Today I woke up half an hour earlier than yesterday to catch a cab to meet my tour group. Today, hailing a cab was extremely easy and I was an hour early for the tour.
Cotopaxi is an active volcano overdue for an erruption. Our guide told us that today could be the day it errupts.
After arriving in massive Cotopaxi National Park, we drove and stopped at two places, increasingly higher, in order to acclimatize and make sure that nobody was suffering from altitude sickness.
We stopped at a garden where our guide taught us about some of the local plants. He said hugging this tree for 30 seconds gives you energy.
model of Cotopaxi
We drove up to the base of the hiking trail...
...and began to climb.
It was cold at first, but after awhile hiking it gets hot.
It was snowing more the further up we went.
After about 50 minutes we made it to the first refuge at 4864m.
It doesn't look like much of a refuge, though it is under construction. I don't envy those mules.
And then we climbed some more.
Until we reached about 5000m and the edge of the glacier.
I actually got sunburned this day as I only had sunscreen on my face and neck, neglecting my arms and back since I thought they'd be covered up. I burn more easily now since I'm taking anti-malarials which increases sun sensitivity. So yeah, I got sunburnt on a snowy day without sun. The white of the snow is powerful.
We took a sandy trail back down.
We had the option to bike downhill, but as my biking skills are very limited I opted out. I'm really glad I did because it started raining and some of the bikers couldn't continue in the freezing rain. After the tour I was to take a bus to another town, so I would have been extra miserable in wet clothes on the bus ride.
Before this tour I couldn't sleep, I had been reading accounts of people who reached the summit of Cotopaxi and it sounded amazing, though challenging for those not used to the altitude. It's only a 2 day hike, with the bulk of it being about 6-7 hours on the second day, but it's the conditions that make it unbearable by some accounts, with no more than half making it to the top (due to weather or physical condition). It's not a technical hike, but crampons and an ice axe are required. I decided to talk to a tour agency to see if it might be possible or out of my reach, but you just never know because they always want to sell sell sell! As it turned out, nothing was even available for another 4-5 days, and I don't want to hang around for that. Maybe next time Cotopaxi!
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