We Do Stuff: Ecuador Volcanos

December 2016
Ecuador
Cayambe 18,996'
Chimborazo 20,564'

Off we go, our first international trip together. We wanted to do something big over the Christmas and New Years holidays so we threw a dart at a board. I had dearly hoped for Thailand, but the dart struck South America two consecutive times. Laura came up with the idea of climbing some volcanoes for a week and then resting up in the Galapagos Islands, so we began looking at our options. Originally planning for Cotopaxi in addition to Chimborazo, it was actually erupting and the summit closed, so we switched Cayambe for the dangerous Cotopaxi.

We arrived in Quito, Ecuador’s capital and upon getting to the city we walked over to our guiding company, which is mandatory in Ecuador. I had never had a guide before but was pleased with the interaction and the professionalism of High Summits Ecuador. We were given crampons, ice axes and Laura was fit for boots at the local gear store. We spent the afternoon exploring the city, statues and a broken zip line at the local park before retiring to our hostel for the evening.

The following day we rode the Teleferiqo to the base of Pichincha, a 15,700’ volcano that towers over Quito. We attempted to climb but were rained out so we settled for some coca tea in a shelter while drying our clothes. We went back to the hostel, packed our gear to leave early the next day and went out for dinner on the town. That night, apparently there was some concert testing going on in the park across the street and at 2 am, the loudest speakers you’ve ever heard began playing. This went on and off for the next hour. It was very interesting and clearly nobody cared, so it must be normal?!

The next day, we met our guide, Patricio and headed to the hut on Cayambe, Refugio Ruales Oleas Berge. Upon arriving, it was raining and snowing and there was some uncertainty about whether we would climb tomorrow. We had talked with Patricio about already being acclimatized to altitude but he was still unsure. Most of his clients spend a week acclimatizing before going above 18,000’ but we wouldn’t have that kind of time. Patricio led out front and set a pace that I simply couldn’t handle. In a short scrambling section, I passed Patricio and took the lead. He allowed it for a while but eventually let us know that he could tell that we were in excellent mountain condition and would have no problems the following day but that he still wanted to slow us down a bit. We listened to the experienced guide and were happy he would set a pace that worked for all of us. We had planned to leave at 10 pm but he moved our start time to 11 pm because of our speed. Dinner and sleep followed and later that night we set off for the summit of this outstanding dormant volcano. Although we were the last party out of the hut, we made the summit in excellent time, somewhere around 5 hours. We were the first group on summit, having passed everyone else on the mountain that day. Shortly after we made it, another group showed up and several more quickly followed. The sunrise at what seemed to be the top of the world for the moment was incredible. We could see several other volcanoes in the distance, including the smoking Cotopaxi. We had a short summit celebration and headed down. Climbing to almost 19,000 feet was a new elevation record for me and I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. I knew I was in good shape and felt great, not out of breath or even overly tired.

For our rest day we were dropped off at a small farming community at the base of Cotopaxi. We picked up a guide, Dianis, who happened to be a climber as well and ventured out to Cotopaxi National Park. We paid her and her father $20 and went to the recently remodeled Refugio Jose Rivas at 15,953’. They brought along mountain bikes and Laura and I biked from the refuge to a lake several miles down a dirt road. We said our thank yous and back to the small town we went for the evening.

We had planned to meet Patricio at 9 am the following morning and as usual, he was right on time. We headed for Chimborazo and made Refugio Hermanos Carrel hut at 4800 meters around 1 pm. We relaxed, met fellow climbers, watched the sunset below the clouds and ate dinner before our next days climb. Again, Patricio figured we would move quickly so we decided on a midnight start time. We made great time and passed most groups within a few hours. The conditions were not real favorable and all groups except one turned around. We were disappointed to see that these groups were giving up after such a short time on the mountain. It seemed that they simply didn’t have the motivation or determination to work hard for something that day, after all the sun hadn’t even come up yet! So on we continued, breaking trail through the new snow, up and up until reaching the summit at 20,500’+. This climb was far tougher than Cayambe just a few days ago. Laura would lie down and try to sleep every time we stopped for only a few seconds, and I would do my best to motivate her to keep moving. By the bottom of the mountain I had become altitude sick and decided to curl up in a ball hoping to get some relief in my stomach and head. Anyways, we continued down to the hut, ate some lunch and rehydrated. We both started feeling better and so we headed back to Quito. We gave our thanks to Patricio for his expertise and for providing us with an unforgettable experience and parted ways.