I had been thinking of trying to summit Cotopaxi, though I had a basket full out doubt. My plan had been to head to Colombia the next morning, but I received an email from a tour agency I spoke with, and as it turned out there was a space available for me the next day to go to Cotopaxi. Was this a sign? I took it as one!
Reading accounts like this and this made me intrigued.
At 5,897m, it's Ecuador's second highest summit. This active volcano poses a risk to settlements in the area should there be an erruption or avalanche.
Cotopaxi is always hiding from me.
In the past a different route was used to summit Cotopaxi. It had more variety in terrain and more crevasses, some large enough to necessitate an aluminum ladder to assist in the crossing. However, apparently there are now too many crevasses and a new, less-dangerous trail has been opened for about a year now. This is the trail I went on, it's called 'rompe corazones' (heartbreaker route) because the trail is straight up up up, with little dose of mercy.
The people: 3 guides, 1 Swiss guy, 1 Ecuadorian woman, and 1 Canadian woman. The latter two work together at the U.N.
The technical stuff: crampons, ice axe, and belaying.
It's hard to be roped to people for hours on end.
The weather: light snow, moments of stillness, and wind strong enough to help ease you off the narrow trail if you're not careful.
On Day 1 we got fitted for gear and drove to Cotopaxi National Park, arriving in the late afternoon. We ate an early dinner, then tried to sleep at around 6:30/7pm before our 10:00pm wake up call. I don't think any of us got a wink under our lids.
Then, breakfast time! We put on as much of our gear as possible in the hostal since it will be too cold out to spend time gearing up outside. It was about a 45min drive from our hostal to the base of the trail and we began our hike at about midgnight with brutal winds and the night sky.
Our groups started out together (guide to attemptee ratio - 1:1, 1:1, and 1:2), though we separated later according to pace and interest in continuation.
My eyelashes got frozen!
It was weird to start hiking at night since you don't see much of your surroundings, only a narrow dirt or snow path. On the return hike, you do however see that you've been hiking on a tiny trail in the midst of a 30-50 degree snow-covered slope. And that's why belaying is a good idea!
One of the good points of hiking at night is that you don't see the endless steep slope you have to climb. Sometimes it wasn't darkness that hid what surrounded you, but clouds, flurries, and fierce winds.
Unlike me, I took few pictures. One, because it was dangerous to stop. Two, because my camera was getting covered in crystals and my gloved-fingers shaking. Three, because our guide was rushing us a bit.
I found myself barely looking around, I spent the bulk of the time just watching my feet, and trying to get into the slow-step, steady breathing pattern crucial to high altitude hiking.
The first hike was less than an hour, that was to get to the Refuge, and then about the same time to get to the tip of the glacier where we put our crampons and helmets on, ice axe in hand. I'd previously done these 2 hikes, but it's more tiring at midnight after you haven't slept, while carrying a backpack, and wearing clunky boots that make you walk like a dinosaur robot in space. The weather was also not on our side, with winds howling and biting exposed skin, and flurries blowing into our eyes.
We were only allowed to rest about once an hour, but sometimes less often, and at each stop we drank Gatorade and ate snacks for energy. Piglets on a volcano.
I think we hiked for about 6 hours upward, but it's hard to say. Supposedly you can reach the summit in 6-7 hours, but we didn't have favourable conditions. The few other people we saw on the trail all turned back for one reason or another.
Our group reached about 5,550m before turning back. We probably could have soldiered on toward the summit, however factoring in weather conditions and our growing tiredness, we wouldn't have had enough energy for the 3 or so hour hike back.
For me personally, sores on my ankles (from jungle hikes, aggravated by any hike I did after that) were getting to be too painful in my space boots by the last section, and I was starting to hobble around like a grandmother with a cane. My left eye also had a vision issue, and the lack of sleep and lethargy was enough to make us agree to turn back.
We did get quite high up on the mountain, and the views were spectacular. The sunrise was one of the highlights, to be sure.
Heading back down was beautiful - now actually seeing where we had been walking previously - but not friendly on the knees.
Our guide's thermos rolled away on the ascent, but he scooped it up on the descent.
At the end I was asking myself if I'd be interested in attempting the summit once more, and my first thought was Hell No! Then, I changed my mind to a Hell Yeah, and the next time I'd know how to better prepare for the climb.
P.S. My photos are from the moments of good weather - don't be fooled!
Reading accounts like this and this made me intrigued.
At 5,897m, it's Ecuador's second highest summit. This active volcano poses a risk to settlements in the area should there be an erruption or avalanche.
Cotopaxi is always hiding from me.
In the past a different route was used to summit Cotopaxi. It had more variety in terrain and more crevasses, some large enough to necessitate an aluminum ladder to assist in the crossing. However, apparently there are now too many crevasses and a new, less-dangerous trail has been opened for about a year now. This is the trail I went on, it's called 'rompe corazones' (heartbreaker route) because the trail is straight up up up, with little dose of mercy.
The people: 3 guides, 1 Swiss guy, 1 Ecuadorian woman, and 1 Canadian woman. The latter two work together at the U.N.
The technical stuff: crampons, ice axe, and belaying.
It's hard to be roped to people for hours on end.
The weather: light snow, moments of stillness, and wind strong enough to help ease you off the narrow trail if you're not careful.
On Day 1 we got fitted for gear and drove to Cotopaxi National Park, arriving in the late afternoon. We ate an early dinner, then tried to sleep at around 6:30/7pm before our 10:00pm wake up call. I don't think any of us got a wink under our lids.
Then, breakfast time! We put on as much of our gear as possible in the hostal since it will be too cold out to spend time gearing up outside. It was about a 45min drive from our hostal to the base of the trail and we began our hike at about midgnight with brutal winds and the night sky.
Our groups started out together (guide to attemptee ratio - 1:1, 1:1, and 1:2), though we separated later according to pace and interest in continuation.
My eyelashes got frozen!
It was weird to start hiking at night since you don't see much of your surroundings, only a narrow dirt or snow path. On the return hike, you do however see that you've been hiking on a tiny trail in the midst of a 30-50 degree snow-covered slope. And that's why belaying is a good idea!
One of the good points of hiking at night is that you don't see the endless steep slope you have to climb. Sometimes it wasn't darkness that hid what surrounded you, but clouds, flurries, and fierce winds.
Unlike me, I took few pictures. One, because it was dangerous to stop. Two, because my camera was getting covered in crystals and my gloved-fingers shaking. Three, because our guide was rushing us a bit.
I found myself barely looking around, I spent the bulk of the time just watching my feet, and trying to get into the slow-step, steady breathing pattern crucial to high altitude hiking.
The first hike was less than an hour, that was to get to the Refuge, and then about the same time to get to the tip of the glacier where we put our crampons and helmets on, ice axe in hand. I'd previously done these 2 hikes, but it's more tiring at midnight after you haven't slept, while carrying a backpack, and wearing clunky boots that make you walk like a dinosaur robot in space. The weather was also not on our side, with winds howling and biting exposed skin, and flurries blowing into our eyes.
We were only allowed to rest about once an hour, but sometimes less often, and at each stop we drank Gatorade and ate snacks for energy. Piglets on a volcano.
I think we hiked for about 6 hours upward, but it's hard to say. Supposedly you can reach the summit in 6-7 hours, but we didn't have favourable conditions. The few other people we saw on the trail all turned back for one reason or another.
Our group reached about 5,550m before turning back. We probably could have soldiered on toward the summit, however factoring in weather conditions and our growing tiredness, we wouldn't have had enough energy for the 3 or so hour hike back.
For me personally, sores on my ankles (from jungle hikes, aggravated by any hike I did after that) were getting to be too painful in my space boots by the last section, and I was starting to hobble around like a grandmother with a cane. My left eye also had a vision issue, and the lack of sleep and lethargy was enough to make us agree to turn back.
We did get quite high up on the mountain, and the views were spectacular. The sunrise was one of the highlights, to be sure.
Heading back down was beautiful - now actually seeing where we had been walking previously - but not friendly on the knees.
Our guide's thermos rolled away on the ascent, but he scooped it up on the descent.
At the end I was asking myself if I'd be interested in attempting the summit once more, and my first thought was Hell No! Then, I changed my mind to a Hell Yeah, and the next time I'd know how to better prepare for the climb.
P.S. My photos are from the moments of good weather - don't be fooled!
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