On Monday morning we awoke, after our star gazing session, to a beautiful clear
sky and pleasantly crisp temperatures. After breakfast we drove to Lago Limpiopungo,
(Lago means lake and Limpiopungo means 'clean entrance', and was a reference to the
winds that came through here bringing clear skies to this area). from a parking area
near the lake we headed north toward Ruminahui. This is another of the many
volcanoes and is comprised of three prominent peaks aptly named, South, Central and
North. Our goal this day was to summit the central peak with an elevation of
4634m (15203 feet).
Getting to the mountain took us past Lago Limpiopungo and a spectacular view of
Cotopaxi reflected in the lake. We proceeded up and over several ridges and hills
on the paramo slowing gaining elevation. This was probably the best day I had in
terms of just enjoying the trek. Along the way I took short videos of Edison
explaining several
of the plants.
It took about 2-3 hours fairly easy trekking before we reached the mountain
itself. Along the way, as we increased in elevation we added our coats to what we
were wearing as the temperatures lowered and as clouds moved in. Because of the
very wet conditions from the rainfall the during the night I had decided to wear
my climbing boots rather than my approach shoes. That proved to be my undoing as
the boots were still quite stiff. I started to develop 'warm spots, on my left
heel and my right ankle. At our pause at the base of the mountain my right ankle
was really causing me some pain so Edison taped the ankle.
We then proceeded up some very steep scree and rocks all the while my ankle
was being rubbed by the boot. We were also dealing with an approaching storm and
each time we stopped it would hail or rain, but mostly hail. The hail was not
difficult to deal with however hail also signals an increase in static electricity
within the clouds. The last thing we wanted to be were lightening rods!
We were just below the summit ridge however my ankle was really causing me a great
deal of discomfort and it was becoming difficult to climb on the scree and rocks
and maintain a good sense of balance. We paused for a while to rest and then it started
to hail in earnest. We had also discussed switching shoes and during the hail storm
Edison and I changed shoes. Edison's shoes were about a half-size smaller but they
did not rub my ankle. My boots on the other hand (or foot!) did cause Edison
some discomfort. At about that time the hail started getting stronger and we
decided to descend rather than being caught in a storm on the mountain.
Our descent from that ledge was so fast I think we started the scree on fire!
It was actually a sort of ground fog, but as we slid down the scree it sure looked like
it was smoking from the friction!. We basically walked very fast - a slow run,
across the ridges until we had dropped down to a lower area off the ridges, and
away from the storm. The rest of the way back to his jeep was an uneventful but
painful limp of a couple of hours. And by the time we were back at the Tambopaxi
Lodge it was raining steadily. That rain, by the way, brought additional snow cover
to higher elevations on Cotopaxi.
Watch or download a video from around the Tambopaxi Lodge and our climb on Ruminahui. (215 Mb WMV format).
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