status/1967725120169943377

Also about Wilson Bustillos he was one of several hikers that had gotten lost and went missing for a while last year in November 2024 according to this news bit on X.

RTP Ecuador 96.5 Fm

Nov 4, 2024
Auto-translated by Grok
In the early hours of, November , a group of lost hikers was rescued in Cajas National Park, in #Cuenca, after several hours of searching.

The alert about their disappearance was issued by family members on Sunday night. #WilsonBustillos, one of the hikers, recounted that the group changed their route “at the last moment,” which complicated their journey for more than 30.

All the hikers are in good condition.

🔵Follow us:
@rtpecuador

#RTPiciasultimahora #noticiasecuador #E

https://x.com/RtpEcuador/status/1853478529628831761

Also this news bit which names the area of the national park where they went missing.


La Voz del Tomebamba

Sep 11
Auto-translated by Grok
Wilson Bustillos, 68 years old, and Diego Pacheco, 37, went missing on Sunday,

September 7, in the Lagunas Pampeadas sector of Cajas National Park, while they

were on a hike and engaging in photography activities.

According to their family, the weather conditions would have caused them to become disoriented and head toward Molleturo.

Renato Puruncajas, Bustillos's son-in-law, requested support from security entities to expand the search, including the use of thermal drones and personnel specialized in rescue.

🎥Watch the full interview here: https://shorturl.at/Yus11 👀

https://x.com/tomebamba/status/1966174103720833096

[Ravenlocke]

Info-Notas

Sep 13

Auto-translated by Grok
🚨ATTENTION ‼️
Dramatic Moments of the Rescue of the Two People Lost in the Cajas⛰️

Cuenca: The high mountain guide, Cristian Albarracín, who participated in the rescue along with community members, ETAPA personnel, and the Police, shared the details of the operation.

https://x.com/infonotascuenca/status...57140109242523

Fuerzas Armadas del Ecuador
@FFAAECUADOR
·
Sep 13
Auto-translated by Grok
Armed Forces join in the search for missing persons.

#Chimborazo|The Armed Forces of Ecuador, in support of the National Secretariat for Risk Management and Emergencies, joined the search and rescue efforts to locate and rescue Diego Pacheco, 37 years old, and Willian Bustillos, 68 years old, who disappeared in the #ParqueNacionalCajas.

Fortunately, Diego was located and rescued in the #Huigra community, where he remains under observation and medical supervision.

Communeros from the Palmas sector, #Molleturo canton, provided information about Wilson Bustillos, who would be in a difficult-to-access location; the rescuers managed to reach the site in the early morning of this Saturday.

As a result of the efforts, they managed to recover the lifeless body of the 68-year-old adult, which was taken by the rescuers to the Huigra sector, where it was handed over to DINASED for the corresponding legal procedure.

#FFAAContigo
#EcuadorUnaSolaFuerza

Follow us on our official social media 👉

https://x.com/FFAAECUADOR/status/1966876449320612295