Cotopaxi is a beautiful symmetrical volcano that is the second highest in
Ecuador at an elevation of 5897m (19347 feet.) It is easily accessible, at least
to the refugio from a parking area at 15100 feet, located some 300 meters lower
than the refuge (15750 feet).
My desire to climb this mountain started several years ago when Graciela, one of our
exchange students, and my wife and I drove with Graciela's father to Cotopaxi. On a very
cloudy and snowy afternoon we hiked from the parking area to the refugio. This was
our first experience at high altitude hiking and to say the least, we thought we
were going to die from the effort at that elevation! However once we reached the
refugio and caught our breath we very much enjoyed the vistas in between the clouds.
Last year, 2004, our son John joined us for a week and half. We traveled around the country
visiting Banos, and a few other cities, however John and I had planned to summit Cotopaxi
while he was in Ecuador. He and I attempted the summit but on the way from the parking
area to the refugio I severely twisted my knee on the scree slope leading to the refugio.
Unfortunately we went no further, and instead spent the night at the refugio and then
came back down the next day.
This year my goal was to train harder, strengthen my knees, and acclimate for
the climb by doing several other climbs before Cotopaxi. All of that worked quite
well, except that I got sick the night before the summit climb, and the weather
went very bad on us. So once again I was unable to summit this mountain.
All was not lost however as on Wednesday morning Edison and I hiked a different
route to the refuge, by taking a longer but less scree-involved trail that had
numerous switchbacks rather than the 'straight up the hill' route Sue and I took,
or that John and I did last year.
It was snowing and hailing when we reached the refuge, but not bad enough to
prevent us from hiking over to a glacier. Along the way we saw one of the Red Foxes
that lived at that elevation and apparently fed off of scraps and other foods in the
garbage area near the refuge. The hail increased in intensity so after a while at
the glacier we headed back to the refuge where Edison cooked up a great tasting
pizza.
We sat out the hailstorm and a few inches of snow before sliding our way
back down to the parking area and his jeep. Following a slow drive down the mountain
in snow, sleet and rain we returned to the Tambopaxi lodge, cleaned up a bit and
loaded the jeep for the drive back to the chaos and noise of Quito.
Thus ending my two weeks of mountaineering in Ecuador.
Watch or download a video from our climb on Cotopaxi. (131 Mb WMV format).
Back to Ecuador 2005
