July 19, 2018 – July 21, 2018

Leaving Mindo we took a slightly longer route to avoid driving through Quito again.  We were not sure what we would be getting into, as we were going to be off main highways. As it turned out, the roads were paved, nice and wide and had a decent shoulder. This made for an easy, enjoyable driving day.  On average, the main roads in Ecuador have probably been the best we have experienced in all of Latin America.

If you have a waterfall, why not start a carwash.

There is a lot of really nice, free camping in Cotopaxi National Park, but we had read that dogs were not allowed.  We chose a hacienda close to the park to be our camp for the night. We found out it probably dated back to the late 1700s.

The hacienda now converted for tourist lodgings..

Baby llama at the Hacienda. Her fur was SO soft, and look at those eyes!

We awoke the next day to overcast skies and rain and debated about whether to go into the park or to wait another day.  We decided to give it a go.  We started walking towards the park entrance, a few kilometres away, where we had been told that pickup trucks would be waiting to take people into the park.  Before we had walked the entire distance a man in a pickup stopped and offered us his park services for the day, showing us his guide badge.

We entered the park driving on nice paved roads.  The sky continued to be very grey, but our driver told us that the skies could be completely different at Cotopaxi.  For a moment the sky partially cleared and we got a glimpse of the volcano.  We jumped out of the truck for photos, but just as quickly the clouds closed in again and the mountain disappeared.

We drove on, and soon got another view.

You can see a bit of the glacier in this photo under Cotopaxi’s lenticular cloud cap.

Before long the road turned to gravel and as the grade steepened, the road became more rutted, potholed and washboard like.  We were pleased with our decision not to take our own truck and just hide Piper inside while we ventured onto the mountain. We arrived at the parking lot (approx. 4,500 metres/14850 feet) and were greeted with howling winds amid misty cloud cover.  We suited up in rain pants and jackets, toques and gloves and began the climb to the Refugio and maybe the glacier tongue beyond.

The steep trail to the Refugio was sandy, so for every step you took, a portion was lost as your boot sunk into the sand.  The wind at times was so strong that when you raised your foot to take a step you felt like you might get blown over.  We climbed, we panted, we rested, and after half or three quarters of an hour, we were at the Refugio, the elevation definitely made the climb a bit tougher.

Warming up, having some snacks, awaiting my coco leaf tea.

Climbers spend the night at this Refugio (4,800 metres/15,844 feet) before heading out early to summit Cotopaxi at 5,897 metres, (19,347 feet). It is the second highest summit in Ecuador, after Chimborazo, and is an active volcano, the last major activity was in April of 2015.  The refugio reminded Derek and I of the tea houses in Nepal although it was much more upscale.  We debated going on to the glacier which would entail another 200m of elevation and steep terrain. Given the lack of views and the windy, wet conditions we decided against it.  Derek talked to one of the men that had summited Cotopaxi that morning, and he said that it was a difficult climb, given the weather, even to the glacier.  After warming up and some snacks, we quickly descended to the parking lot.

From there our driver took us to Lago Limpiopungo, for a nice easy stroll around the lake.  We kept one eye on Cotopaxi as we walked and for a few moments the clouds cleared enough for us to get another glimpse of the glacier at the top.

Volcan Cotopaxi