Ecuador Climbing Trip - Rucu Pichincha, Iliniza Norte, Cotopaxi, Chimborazo
Dec 26, 2008 - Jan 5, 2009
Below is a quick write up of my 10 day climbing trip to Ecuador along with a few embedded photos from Webshots. Mouse over the pictures for a quick caption - click the photo to launch a new browser/tab with the full size Webshots photo (which can be enlarged even more). While there are only a few pictures posted here, I've actually upoloaded around 180 pictures to Webshots...click the link if you want to see them all.
It has been several years since I've attempted any type of mountaineering trip, even more since I tried one out of the country. Late last summer some of my Alpine Rescue teammates asked if I would be interested in a trip down to Ecuador after Christmas (Dec 26-Jan 5) to climb Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, and a couple other peaks. Timing was perfect for me so I was definitely in!! This group (Ric, Tom, Brian, Zach, and Joelle) have done several trips like this together so they had the whole process of setting things up pretty well dialed in. That certainly made life easy for me as all I had to do was just tag along and enjoy the ride. We had decided to go with a outfitter/guide with the understanding we actually did not want to be 'guided' up the mountains. We just wanted to have the transportation, meals, etc. handled for us. We ended up going with Sun and Snow Expeditions, and they were amazing!!
For the month or two leading up to Thanksgiving, I was in full on running mode in preperation for a marathon back home in Atlanta. I hadn't done any kind of climbing or anything at altitude so I was going to have to cram that in a little. I had the last three weeks of the year off so after having to endure one last crazy week at work, it was going to be all about peakbagging. Once my vacation started though, the weather really turned to crap. We had one of the coldest & snowiest spells of the season. Although my toleration of extreme cold has diminished greatly over the last couple years, I managed to suck it up and bang out a couple of the local thirteeners I hadn't climbed yet (Mt Lady Washington, Sniktau) and attempted a few others in the Sawatch Range near St Elmo. Also got out for a Rosalie Pk climb as well as a couple snowshoe hikes. Although I didn't get in as much as I had hoped, I still got some pretty good time in at higher elevations as well as build a little character with the cold, harsh conditions. Before I knew it, Christmas had rolled around and I was now juggling spending time with family that had come into town and with packing (& repacking & repacking & repacking....) for my trip.
Friday December 26 - Travel Day
......a very long travel day made longer by a migrane I couldn't shake. We left Denver around 6:30am for a flight to Houston where we had to endure a 6 1/2 hour layover. We then left Houston around 4:30pm and finally arrived in Quito, Ecuador 5 1/2 hours later. Edgar (one of the guides) & Marcos (our driver) from Sun & Snow Expeditions were waiting for us with a large van which was more than adequate for transporting all 6 of us and gear. By the time we reached Hotel Embassey, it was close to midnight. It had been a very long day and since breakfast was at 7:00am, we pretty much went straight to bed.
Saturday December 27 - Rucu Pichincha climb
We met Edgar for breakfast (provided by the hotel) and went over our itinerary for the trip & paid the balance due. After breakfast we drove to our first peak of the trip, Rucu Pichincha (elev 15,413ft). This peak was just 20 minutes outside Quito so it made for a convienient first climb and acclimization peak. We drove up to the parking lot at 10,827ft and boarded a cable car (teleférico) that took us up to the actual trailhead (elev 13,451ft). Guide books had mentioned that an option to hike this section was too dangerous because of issues with bandits and violent crimes/robberies against tourists. Supposedly that has all been cleaned up now, but I would still be a little nervous about hiking this part after reading that.
It was around 11:30am when we finally left the trailhead to begin the climb. The trail at the start was wide and very easy to follow which made for nice, casual hiking. After a ways, we left the main trail and normal route and opted to follow a rocky ridge that had some fun scrambling - there was even a spot or two with a couple low 5th class moves. For one section, a couple of us opted to tie into a rope for a belay while for another section, a couple others (myself included) used a rope as a handline to get through a tough downclimb move. Once we got past the tougher spots it was a short class 2/class 3 climb to the summit - it was around 2:20pm when we reached the top. Although the clouds that had been drifting in and out all day continued to block the sun (and our views), it was still a toasty 60 degrees up top. This allowed us to hang out comfortably on the summit for maybe an hour (?) for some beneficial acclimatization. After our long break at the top, we began the hike down via the normal route. The first part of the descent was down loose, deep scree which would have really sucked climbing up, so going over the ridge was a good call. It was an uneventful hike back to the teleférico and to our van where Marcos had been waiting and watching our gear - this was his job for the entire trip.
After we reached the van, we drove to La Estacion Hacienda which took about an hour I think. The hotel was made up of several small units within the complex - ours had three rooms w/ two beds each....perfect for our 6 member team. After unloading all our gear and resting a bit, dinner was served. Already I can't remember what we had exactly.....soup, chicken, & rice among things I think. All I remember about the meals on this trip is they were all very good. We never went hungry.
Sunday December 28 - Iliniza Norte approach - hike to high camp
We started the day off with breakfast around 8:00am - we also met up with Eduardo who would be our guide for the remainder of the trip. Sometime mid morning we left the hotel and headed out for our next climb, Iliniza Norte (elev 16,974ft). After about an hour of driving, we were dropped off so we could get in a little acclimization hike up to the Iliniza trailhead where a camp (elev 13,910ft) had been set up for us. Marcos had driven ahead with the bulk of our gear so we were able to travel pretty light. It was a pretty easy hike along the road and through the occasional meadow. Afternoon clouds were drifting around so we only had occasional & limited views of the Ilinizas during our approach.
Shortly after reaching camp, our cook Marie prepared an amazing lunch for us. After eating we spent the rest of the afternoon just lounging around and keeping things low key. I walked around camp a bit hoping to get some better views of Iliniza Norte & Sur, but clouds continued to drift around and obscured them for the most part. Occasionally we would get a little bit of a teaser view and we could see that Iliniza Norte was dry while Iliniza Sur right next to it was completely covered in snow - seemed kinda odd given their close proximity to each other. Later in the afternoon it began to rain pretty hard so we got chased into our tents. Around dinner the rain let up for a little bit, but shortly after getting dark it started up again. It actually rained pretty hard and for quite a while. I remember laying there wondering how it would impact our Iliniza Norte climb.
Monday December 29 - Iliniza Norte climb
We started our climb pretty early...around 5:00am I think. Although it felt a little cool at the start, it wasn't long before we were shedding layers. The first hour or so was uneventful - just slow, easy hiking along a dimly lit trail. Shortly after daybreak, we crested a ridge and got our first views of an impressive looking Cotopaxi behind us. We could also see that in front of us Iliniza Norte had gotten a fresh coating of snow after last nights rain. Fortunately it didn't look like there was a lot and the climbing propbably wouldn't be a big deal. We continued a slow pace up the ridge and towards the Nuevos Horizontes Refuge which appeared to be closed off due to damage/rebuilding or something - I can't remember now what the story was. After a quick break at the refuge, we continued along the trail leading up to a saddle. Beyond the saddle, the easy trail gradually turned into loose scree mixed with snow then a little further up it became blocky which forced us to scramble a good bit. We never had to break out the rope but we were thinking we may have to for the downclimb, especially with the snow making things a little slick (turns out we didn't need too). Around 10:50am we finally reached the summit. Views unfortunately were a bit limited due to clouds that had developed, but with them drifting some we still had occasional glimpses of Iliniza Sur which looked quite impressive. It was a bit cooler on the summit too, but certainly not cold....48 degrees I believe someone said. Still, we only stayed on the summit maybe a half hour before heading back.
Shortly after we began our hike down, a light rain/sleet mix began to to fall - fortunately it never got too heavy. Still, we made it a pretty quick hike back so we wouldn't get too wet. It was a little after noon I think when we got back and we ended up hanging out in the dinner tent maybe an hour until Marcos came up with the van. After he showed up, we loaded our gear and made the short drive to our next hotel, Llovizna Lodge which was just a few minutes down the road.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent drying our gear around a wood stove and relaxing. In the evening, the hotel served us dinner which again was fantastic.
Tuesday December 30 - Cotopaxi approach - hike to Jose Ribas Refuge
After breakfast at the hotel, we left for our next climb which was a big one...Cotopaxi (elev 19,347ft). We were driven up to a high parking lot (elev 14,764ft) then made a short hike up to the Jose Ribas Refuge (elev 15,748ft). Distance wise the hike wasn't too far, but it was up a fairly steep scree slope so it was a little tougher than expected. We also each had to carry a bag of groceries that Eduardo would be using to cook up lunch, dinner & breakfast, so that added a little unexpected weight. As we hiked up to the hut, there were people everywhere...mostly tourists though. They were hiking up to the hut to hang out, eat lunch, and/or do a little sledding/sliding down the nearby snow fields. Seems like a pretty cool way to spend a day.
It was early afternoon when the Jose Ribas Refuge. After dropping our gear and looking around a bit, we found this was actually a pretty nice hut. It has a well equipped kitchen/eating area downstairs and two large open rooms upstairs filled with bunk beds. Restrooms were located outside although there was no his or hers...just one building with 3 or 4 stalls. At least they had flush toilets, but to flush you had to fill the bowl with water up to whatever level. Pretty impressive accomodations for being so high up and a mile away from any road.
After claiming some bunks off in a corner, we ate lunch, BS'd around a bit, and got gear ready for glacier travel. We also spent time filtering water....even after it had been boiled already (can't be too careful). A few of us also did a short hike up the trail just to see how far we would have to go before needing crampons. Turns out it wasn't far at all. By dinner time the tourists had all left and the people remaining were all climbers....and there were actually quite a few. After eating, everyone went to lay down for a while. Our plan was to get up around midnight and start hiking by 1:00am. Sleep was pretty difficult, maybe because of the altitude or just a little anxiety. There were also a couple people that had some real issues with altitude sickness. They were getting up every few minutes to go outside and get sick. I felt pretty bad for them. One of them actually had to go wake up one of the guides and head back down......
Wednesday December 31 - Cotopaxi climb
After several hours of mostly just laying there, we finally got up around midnight and got our packs together. Up to this point I had showed no signs of altitude sickness or anything, but when I started moving around some I began feeling kinda queezy. I was a little worried but fortunately the feeling passed after a short while. We ate/drank a bit then by 1:10am, we were off. The first 30-40 minutes of hiking was along bare trail as expected. Once we reached the snow we went ahead and put on crampons and tied into our ropes. We had previously decided on two 3 person rope teams (Ric, Brian, Joelle on one - Zach, Tom and myself on the other). Eduardo ended up joining us so he was added to my rope team with the understanding that if he came along, we did not want to be guided. We also decided to put the slower rope team up front with the mind set of keeping the faster team in check some. There was some concern that a couple of us would go out too fast and bonk. As we began making our way up the steep & never ending slope though, we started to see some problems with our pace and how we lined the rope teams. While the first one or two people on the lead team moved slow and steady, somewhere down the line a few quicker steps and pauses grew into a pretty bad accoridan effect toward the end of the second rope team where I was. It got to the point where we were hiking a few steps, pausing for a minute or two, hiking a few steps, than pausing again. After several hours of this, the two or three of us at the end were becoming cold and frustrated.
After many hours of hiking in the dark, finally seeing light creeping across the horizon was a welcome sight. In my mind that meant things would be warming up soon (hopefully) plus we most certainly had to be getting near the top. A sign that indicated we were indeed getting close was the smell of sulfur - Cotopaxi is actually an active volcano. Around 7:30am we finally reached the top of Cotopaxi. This is the first climb I've ever done where you can look down into a very distinct crater. There's really no way to describe it - it was just freakin' awesome!! Although there were a few clouds drifting in and around the crater, we could still see that a little steam rising up. Pretty cool but a little creepy at the same time. After a half hour or so we had to turn around so we could get down before there would be any issues with avalanches or crevasses.
Our descent was steep and slippery in places so coming down the mountain was a bit slow (although Eduardo was flying at times which caused me and Tom to slip and fall some). It was nice being able to see the route we had taken up since all we saw before was just darkness, but with the sun climbing higher in the sky it was reflecting intensly off the snow and it was getting quite hot. Eventually we reached snowline where we stopped for a well deserved break. It felt good to finally untie from the rope and take off our crampons. Eduardo continued on to the hut, and by the time we finally got back (around 12:30pm) he had a little bit of a lunch prepared for us. We all still had the lunch that was given to us earlier, but I know it had been too cold to really mess with while higher up on the mountian. After lunch, we loaded up our packs with the rest of our gear (which we were able to securely store in lockers) and we made the quick hike down back to the van.
After our Cotopaxi climb, we drove to Baños where we would stay for two nights - tomorrow was to be a well deserved rest day. Baños is a small mountain village located near the base of Tungurahua Volcano, an active volcano that actually erupted less than a year ago. As we got near the village, we saw a steady plume of gas and vapar rising up which looked quite impressive. The air was also filled with the smell of sulfur.
The drive to Baños was only supposed to take a couple hours but ended up being longer because of it being New Years Eve (I lost track of the days some so I kinda forgot about it being a holiday). In Ecuador, they have a pretty unique way of celebrating the New Year. Everywhere we looked, there were stuffed dummies (actually effigies) of various sizes which represented the 'old years'. At midnight, they would all get beaten and burned as way to rid all the bad things from the past year.....something like that. Another more unusal part of the custom is a lot of men will dress up as 'widows' of the old year. They didn't really look like widows though, just a bunch cross dressers running around which was kinda weird. These 'widows' would set up road blocks and the only way through was to pay with change, candy or whatever. Unfortunately there were a ton of these road blocks everywhere, and although the first few were kinda funny it really got to be kind of a pain after the 20th & 30th stop.
It was mid afternoon when we finally got to Baños and Hotel Floresta. We spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking some, resting, then it was off to dinner. I can't remember where we ate, but again the food was awesome. I also enjoyed couple beers since it was New Years Eve and we were just going to be chilling out the next day. Beer always taste great after a climb, especially a big one like we had just done. While walking to & from dinner we saw pretty much the whole town out and about celebrating New Years. It had been a long day and we were all pretty spent so we didn't really have any plans to hang out late. I know I was in bed well before midnight.
Thursday January 1 - Rest Day in Baños
This was a much needed and well deserved rest day. We were able to sleep in which was nice for a change. After a casual breakfast and little free internet surfing at the hotel, we headed out into town. We first went by some waterfalls which seemed to be a big attraction here - they were pretty cool I guess but a bit overrated in my opinion. Hot springs were another big attraction but we didn't bother with them. We basically went up and down all the main streets and into a ton of different stores looking around and shopping. We actually killed most of the day just wandering around. The last half of the afternoon was spent at the hotel relaxing some then early evening we went out to a nearby resteraunt for dinner - again and excellant meal (whatever it was, I can't remember). After dinner I went back out for a bit and walked around some more. I ended up going into the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (Church of Our Lady of Solitude) ....a very impressive church built in the late 1600s. We had tried going inside earlier in the day but there were services going on every hour and lasting 45 minutes each, so it was a little tough. I tried taking a few photos but unfortunately they didn't really turn out that well. Once I got back to the hotel, I did a little packing then went to bed.
Friday January 2 - Chimborazo approach - hike to Whypmer's Hut
After breakfast at the hotel, we loaded up the van again for transport to our last mountain, Chimborazo (elev 20,702ft). For this mountain, we would be dropped off at the Hermanos Carrel Refuge (elev 15,744ft) where we would eat lunch then make a short hike up to Whymper's Hut (elev 16,400ft). The drive to the Chimborazo Reserve was mostly in a light, steady rain which had us wondering about conditions some. One of the biggest dangers associated with this climb are avalanches, and if I remember correctly there had been a group or two that got turned around just a couple days prior because of conditions. Up to this point we had been pretty lucky with the weather and conditions so we were hoping things wouldn't change. The rain did stop as we got close to the refuge.
When we arrived at the Hermanos Carrel Refuge we found it to be quite crowded, again with a bunch of tourists just hanging around. The upstairs portion had been closed off for whatever reason but we went up anyway. We spent the next half hour or so making final adjustments to our packs and get ready for the short hike - and again we each had to carry a bag of groceries. The rain we had driven through on the way up hadn't done anything here. It was cloudy and cool, but there had been no snow and the ground was dry for the most part - that was good news. After lunch we headed up to Whymper's Hut, and fortunately it was shorter and much easier than the death march we had to make to the hut on Cotopaxi.
Whymper's Hut was pretty simliar to the Jose Ribas Refuge on Cotopaxi, but a little smaller due to the lower number of people visiting and climbing this mountain. There were still several people wandering around but nothing like what we saw down lower and on Cotopaxi. Once the tourists or whatever thinned out, we saw there were only a couple other small climbing groups - but there was plenty of room for everyone. After claiming a small room with bunks, we dumped our gear then had an afternoon snack that Eduardo had prepared for us. The rest of the afternoon was spent filtering boiled water, getting ropes ready for glacier travel, etc......same routine as what we did for Cotopaxi. Rope teams were changed up a bit though with the hopes of eliminating the issues we had on Cotopaxi. Eduardo was coming along so we went with two 2 person teams and one 3 person team (Brian & Ric on a team.....Zach, Joelle, & Tom on a team....then Eduardo and myself on a team).
Dinner time quickly rolled around then it was off to bed with the hopes of getting a few hours of sleep before our 10pm wake up. Of course I didn't fall asleep until just a few minutes before the alarm went off. After getting our gear together and getting a quick bite to eat, we began our climb at 11:10pm.
Saturday January 3 - Chimborazo climb
We hiked maybe 45 minutes to an hour before having to stop to put on crampons and rope up. From there it became another very long, very steep climb in the dark. Initially it appeared that changing up our rope teams was going to work out, but I guess it wasn't too long before we started having the same stopping/starting issues we experienced on Cotopaxi. We stopped fort a quick break to discuss and decided that faster teams should just go on ahead. I ended up being in front and began leading the group at what looked like and felt like a comfortable pace. We were all staying reasonable close together so it all seemed good - we even began to catch up and pass a couple of the teams that had passed us earlier. As we continued the climb, I would periodically look back to make sure I saw headlamps and that the pace was still good. After a while I stopped for a break and to see how everyone else was doing. As my teamates got closer, I began to realize they were not my teammates. These were the teams I had passed earlier and they had just fallen in behind me and somewhat kept pace. WTF!?!?! I waited and waited and kept looking for other headlamps, but I never saw any. I couldn't believe how much I had zonned out and felt like a complete jackass for getting that far ahead. I decided to wait until everyone caught up to us, but Eduardo wasn't having that which kinda pissed me off. It was a little cold just standing there so he insisted we keep moving. Using the small handheld radios we brought, I called down to make sure everything was ok - and it was. Reluctantly, I continued leading Eduardo and myself up the moutain.
Eventually daybreak rolled around and by now there was really no one around us. I had tried to keep things slow in hopes the rest of my group would catch up, but that never happened. Even the other teams that had kept pace with me were pretty far back now. Oh well. I decided to stop for a quick break but for some reason Eduardo shot ahead of me. I figured he was just getting sick of my slow pace. It looked like we were getting close to the top and I didn't really care who was leading, so whatever. We started hiking again but now Eduardo was stopping every couple of minutes. After several of these stops I asked him what was up - he said he could hardly feel his feet and that they were very cold. I asked him over and over if we needed to turn around and even began telling him we should turn around, but he kept saying no. After a bit, his feet began to warm back up again but now he was going thru that painful feeling you get when your hands & feet thaw. Fortunately he got thru it and began feeling better. The next half hour or so we kept hiking and stopping until finally we found ourselves cresting Chimborzo's first summit point, Veintemilla (20,561ft). The true summit, called Whymper, was still a little ways away but it was supposed to be a pretty easy hike. It was only 6:30am so we still had plenty of time (the group had decided earlier on an 8:00am cutoff due to avalanche & rockfall danger that's present later in the day). Eduardo wanted to take a break and celebrate on the first summit, but now I was the one that was having none of that. I told him we were going to go ahead and head over to Whymper, so off we went. The hike over began with a little downhill then a flat section which was nice, but the short climb back up ended up being very tough. The last little pitch was fairly steep and the snow was surprisingly deep. There wasn't any kind of broken trail around that we could see so we ended up postholing up to our waists...and doing this at +20K is quite exhausting. We pushed through and finally summited at 7:10am.
Although I was totally bummed that I had gotten so far ahead of my teammates, Eduardo and I had the summit to ourselves which was pretty damn cool. What a feeling it was being over 20,000 feet for the first time and to be standing on top of Ecuador's highest mountain. The views were of course amazing!! Once again we were standing high above the clouds - we could also see Cotopaxi poking through way off in the distance. The temps on the summit were actually pleasant and there was no wind. We could have hung out longer (which I wanted to do) but after about 20 minutes or so, Eduardo was ready to head back. I could see a small team leaving Veintemilla and heading our way, but I was sure it wasn't part of my group - and it wasn't. As we reached the summit of Veintemilla though, we did meet up with the team of Zach, Joelle, and Tom. It was now 7:45am and we talked a little bit about how long it would take to get over to Whymper. Since Eduardo and I had broken a trail, we figured it wouldn't take them long at all so they made the mad dash. I wanted to hang out and wait for them for but Eduardo was ready to get off the mountain....#@!^%$&!!!!. Shortly after we began our descent, we met up with Brian and Ric. It was close to 8:00am so I assumed they weren't going to make Whymper, but they seemed close enough to Veintemilla to make the push for it which they did.
The climb down was pretty fast for us as the snow conditions were perfect for rapid plunge stepping. I found myself leading us down so I decided on getting a little payback for Cotopaxi and began dragging him some. I never made him fall (I don't think) but he did have to put the breaks on several times. He was laughing some so he was cool with it. I found out after the fact that because of a severe muffler burn he received on his calf, he could not wear plastic boots because they were just high enough to dig into his wound. He ended up having to wear leather boots which explains why his feet got so cold.
We made it back to the hut around 9:30am....just two hours after standing on the summit. It ended up being almost 3 hours later before the rest of my group made it back but that was because they blew off the cutoff time and all summitted. Can you say summit fever? LOL - and I have to laugh 'cause I know I would have done the same thing. Once everyone was back down the mountain, we had a quick lunch then gathered all our gear for the hike back to the van.
Once we reached the van, we were driven to our hotel in Riobamba. The afternoon was spent putting away climbing gear, visiting internet cafe's, and resting some. That evening we had dinner at another nice resteraunt. As was the case for the entire trip, the food was very good. I also had a couple post-climb beers which of course went down very nicely. It had definitely been a long, tough day so going to bed shortly after getting back to the hotel was no real surprise.
Sunday January 4 - travel from Riobamba back to Quito
Sunday ended up being a complete blur for me. Shortly after midnight I woke up sick as a f'ing dog and spent most of the night in the bathroom. As I found out later in the morning, I wasn't the only one who was all jacked up. After some discussion on who ate what, we quickly figured out that it probably wasn't the food that caused it. Three of us had the same steak dinner but only Zach and myself got sick. We were the only two drinking Pilsener beers so that seems to be what triggered it - kind of odd I think. Breakfast was certainly not an option for me, and it was all I could do to drag myself out of bed for a quick shower before making the 4 hour drive back to Quito. I was pretty worried about that drive but fortunetly, the naseua had passed for the most part and immodium kept everything else in check. The drive still sucked pretty bad though. After we finally arrived in Quito and checked into Hotel Embassey, I ended up sleeping the rest of the afternoon. I still wasn't ready to eat anything by the time dinner rolled around so I skipped that meal as well. I ended up cat napping until everyone got back from dinner, and even though I had slept all day, I had no problems sleeping well the rest of the night.
Monday January 5 - travel from Quito back to Denver
The day started painfully early with Marcos picking us up at 5:00am and shuttling us one last time to the airport. I still felt like crap and had to start the day off with more immodium. I also had no appetite or strength so getting through the airports, check-in, customs, etc was not a lot of fun. It wasn't until mid morning I think before I began getting a little hungry, but by then we were on the plane to Houston so I had to settle for whatever crap they served. Although it seemed like a long day, it wasn't as bad as the trip down. We only had a 2 1/2 hour layover in Houston which most was spent getting through customs. From there it was another quick 2+ hour flight back to Denver.
Although things ended on a down note, it was still an awesome trip. Climbing these peaks (mainly Cotopaxi & Chimborazo) wouldn't be considered hard core mountaineering trips by any means and are just day trip walk-ups. Still, there are plenty of difficulties (altitude, crevasse, avalanche danger) in climbing them. We had a pretty aggressive schedule with cramming all four of them in over just 8 days - and to be successful on all of them is pretty amazing. Coming into this trip I was actually a little concerned with how I would do at the higher altitudes. The only other time I had been over 14K was when I did Kilimanjaro back in Jan/Feb 2003, and even though I made it to the top I didn't really do so well. I didn't bother with any altitude drugs (diamox) or anything for this trip and the only time I had any hint of a problem was that little bit of queasiness just prior to the Cotopaxi climb. Other than that I did great on this trip.
Sun and Snow Expeditions really did an amazing job. Looking back now I have to laugh some. Although we had insisted on not being guided (and told them we didn't want to pay for that service), we totally ended up being guided. Edgar and Eduardo always seemed to want to 'tag along', but for whatever reason I'm guessing they felt like they had too. Whatever. They did an amazing job of setting up all the hotels, providing meals, and driving us around. I would defintely recommend them.
It has been several years since I've attempted any type of mountaineering trip, even more since I tried one out of the country. Late last summer some of my Alpine Rescue teammates asked if I would be interested in a trip down to Ecuador after Christmas (Dec 26-Jan 5) to climb Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, and a couple other peaks. Timing was perfect for me so I was definitely in!! This group (Ric, Tom, Brian, Zach, and Joelle) have done several trips like this together so they had the whole process of setting things up pretty well dialed in. That certainly made life easy for me as all I had to do was just tag along and enjoy the ride. We had decided to go with a outfitter/guide with the understanding we actually did not want to be 'guided' up the mountains. We just wanted to have the transportation, meals, etc. handled for us. We ended up going with Sun and Snow Expeditions, and they were amazing!!
For the month or two leading up to Thanksgiving, I was in full on running mode in preperation for a marathon back home in Atlanta. I hadn't done any kind of climbing or anything at altitude so I was going to have to cram that in a little. I had the last three weeks of the year off so after having to endure one last crazy week at work, it was going to be all about peakbagging. Once my vacation started though, the weather really turned to crap. We had one of the coldest & snowiest spells of the season. Although my toleration of extreme cold has diminished greatly over the last couple years, I managed to suck it up and bang out a couple of the local thirteeners I hadn't climbed yet (Mt Lady Washington, Sniktau) and attempted a few others in the Sawatch Range near St Elmo. Also got out for a Rosalie Pk climb as well as a couple snowshoe hikes. Although I didn't get in as much as I had hoped, I still got some pretty good time in at higher elevations as well as build a little character with the cold, harsh conditions. Before I knew it, Christmas had rolled around and I was now juggling spending time with family that had come into town and with packing (& repacking & repacking & repacking....) for my trip.
Friday December 26 - Travel Day
......a very long travel day made longer by a migrane I couldn't shake. We left Denver around 6:30am for a flight to Houston where we had to endure a 6 1/2 hour layover. We then left Houston around 4:30pm and finally arrived in Quito, Ecuador 5 1/2 hours later. Edgar (one of the guides) & Marcos (our driver) from Sun & Snow Expeditions were waiting for us with a large van which was more than adequate for transporting all 6 of us and gear. By the time we reached Hotel Embassey, it was close to midnight. It had been a very long day and since breakfast was at 7:00am, we pretty much went straight to bed.
Saturday December 27 - Rucu Pichincha climb
Brian and Zach boarding the cable car (teleferico) that would take us up to the trailhead for Rucu Pichincha
hiking the trail to Rucu Pichincha
one of the tougher ~5.2 / 5.4 sections - a couple of us opted to climb while belayed. This is a shot of Brian belaying Ric
for this section, a couple opted to use a handline for the downclimb (myself included) - the climb up was 4th or maybe low 5th class, but we were all comfortable climbing it without a rope
here's the team just hanging out on the summit of Rucu Pichincha - it was a toasty 60 degrees on top
picture of our descent route and nasty scree we avoided by climbing up via the ridge
our hotel, La Estacion Hacienda
We met Edgar for breakfast (provided by the hotel) and went over our itinerary for the trip & paid the balance due. After breakfast we drove to our first peak of the trip, Rucu Pichincha (elev 15,413ft). This peak was just 20 minutes outside Quito so it made for a convienient first climb and acclimization peak. We drove up to the parking lot at 10,827ft and boarded a cable car (teleférico) that took us up to the actual trailhead (elev 13,451ft). Guide books had mentioned that an option to hike this section was too dangerous because of issues with bandits and violent crimes/robberies against tourists. Supposedly that has all been cleaned up now, but I would still be a little nervous about hiking this part after reading that.
It was around 11:30am when we finally left the trailhead to begin the climb. The trail at the start was wide and very easy to follow which made for nice, casual hiking. After a ways, we left the main trail and normal route and opted to follow a rocky ridge that had some fun scrambling - there was even a spot or two with a couple low 5th class moves. For one section, a couple of us opted to tie into a rope for a belay while for another section, a couple others (myself included) used a rope as a handline to get through a tough downclimb move. Once we got past the tougher spots it was a short class 2/class 3 climb to the summit - it was around 2:20pm when we reached the top. Although the clouds that had been drifting in and out all day continued to block the sun (and our views), it was still a toasty 60 degrees up top. This allowed us to hang out comfortably on the summit for maybe an hour (?) for some beneficial acclimatization. After our long break at the top, we began the hike down via the normal route. The first part of the descent was down loose, deep scree which would have really sucked climbing up, so going over the ridge was a good call. It was an uneventful hike back to the teleférico and to our van where Marcos had been waiting and watching our gear - this was his job for the entire trip.
After we reached the van, we drove to La Estacion Hacienda which took about an hour I think. The hotel was made up of several small units within the complex - ours had three rooms w/ two beds each....perfect for our 6 member team. After unloading all our gear and resting a bit, dinner was served. Already I can't remember what we had exactly.....soup, chicken, & rice among things I think. All I remember about the meals on this trip is they were all very good. We never went hungry.
Sunday December 28 - Iliniza Norte approach - hike to high camp
We occasionally got views of Iliniza Sur and Norte as we hiked towards camp
our base camp at 13,910ft - we spent the night here before our Iliniza Norte climb
more views of the Ilinizas from camp - Iliniza Sur is the snow covered peak on the left, Iliniza norte is the dry peak on the right
We started the day off with breakfast around 8:00am - we also met up with Eduardo who would be our guide for the remainder of the trip. Sometime mid morning we left the hotel and headed out for our next climb, Iliniza Norte (elev 16,974ft). After about an hour of driving, we were dropped off so we could get in a little acclimization hike up to the Iliniza trailhead where a camp (elev 13,910ft) had been set up for us. Marcos had driven ahead with the bulk of our gear so we were able to travel pretty light. It was a pretty easy hike along the road and through the occasional meadow. Afternoon clouds were drifting around so we only had occasional & limited views of the Ilinizas during our approach.
Shortly after reaching camp, our cook Marie prepared an amazing lunch for us. After eating we spent the rest of the afternoon just lounging around and keeping things low key. I walked around camp a bit hoping to get some better views of Iliniza Norte & Sur, but clouds continued to drift around and obscured them for the most part. Occasionally we would get a little bit of a teaser view and we could see that Iliniza Norte was dry while Iliniza Sur right next to it was completely covered in snow - seemed kinda odd given their close proximity to each other. Later in the afternoon it began to rain pretty hard so we got chased into our tents. Around dinner the rain let up for a little bit, but shortly after getting dark it started up again. It actually rained pretty hard and for quite a while. I remember laying there wondering how it would impact our Iliniza Norte climb.
Monday December 29 - Iliniza Norte climb
early morning shot of the Ilinizas - everyone is actually looking in the opposite direction at Cotopaxi
one of our first glimpses of Cotopaxi
at the saddle between Iliniza Sur and Norte - this is looking up towards the freshly snow covered ridge of Norte
we got into a little bit of snow covered scrambling, but it wasn't too bad
here we are hanging out on the summit of Iliniza Norte
inside Llovizna Lodge, the hotel we stayed in after climbing Iliniza Norte
our very cluttered room at the Llovizna Lodge
We started our climb pretty early...around 5:00am I think. Although it felt a little cool at the start, it wasn't long before we were shedding layers. The first hour or so was uneventful - just slow, easy hiking along a dimly lit trail. Shortly after daybreak, we crested a ridge and got our first views of an impressive looking Cotopaxi behind us. We could also see that in front of us Iliniza Norte had gotten a fresh coating of snow after last nights rain. Fortunately it didn't look like there was a lot and the climbing propbably wouldn't be a big deal. We continued a slow pace up the ridge and towards the Nuevos Horizontes Refuge which appeared to be closed off due to damage/rebuilding or something - I can't remember now what the story was. After a quick break at the refuge, we continued along the trail leading up to a saddle. Beyond the saddle, the easy trail gradually turned into loose scree mixed with snow then a little further up it became blocky which forced us to scramble a good bit. We never had to break out the rope but we were thinking we may have to for the downclimb, especially with the snow making things a little slick (turns out we didn't need too). Around 10:50am we finally reached the summit. Views unfortunately were a bit limited due to clouds that had developed, but with them drifting some we still had occasional glimpses of Iliniza Sur which looked quite impressive. It was a bit cooler on the summit too, but certainly not cold....48 degrees I believe someone said. Still, we only stayed on the summit maybe a half hour before heading back.
Shortly after we began our hike down, a light rain/sleet mix began to to fall - fortunately it never got too heavy. Still, we made it a pretty quick hike back so we wouldn't get too wet. It was a little after noon I think when we got back and we ended up hanging out in the dinner tent maybe an hour until Marcos came up with the van. After he showed up, we loaded our gear and made the short drive to our next hotel, Llovizna Lodge which was just a few minutes down the road.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent drying our gear around a wood stove and relaxing. In the evening, the hotel served us dinner which again was fantastic.
Tuesday December 30 - Cotopaxi approach - hike to Jose Ribas Refuge
shot of Cotopaxi taken from outside our van - we had stopped a little ways before the trailhead to get these pictures
at the Cotopaxi trailhead (elev 14,764ft) getting gear ready for the hike up to the Jose Ribas Refuge (elev 15,748ft)
inside the Jose Ribas Refuge where we slept (well, laid down for a few hours) before our Cotopaxi climb
After breakfast at the hotel, we left for our next climb which was a big one...Cotopaxi (elev 19,347ft). We were driven up to a high parking lot (elev 14,764ft) then made a short hike up to the Jose Ribas Refuge (elev 15,748ft). Distance wise the hike wasn't too far, but it was up a fairly steep scree slope so it was a little tougher than expected. We also each had to carry a bag of groceries that Eduardo would be using to cook up lunch, dinner & breakfast, so that added a little unexpected weight. As we hiked up to the hut, there were people everywhere...mostly tourists though. They were hiking up to the hut to hang out, eat lunch, and/or do a little sledding/sliding down the nearby snow fields. Seems like a pretty cool way to spend a day.
It was early afternoon when the Jose Ribas Refuge. After dropping our gear and looking around a bit, we found this was actually a pretty nice hut. It has a well equipped kitchen/eating area downstairs and two large open rooms upstairs filled with bunk beds. Restrooms were located outside although there was no his or hers...just one building with 3 or 4 stalls. At least they had flush toilets, but to flush you had to fill the bowl with water up to whatever level. Pretty impressive accomodations for being so high up and a mile away from any road.
After claiming some bunks off in a corner, we ate lunch, BS'd around a bit, and got gear ready for glacier travel. We also spent time filtering water....even after it had been boiled already (can't be too careful). A few of us also did a short hike up the trail just to see how far we would have to go before needing crampons. Turns out it wasn't far at all. By dinner time the tourists had all left and the people remaining were all climbers....and there were actually quite a few. After eating, everyone went to lay down for a while. Our plan was to get up around midnight and start hiking by 1:00am. Sleep was pretty difficult, maybe because of the altitude or just a little anxiety. There were also a couple people that had some real issues with altitude sickness. They were getting up every few minutes to go outside and get sick. I felt pretty bad for them. One of them actually had to go wake up one of the guides and head back down......
Wednesday December 31 - Cotopaxi climb
On the summit of Cotopaxi - this is looking down into the crater
another shot from the summit of Cotopaxi - the views were amazing!!
team Alpine on the summit of Cotopaxi
team Alpine descending Cotopaxi
this is a pretty cool profile shot of Tom descending one of the steeper sections
inside the courtyard area of Hotel Floresta looking towards the rooms we stayed in (bottom level) - this is the hotel we stayed in while resting in Baños.
After several hours of mostly just laying there, we finally got up around midnight and got our packs together. Up to this point I had showed no signs of altitude sickness or anything, but when I started moving around some I began feeling kinda queezy. I was a little worried but fortunately the feeling passed after a short while. We ate/drank a bit then by 1:10am, we were off. The first 30-40 minutes of hiking was along bare trail as expected. Once we reached the snow we went ahead and put on crampons and tied into our ropes. We had previously decided on two 3 person rope teams (Ric, Brian, Joelle on one - Zach, Tom and myself on the other). Eduardo ended up joining us so he was added to my rope team with the understanding that if he came along, we did not want to be guided. We also decided to put the slower rope team up front with the mind set of keeping the faster team in check some. There was some concern that a couple of us would go out too fast and bonk. As we began making our way up the steep & never ending slope though, we started to see some problems with our pace and how we lined the rope teams. While the first one or two people on the lead team moved slow and steady, somewhere down the line a few quicker steps and pauses grew into a pretty bad accoridan effect toward the end of the second rope team where I was. It got to the point where we were hiking a few steps, pausing for a minute or two, hiking a few steps, than pausing again. After several hours of this, the two or three of us at the end were becoming cold and frustrated.
After many hours of hiking in the dark, finally seeing light creeping across the horizon was a welcome sight. In my mind that meant things would be warming up soon (hopefully) plus we most certainly had to be getting near the top. A sign that indicated we were indeed getting close was the smell of sulfur - Cotopaxi is actually an active volcano. Around 7:30am we finally reached the top of Cotopaxi. This is the first climb I've ever done where you can look down into a very distinct crater. There's really no way to describe it - it was just freakin' awesome!! Although there were a few clouds drifting in and around the crater, we could still see that a little steam rising up. Pretty cool but a little creepy at the same time. After a half hour or so we had to turn around so we could get down before there would be any issues with avalanches or crevasses.
Our descent was steep and slippery in places so coming down the mountain was a bit slow (although Eduardo was flying at times which caused me and Tom to slip and fall some). It was nice being able to see the route we had taken up since all we saw before was just darkness, but with the sun climbing higher in the sky it was reflecting intensly off the snow and it was getting quite hot. Eventually we reached snowline where we stopped for a well deserved break. It felt good to finally untie from the rope and take off our crampons. Eduardo continued on to the hut, and by the time we finally got back (around 12:30pm) he had a little bit of a lunch prepared for us. We all still had the lunch that was given to us earlier, but I know it had been too cold to really mess with while higher up on the mountian. After lunch, we loaded up our packs with the rest of our gear (which we were able to securely store in lockers) and we made the quick hike down back to the van.
After our Cotopaxi climb, we drove to Baños where we would stay for two nights - tomorrow was to be a well deserved rest day. Baños is a small mountain village located near the base of Tungurahua Volcano, an active volcano that actually erupted less than a year ago. As we got near the village, we saw a steady plume of gas and vapar rising up which looked quite impressive. The air was also filled with the smell of sulfur.
The drive to Baños was only supposed to take a couple hours but ended up being longer because of it being New Years Eve (I lost track of the days some so I kinda forgot about it being a holiday). In Ecuador, they have a pretty unique way of celebrating the New Year. Everywhere we looked, there were stuffed dummies (actually effigies) of various sizes which represented the 'old years'. At midnight, they would all get beaten and burned as way to rid all the bad things from the past year.....something like that. Another more unusal part of the custom is a lot of men will dress up as 'widows' of the old year. They didn't really look like widows though, just a bunch cross dressers running around which was kinda weird. These 'widows' would set up road blocks and the only way through was to pay with change, candy or whatever. Unfortunately there were a ton of these road blocks everywhere, and although the first few were kinda funny it really got to be kind of a pain after the 20th & 30th stop.
It was mid afternoon when we finally got to Baños and Hotel Floresta. We spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking some, resting, then it was off to dinner. I can't remember where we ate, but again the food was awesome. I also enjoyed couple beers since it was New Years Eve and we were just going to be chilling out the next day. Beer always taste great after a climb, especially a big one like we had just done. While walking to & from dinner we saw pretty much the whole town out and about celebrating New Years. It had been a long day and we were all pretty spent so we didn't really have any plans to hang out late. I know I was in bed well before midnight.
Thursday January 1 - Rest Day in Baños
This was a much needed and well deserved rest day. We were able to sleep in which was nice for a change. After a casual breakfast and little free internet surfing at the hotel, we headed out into town. We first went by some waterfalls which seemed to be a big attraction here - they were pretty cool I guess but a bit overrated in my opinion. Hot springs were another big attraction but we didn't bother with them. We basically went up and down all the main streets and into a ton of different stores looking around and shopping. We actually killed most of the day just wandering around. The last half of the afternoon was spent at the hotel relaxing some then early evening we went out to a nearby resteraunt for dinner - again and excellant meal (whatever it was, I can't remember). After dinner I went back out for a bit and walked around some more. I ended up going into the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (Church of Our Lady of Solitude) ....a very impressive church built in the late 1600s. We had tried going inside earlier in the day but there were services going on every hour and lasting 45 minutes each, so it was a little tough. I tried taking a few photos but unfortunately they didn't really turn out that well. Once I got back to the hotel, I did a little packing then went to bed.
Friday January 2 - Chimborazo approach - hike to Whypmer's Hut
This is Whymper's Hut (elev 16,400ft). This is where we stayed before our climb up Chimborazo
inside Whymper's Hut - here's the group getting gear ready for the Chimborazo climb
After breakfast at the hotel, we loaded up the van again for transport to our last mountain, Chimborazo (elev 20,702ft). For this mountain, we would be dropped off at the Hermanos Carrel Refuge (elev 15,744ft) where we would eat lunch then make a short hike up to Whymper's Hut (elev 16,400ft). The drive to the Chimborazo Reserve was mostly in a light, steady rain which had us wondering about conditions some. One of the biggest dangers associated with this climb are avalanches, and if I remember correctly there had been a group or two that got turned around just a couple days prior because of conditions. Up to this point we had been pretty lucky with the weather and conditions so we were hoping things wouldn't change. The rain did stop as we got close to the refuge.
When we arrived at the Hermanos Carrel Refuge we found it to be quite crowded, again with a bunch of tourists just hanging around. The upstairs portion had been closed off for whatever reason but we went up anyway. We spent the next half hour or so making final adjustments to our packs and get ready for the short hike - and again we each had to carry a bag of groceries. The rain we had driven through on the way up hadn't done anything here. It was cloudy and cool, but there had been no snow and the ground was dry for the most part - that was good news. After lunch we headed up to Whymper's Hut, and fortunately it was shorter and much easier than the death march we had to make to the hut on Cotopaxi.
Whymper's Hut was pretty simliar to the Jose Ribas Refuge on Cotopaxi, but a little smaller due to the lower number of people visiting and climbing this mountain. There were still several people wandering around but nothing like what we saw down lower and on Cotopaxi. Once the tourists or whatever thinned out, we saw there were only a couple other small climbing groups - but there was plenty of room for everyone. After claiming a small room with bunks, we dumped our gear then had an afternoon snack that Eduardo had prepared for us. The rest of the afternoon was spent filtering boiled water, getting ropes ready for glacier travel, etc......same routine as what we did for Cotopaxi. Rope teams were changed up a bit though with the hopes of eliminating the issues we had on Cotopaxi. Eduardo was coming along so we went with two 2 person teams and one 3 person team (Brian & Ric on a team.....Zach, Joelle, & Tom on a team....then Eduardo and myself on a team).
Dinner time quickly rolled around then it was off to bed with the hopes of getting a few hours of sleep before our 10pm wake up. Of course I didn't fall asleep until just a few minutes before the alarm went off. After getting our gear together and getting a quick bite to eat, we began our climb at 11:10pm.
Saturday January 3 - Chimborazo climb
this was taken from Chimborazo's first summit point, Veintemilla (elev 20,561 ft), and looking toward the highest summit point, Whymper (elev 20,702ft)
Here I am on the summit of Chimborazo, Ecuador's highest mountain
On our way down, we crossed paths with Zach, Joelle, and Tom on the first summit point, Veintemilla
caught a bit of a rainbow as Ric and Brian were coming up - another climber (solo) was heading down and was passing by at the time
We hiked maybe 45 minutes to an hour before having to stop to put on crampons and rope up. From there it became another very long, very steep climb in the dark. Initially it appeared that changing up our rope teams was going to work out, but I guess it wasn't too long before we started having the same stopping/starting issues we experienced on Cotopaxi. We stopped fort a quick break to discuss and decided that faster teams should just go on ahead. I ended up being in front and began leading the group at what looked like and felt like a comfortable pace. We were all staying reasonable close together so it all seemed good - we even began to catch up and pass a couple of the teams that had passed us earlier. As we continued the climb, I would periodically look back to make sure I saw headlamps and that the pace was still good. After a while I stopped for a break and to see how everyone else was doing. As my teamates got closer, I began to realize they were not my teammates. These were the teams I had passed earlier and they had just fallen in behind me and somewhat kept pace. WTF!?!?! I waited and waited and kept looking for other headlamps, but I never saw any. I couldn't believe how much I had zonned out and felt like a complete jackass for getting that far ahead. I decided to wait until everyone caught up to us, but Eduardo wasn't having that which kinda pissed me off. It was a little cold just standing there so he insisted we keep moving. Using the small handheld radios we brought, I called down to make sure everything was ok - and it was. Reluctantly, I continued leading Eduardo and myself up the moutain.
Eventually daybreak rolled around and by now there was really no one around us. I had tried to keep things slow in hopes the rest of my group would catch up, but that never happened. Even the other teams that had kept pace with me were pretty far back now. Oh well. I decided to stop for a quick break but for some reason Eduardo shot ahead of me. I figured he was just getting sick of my slow pace. It looked like we were getting close to the top and I didn't really care who was leading, so whatever. We started hiking again but now Eduardo was stopping every couple of minutes. After several of these stops I asked him what was up - he said he could hardly feel his feet and that they were very cold. I asked him over and over if we needed to turn around and even began telling him we should turn around, but he kept saying no. After a bit, his feet began to warm back up again but now he was going thru that painful feeling you get when your hands & feet thaw. Fortunately he got thru it and began feeling better. The next half hour or so we kept hiking and stopping until finally we found ourselves cresting Chimborzo's first summit point, Veintemilla (20,561ft). The true summit, called Whymper, was still a little ways away but it was supposed to be a pretty easy hike. It was only 6:30am so we still had plenty of time (the group had decided earlier on an 8:00am cutoff due to avalanche & rockfall danger that's present later in the day). Eduardo wanted to take a break and celebrate on the first summit, but now I was the one that was having none of that. I told him we were going to go ahead and head over to Whymper, so off we went. The hike over began with a little downhill then a flat section which was nice, but the short climb back up ended up being very tough. The last little pitch was fairly steep and the snow was surprisingly deep. There wasn't any kind of broken trail around that we could see so we ended up postholing up to our waists...and doing this at +20K is quite exhausting. We pushed through and finally summited at 7:10am.
Although I was totally bummed that I had gotten so far ahead of my teammates, Eduardo and I had the summit to ourselves which was pretty damn cool. What a feeling it was being over 20,000 feet for the first time and to be standing on top of Ecuador's highest mountain. The views were of course amazing!! Once again we were standing high above the clouds - we could also see Cotopaxi poking through way off in the distance. The temps on the summit were actually pleasant and there was no wind. We could have hung out longer (which I wanted to do) but after about 20 minutes or so, Eduardo was ready to head back. I could see a small team leaving Veintemilla and heading our way, but I was sure it wasn't part of my group - and it wasn't. As we reached the summit of Veintemilla though, we did meet up with the team of Zach, Joelle, and Tom. It was now 7:45am and we talked a little bit about how long it would take to get over to Whymper. Since Eduardo and I had broken a trail, we figured it wouldn't take them long at all so they made the mad dash. I wanted to hang out and wait for them for but Eduardo was ready to get off the mountain....#@!^%$&!!!!. Shortly after we began our descent, we met up with Brian and Ric. It was close to 8:00am so I assumed they weren't going to make Whymper, but they seemed close enough to Veintemilla to make the push for it which they did.
The climb down was pretty fast for us as the snow conditions were perfect for rapid plunge stepping. I found myself leading us down so I decided on getting a little payback for Cotopaxi and began dragging him some. I never made him fall (I don't think) but he did have to put the breaks on several times. He was laughing some so he was cool with it. I found out after the fact that because of a severe muffler burn he received on his calf, he could not wear plastic boots because they were just high enough to dig into his wound. He ended up having to wear leather boots which explains why his feet got so cold.
We made it back to the hut around 9:30am....just two hours after standing on the summit. It ended up being almost 3 hours later before the rest of my group made it back but that was because they blew off the cutoff time and all summitted. Can you say summit fever? LOL - and I have to laugh 'cause I know I would have done the same thing. Once everyone was back down the mountain, we had a quick lunch then gathered all our gear for the hike back to the van.
Once we reached the van, we were driven to our hotel in Riobamba. The afternoon was spent putting away climbing gear, visiting internet cafe's, and resting some. That evening we had dinner at another nice resteraunt. As was the case for the entire trip, the food was very good. I also had a couple post-climb beers which of course went down very nicely. It had definitely been a long, tough day so going to bed shortly after getting back to the hotel was no real surprise.
Sunday January 4 - travel from Riobamba back to Quito
Sunday ended up being a complete blur for me. Shortly after midnight I woke up sick as a f'ing dog and spent most of the night in the bathroom. As I found out later in the morning, I wasn't the only one who was all jacked up. After some discussion on who ate what, we quickly figured out that it probably wasn't the food that caused it. Three of us had the same steak dinner but only Zach and myself got sick. We were the only two drinking Pilsener beers so that seems to be what triggered it - kind of odd I think. Breakfast was certainly not an option for me, and it was all I could do to drag myself out of bed for a quick shower before making the 4 hour drive back to Quito. I was pretty worried about that drive but fortunetly, the naseua had passed for the most part and immodium kept everything else in check. The drive still sucked pretty bad though. After we finally arrived in Quito and checked into Hotel Embassey, I ended up sleeping the rest of the afternoon. I still wasn't ready to eat anything by the time dinner rolled around so I skipped that meal as well. I ended up cat napping until everyone got back from dinner, and even though I had slept all day, I had no problems sleeping well the rest of the night.
Monday January 5 - travel from Quito back to Denver
The day started painfully early with Marcos picking us up at 5:00am and shuttling us one last time to the airport. I still felt like crap and had to start the day off with more immodium. I also had no appetite or strength so getting through the airports, check-in, customs, etc was not a lot of fun. It wasn't until mid morning I think before I began getting a little hungry, but by then we were on the plane to Houston so I had to settle for whatever crap they served. Although it seemed like a long day, it wasn't as bad as the trip down. We only had a 2 1/2 hour layover in Houston which most was spent getting through customs. From there it was another quick 2+ hour flight back to Denver.
Although things ended on a down note, it was still an awesome trip. Climbing these peaks (mainly Cotopaxi & Chimborazo) wouldn't be considered hard core mountaineering trips by any means and are just day trip walk-ups. Still, there are plenty of difficulties (altitude, crevasse, avalanche danger) in climbing them. We had a pretty aggressive schedule with cramming all four of them in over just 8 days - and to be successful on all of them is pretty amazing. Coming into this trip I was actually a little concerned with how I would do at the higher altitudes. The only other time I had been over 14K was when I did Kilimanjaro back in Jan/Feb 2003, and even though I made it to the top I didn't really do so well. I didn't bother with any altitude drugs (diamox) or anything for this trip and the only time I had any hint of a problem was that little bit of queasiness just prior to the Cotopaxi climb. Other than that I did great on this trip.
Sun and Snow Expeditions really did an amazing job. Looking back now I have to laugh some. Although we had insisted on not being guided (and told them we didn't want to pay for that service), we totally ended up being guided. Edgar and Eduardo always seemed to want to 'tag along', but for whatever reason I'm guessing they felt like they had too. Whatever. They did an amazing job of setting up all the hotels, providing meals, and driving us around. I would defintely recommend them.