Cotopaxi

Last weekend, I had an incredible experience of climbing Cotopaxi. It is the second highest volcano in Ecuador standing at 5897 meters (19, 347 feet) - the highest volcano and peak in Ecuador is Chimborazo at 6267 meters or 20,561 feet. My crew leader at ZooBreviven is a mountain guide on the weekends and he invited me along with a group he was leading. Since I got to go along as a guest, I only hiked and camped but did not summit and climb much on the snow - the last 4,000 feet or so. I think this was smart anyway because I have never been higher than 11 or 12,00 feet so camping and hiking up at 15,000 was a goal in itself!!

It was quite the adventure. We were a group of 8 and in 2 cars. When we got to the Parque Nacional Cotopaxi, we had to wait for about an hour because they had an extreme bike/running race finishing up. Then as we drove not even 250 yards from the entrance, the other car's alternator belt broke. We temporarily fixed it using some nylon cord I had from REI (thanks Krysi), a set of pliers and my leatherman. Once the car was bandaged up, we drove to this huge parking lot at about 9,000 feet. I was shocked to see not only a parking lot the size of Mt. Bachelor's West Village lot but that there were at least 2 - 3 tour buses and a bunch of cars. Gosh almighty. I then learned that Cotopaxi is the second biggest tourist attraction in Ecuador behind the Galapagos Islands. So as we pull into the parking lot and just as we are starting to get ready, it starts hailing. Cotopaxi had been hidden under clouds the entire ride and while we were waiting I was wondering if we were going to get rain/snow. Luckily it only lasted for about 10 - 15 minutes and then we did not have any more precipitation after that for the rest of the trip.

We started hiking and it was great to see big families of 8 - 10 people all hiking up together - with food and helping each other walk up. Most people and families really only hiked up a little bit of the way and stopped but I loved seeing families together in outdoor activities. On the way out, we saw pick up trucks with their truck beds filled with people standing up and holding onto the rails. Now that road is pretty bumpy -similar to one of our forest gravel roads, except at the beginning where it was cobblestone, that need 4 wheel drive - so I am amazed at how the people arrive with a smile and full of cheer and ready to help one another hike up.

We hiked up to a refuge and then over a bit so we were out of sight. The night we were there, the refuge had about 36 people stay overnight (which includes dinner). It costs about $20 a night for us extraneros and $10 for Ecuatorianos. In Ecuador, it is common practice to have one price for the natives and another higher price for the tourists. I like that Ecuador has perks eventhough I am not able to cash in on them. We set up our tents at about 15,000 feet. The air felt so crisp and clean.

At 2 o'clock in the morning, everyone got up and started to climb the rest of the 4,000 feet. I guess at this time of year, they start at night and finish by 10 or 11am due to avalanche risks. It was quite interesting to watch all these hikers - 6 from our group and 30 from the refuge - with headlamps on hike up in the pitch black. It was like a trail of ants off to work forging up the mountain. I then went back to bed a bit disappointed that I was not going up but glad to help watch everyone's stuff. 2 hours later, one of the guides came back. He only helped get the 6 to the snow and did not want to summit.

When I woke up later, we had some beautiful views of the valley and the volcano itself. I then hiked up to the snow with another fellow from the refuge. It was incredible and I found it harder to breathe because my breath was much shallower. I made it up to the snow just as part of my group was coming down. They unfortunately did not make it to the summit - I guess the snow conditions were really difficult.



















































Here is my first snow angel in South America and I dedicated it to Marie Poueymirou - my incredible grandma who is and was such a guiding force in my life. She modeled hard work, patience, gentleness and she truly understood how important just spending time together is. She is the first person to teach me to play cards, she would swing a jumprope for hours for me and my sisters and she brought our family together, year after year - a touchstone for the 13 pouey cousins! She passed away in 2004 while my brother, uncle, some cousins and myself were up skiing in Whistler. She died in her sleep at the age of 101 years. We got the call at about 4 or 5 in the morning. When it came time to go skiing later that day, my cousin Tom came up with the idea of making snow angels for grandma every time we fell. We made a whole bunch of angels that day in some deep powder. I still continue to make them for her in all sorts of snow conditions throughout the months and years and I probably have made enough to wrap around this planet. I sure hope she can see them!!! She is and was as magical to me as those crystallized powdery flakes are to this planet.