The road through Sangay National Park is a fait accompli, providing a quicker route to the Ecuadorian city of Macas, east of the Andes. I can't speak to the ecological impact of the road on the park, but it did provide an easy way to access the Atillo Lakes region of the park, where I spent a couple of hours hiking in the Andes last month. The weather was not the most promising, with low, grey clouds obscuring the volcanic peak of Sangay; rain held off, however, and at times the sun did its best to disperse some of the cloud cover. My driver arranged for a local guide, Dora, to lead a hike through a high mountain valley to the first of the Atillo lakes. The region serves as a watershed for the western Andes, and the hills were marshy and covered with grasses and wildflowers; I was very glad my tour company provided rubber boots for the hike. The lakes themselves are very popular with local fishermen, and with all the rain the Andes have had this year, there were several waterfalls flowing on the mountains above the valley. Although the park has some larger species of wildlife, including spectacled bears, foxes, and tapirs, the largest wildlife I saw were ducks. While I would have liked a better day for the hike, I enjoyed my brief tour in the upper reaches of the Andes Mountains. Maybe if I return one day I'll get to see Sangay mountain on a sunny day.

Logistics: Sangay National Park is a little more accessible thanks to the Guamote-Macas road, but it still requires either private transportation or planning for local buses. I hired a driver through a Dutch tour company in Riobamba, which is the closest major city to the Atillo Lakes.