La sierra: meaning "the jagged mountain range"; the central belt of Ecuador that includes the high Andes Mountains, inland from the coast; includes a number of large volcanoes such as Pichincha, overlooking Quito, and Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano in the world, several peaks snow-capped year-round, even on the equator; many areas long since deforested by agriculture; a number of cut-flower growing operations; at a certain altitude zone may be found the cloud forests, los bosques nublados. Quito , the capital city, is located in a high mountain valley on the west side of the highest mountains. Baños features a hot-springs swimming pool on the east side of the mountains.