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Cotopaxi Climb

Tuesday morning, January 6, we were going to sleep in. I think I still woke up somewhere around 5:30 AM. Even though the kitchen was quiet that morning, the bed just wasn't that comfortable. We had breakfast at 7 AM, and then we spent the next several hours sitting in the sun, laying around, and packing our backpacks. We left Chaupi about 11 AM on a local bus, which took us the seven kilometers to the Panamericana highway. From there, another bus took us over the 11,800' pass and down to the entrance to the Cotopaxi National Park. It was here that we met Hugo Perez, our guide for the next day.

It wasn't long before a red Toyota Land Cruiser drove up, and another guide and his two clients climbed out. They dragged out all their gear, and then Hugo, Bob, and I piled in. At the Park entrance, Hugo stopped to pay the entrance fee, and also to pick up our rental gear which had been dropped off there. It takes over an hour to drive from the highway to the climbers' refuge. The road isn't in great shape, but the scenery makes up for it. Along the way we drove through some snow on the road--not something you do every day in Ecuador. In fact, it was the first time I'd driven through snow in four years!

Once we arrived at the parking lot (15,091'), I added my rental gear to my pack, left some extra clothes in the car, and changed into the plastic climbing boots I would use on the mountain. At 2:30 PM we started the walk to the refuge. A slow but steady pace brought us to the refuge at 3:15 PM. We were at 15,750'. At this point it's normal to go with the guide to the glacier and practice using crampons and ice axe. Because the the late hour, and a light mist in the air, Hugo said we'd just hang out at the refuge. That suited me just fine. We went upstairs to spread our sleeping bags on a bunk and to get our packs ready for the climb. Dinner was at 5:30 PM, and at 7:15 PM I was in bed. Sleep didn't come easy. My mind was racing with what was to come. The thin air caused me to wake up gasping everytime I did manage to fall asleep. I had to go to the bathroom several times. And, so did everyone else it seems. Every twenty minutes it seemed that someone would turn on their headlamp, and stomp down the stairs in their boots to use the bathroom. Finally, at 11 PM I rolled over from the top bunk to find Bob was also awake. Realizing that neither of us were sleeping much, we decided to get up and start climbing. I went downstairs to wake Hugo, and he was up right away, getting hot water ready for tea and hot chocolate.

We left the refuge at 12:20 AM, and we were the first to start climbing that morning. We could see the lights of Quito to the north, and to the south we saw the gleaming white snow on the upper slopes of the volcano. The moon was full, and above us, there were no clouds in the sky. Perfect! Over the previous few days, the weather had not looked that good around Cotopaxi, and we had heard reports of high winds. However, that night it was perfect! Hugo set a slow but steady pace up to the glacier, and we didn't use our headlamps at all that night. At first snow we put on our crampons, and then a little while later, at 1:40 AM, we stopped to rope up.

At first, the climb passed quickly. Around 3 AM I began to notice the lights of other climbers far below. Even though I had been sick just a couple days ago, I seemed to be climbing well. Around 5 AM, that began to change, and the exertion and altitude began to take their toll on me. Near dawn, we were passed by a single climber and his guide. Earlier, I had wanted to be the first to the summit that day, but by now I just wanted to reach the top. First or last, it didn't matter. Near the top, the terrain steepened dramatically, and the going was slow. Again, when I looked down, I could see far below, a line of ascending climbers.

At 6:45 AM we were on the top. The first climber to the top had started the descent, and we had the summit to ourselves. What a view! We weren't able to see many of the surrounding volcanoes, but we could see Antisana and the Ilinizas. We peered down into the smoking crater. Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world. Quito was hidden, but we could see Latacunga. I had hardly anything to eat or drink for the past six hours, so besides trying to enjoy the summit and take some photos, I was frantically trying to get some hot tea and some food into my system. I also pulled out my cell phone and gave Ellyn her wake-up call.

The descent took two hours. On the way up, I wondered how we were going to safely get down, as it had seemed so steep. We plunge-stepped those sections, and the going was relatively easy. I used my ice axe to descend, and Bob used ski poles. As we descended, we passed many other climbers still working hard to reach the summit. Soon after we started down, I got a great photo. It shows the three volcanoes that Bob climbed, including the 19,347' shadow of Cotopaxi. I had more chances to take photos and just plain enjoy the view on the descent. Very impressive. The width and depth of some of the crevasses were very scary. I was glad we had a guide who knew the mountain. At one point my glasses were fogging up. Tired as I was, when I went to take them off, I dropped them. Slowly at first, then faster, they slid down the glacier. A few minutes later, as we rounded a bend in the trail, I could see the glasses off in the distance. But, there was no way to get them, as the danger from crevasses was too great.

After arriving back at the refuge we had some hot chocolate and re-packed our bags. More walking downhill brought us to the truck, and we were soon on our way to BaÒos, where we dropped off our rental gear and said goodbye to Hugo. A bus ride took us back to Shell, and our adventure was over. We then had a day and a half to rest before we went rafting in Tena. That's another story for another day.