Perhaps not in the Sierra, but by the time I left Colombia and Ecuador I had lost my fear of Burros, AKA Donkeys, and Horses. Not that I fear them, but it’s hard to imagine a climbing expedition supported by them. It seems so, well, old school, and now it fascinates me. The Sierra is loaded with them, as after your feet, they are the only other means of transportation I have seen there in common use. However their day to day use is likely governed by normal transport and harvests.
I had occasion to ride a few in some remote areas, and they are pretty tough, I must admit.. burros especially. I am larger than most people (don’t call me fat!), 90+ kg and I found burros to be resilient for the weight they were carrying. I don’t know much about how they would perform at altitude, above treeline, and what would happen if you were dependent on them and they didn’t make it,and you were stuck shuffling your gear, but I am not above considering them now. Horses are more fleet footed, but I also feel like they would be a little less dependably footed. In other words, for all their kind of stagger stepping, burros almost seem more dependable, the tortoise to the burro’s hare.. I would guess that burros and wranglers could be contracted to drop you off at the 5 blue lakes or any base camp you choose from perhaps Guatapuri, or from natives in any number of places, or even from mestizos in a place like Palomino. Average wages in this area are quite low, 10 or less dollars a day, so I bet they could be had for 50 bucks a wrangler and horse, if not cheaper, per day. How invited they or you would be would be another discussion, especially as you got further up, and the classic thing is for them to demand more money when you are almost there, so you would have to be firm, and have good relations. You also could experience them just saying they can’t go any further, or the pack animals having health issues. You could ride some and have others pack, or walk beside them, or some combination. My experience with the sierra at the end of the wet season was that the Camino Reals, the trails that go up the mountains that might be official old royal roads, Â were horribly muddy, but that the locals still took their horses though them no problem, and their hoofs seemed to hold up fine. Many of the natives walked in the barefoot as well. Walking from Palomino to the climbable area would be a 4 day undertaking I am told, perhaps more for the unseasoned.. horses might take a huge dent out of that, although the time does allow for healthy acclimation. I would guess that either mestizos or Arawakus would be the most reliable wranglers, but choose wisely. I have done no inquiring of this, but it would be my guess that it could be arranged in a week or less, but you would want to form relationships with the wranglers and be on good terms with them first, and understand their methods of operating, the limitations of the animals, and have realistic expectations of each other, which would be formed by conversations with a lead guy you trust.
there is precedent for this, as the trek to Ciudad Perdido supposedly has some wranglers that hover and wait for gringos to hire them if they want to throw in the towel on what is supposed to be a tough walk. they could potentially be contracted, but they would only know a small corner of the Sierra you would be unlikely to go to, and finding a way to transport them around to your starting point would also be some work, but all possibilities.
Here is a post about using Burros in the Sierra to move school books into the remote areas:
To The Snows 