My sprained ankle is doing well. On July 1st, my first bicycle ride in 3 weeks was over 18km and it felt pretty good the next day. Daniela asked if I wanted to go to Cotopaxi volcano the coming weekend. It is a main tourist attraction for travelers and Ecuadorians. Time to give the ankle a good workout.
Some information on Cotopaxi. It is an active stratovolcano approximately 50km south of Quito the capitol. It is home to the second highest summit in Ecuador at 5897m (19,347ft). Daniela climbed to the summit about 2 years ago, You spend the night at base camp 4864m (15,963ft) then get up around 2am to start the climb to the summit. You cross a glacier using ice bridges as you work your way up to arrive at the summit for sunrise.
Interesting that the last time the volcano erupted was from August 2015 to January 2016. They officially closed the volcano to climbing. It was reopened on October 7, 2017.
My goal was to make it to home base. You start driving up the road in the high plain at 3700m (12,139ft) and start to wind up the volcano. The road was surprisingly good. Way better than Daniela remembered it. you reach a parking lot below base camp and just walk straight up. We made it in 45 minutes, I should say I made it in 45 minutes because Daniela would have made it in 20 or less if she didn’t hang back for me. I will admit that it makes me feel better when some Ecuadorians are taking a break when walking up a trail. It’s not just the gringo who is out of breath.
It was a shorter climb to the camp than I thought it would be. I did well with no light headed feeling at all. I felt good about the climb. the walk down took 25 minutes go slow to take care of my ankle, she ran down in 10 minutes. While at base camp I had my first taste of coco tea. You drink the tea or chew the leaves to help with altitudes.
We took the back way home which was partially dirt road. Way cool. My sense of direction is still screwed up around here and Daniela says it simple. Just use the volcanoes for your guide. They seem to keep moving on me but I will figure it out. When we got back I bought a compass so we will see if that helps.
Chock it up as another wonderful day in the Andes!
