Our next weekend destination was Volcán Cotopaxi (19,350 ft.), located about 2.5 hours south of my house in the north end of Quito. Friday morning I met up with three other girls from CIMAS and we took a few buses and trolleys and were eventually dropped off on the side of the Panamerican highway at the road that leads to the entrance to the National Park, which surrounds the volcano.
We easily found a van that could take us up 16 kilometers to a hostel. The road was bumpy and dusty, but the views of the volcano were improving by the second as the clouds swirled around the top! We reached the Paja Blanca hostel and restaurant at about 1pm and we moved into a very primitive chalet without electricity. It sort of felt like we were camping!
After a hefty lunch of grilled trout and all of the usual Ecuadorean side dishes, we checked out a small Cotopaxi “museum” that was next door and tried to find maps and information, but there was very little. Then we started hiking up to a lagoon that was even closer to the volcano.
Past our hostel, the road climbs for approximately 8 km to a refuge where climbers who are summiting can acclimatize and begin their ascent. Other than where we were staying and the tiny refuge hut way up the mountain, there were no other buildings! There were also very few people and cars on the road, so we felt very solitary and relaxed with the wide expanses of paramo (grassland) all to ourselves! After reaching the lagoon and getting some good views of Cotopaxi, as well as another nearby volcano, Volcán Rumiñahui, we headed back down because it was getting chilly. We got some tasty hot chocolate back at the restaurant and saw an incredible sunset before spending the evening in our little hut playing cards and relaxing. The four of us hadn’t experienced temperatures much below 55 F since coming to Ecuador, and that night in our little cabin it was definitely in the 30s! Thankfully we had a lot of warm clothes and blankets.
We slept in a bit on Saturday, but apparently not for long enough because the family that ran the hostel/restaurant was very late with our breakfast that was included. At 10 am we finally chowed down and then we were off again for more hiking around the volcano. This time we made it closer to the snow and massive glaciers, and we were able to see at least 5 other big volcanoes besides Cotopaxi!
We had originally planned to stay until Sunday, but the park was rather underdeveloped and there were not a whole lot of other activities, besides paying a guide to take us to the top! None of us had the time or the money for that, so we grabbed our stuff from Paja Blanca, said goodbye to the family there and started walking down the road back towards the Panamerican. Within about 3 minutes we were picked up by a really nice Ecuadorean family and the drove us all the way down to the highway, and then offered to take us into Quito too!
We made a brief stop at a restaurant next to the highway, where we enjoyed salads, which can be few and far between here! The family dropped us off in the Mariscal and refused our offer of payment for the ride too. It was about 7:30 pm when we arrived back home, much earlier than we expected considering that we didn’t have to take as many buses! Overall, the trip turned out to be a very fulfilling and relaxing breath of nature in a short amount of time!
Also, we came back in time for me to ride my host dad´s bike in the Ciclopaseo again this Sunday! http://www.ciclopolis.ec/root/
you're too badass does all this stuff feel normal yet or do you still feel like a badass?
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