Entries from Ecuador
The clouds cleared last night, and we had a beautiful view of a moonlit Cotopaxi and a starry sky (with views of both the North Star and the Southern Cross) as we went to bed. After a restful night and a great breakfast at the hacienda Chilcabamba, we headed off into Cotopaxi National Park. An hour hike from the end off the road led us to the Cotopaxi climbers' hut--a spacious, clean, and comfortable hut at 16,000'.
This afternoon we are resting, drinking hot tea, and getting used to the thin air at this altitude.
Tomorrow we will hike to the glacier to review essential climbing skills before our summit attempt, which will begin with an alpine start tomorrow night.
We left Quito this morning and traveled south on the Panamerican highway, headed for the Iliniza volcanoes for another training hike. We hiked to an altitude of 15,700', where we took a break in the Iliniza climbing hut. After descending, we drove to the beautiful and rustic Chilcabamba Hacienda, nestled on the flanks of Cotopaxi. Tomorrow we'll head up to the climbers' hut on Cotopaxi and get in position for our summit attempt. Everyone is doing well. Saludos from Robin, Sherman, Sean, & Mike!
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Everyone has arrived and our trip officially began this morning. We met for breakfast and enjoyed beautiful spread of native fruits and juices, Ecuadorian breakfast dishes, breads, and of course coffee. We started our trio this morning with a tour of the 'old town' Quito - visiting the Basilica and the Presidential Palace, seeing different styles of colonial Ecuadorian architecture, and learning much of the history of Ecuador - from the pre-Incan culture of the Quitu Caras all the way through to the present-day Ecuador.
Next we headed slightly north of Quito to visit La Mitad del Mundo, or the middle of the world. This is the term used to signify the site of the Equator, Ecuador's namesake. At the Equator, we toured an ethnographic museum and experienced some physical phenomena associated with being exactly on the Equator.
We'll have a relaxing dinner at The Magic Bean, a popular restaurant/cafe in the Mariscal district of Quito. I will check in tomorrow after the team's first training hike up Rucu Pichincha.
Our team had a great training hike today, taking a gondola from Quito to an altitude of around 13,000'. There we started our hike up towards Rucu Pichincha, the dominating volcano that towers over Quito. We hiked in clouds to an altitude of ~15,200'. Everyone did great with the thin air, and climbed very strong. After descending, we had a little free time to explore Quito before dinner. Dinner was delicious Ecuadorian cuisine including tomales, sea bass, and potato and cheese soup.
We're exited to head out tomorrow morning for our second training hike to the Illiniza volcanoes.
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
The team is all safely back in Quito now, after returning from or climb of Cayambe. We took advantage of good climbing conditions with an alpine start (midnight) from the climbing hut on Cayambe, and enjoyed a starry night, comfortable climbing temperature, and good cramponing. Everyone climbed very well - the previous week of climbing and hiking at high altitude had obviously paid off; we were all strong and acclimated. The stars turned to clouds as we ascended the Picos Jarrin route on Cayambe, but the climbing conditions remained favorable. We reached an altitude of 18,700', where a bergshcrund separates the summit ice cap from the glacier below. We searched far to the north and south, trying to find a passage that would allow access to the summit. During this excursion, we explored inside the bergshrund and ascend some steep snow ramps that looked like they would connect to the summit. But, in the end, we were thwarted by the enormous bergshcrund; our high point would be just a couple hundred feet below the true summit - just barely out of our grasp. Our climbing team was still pleased with our strong performance today, and certainly had a very enjoyable climb on Cayambe.
As we descended, the clouds decided not to take mercy on us, and frozen precipitation turned to rain at lower altitudes. We were pretty wet when we arrived back at the climbing hut, but fortunately it was warm and hot drinks awaited us. After a brief rest to dry out and have a bite of food, we hiked 15 minutes down to our van, and continued on to Quito.
Hot showers at the hotel and clean clothes were very welcome. A great meal was enjoyed last night as the group celebrated the past 10 days we spent together enjoying the Ecuadorian culture, people, and mountains, enjoying traveling and adventure, and enjoying spending time with each other.
That's it for now. Thanks for following our adventures!
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
The team is enjoying the world famous indigenous market at Otavalo this morning. The huge Saturday market is a shopper's paradise! While Otavalo is known for its beautiful goods woven of sheep and alpaca wool, there is a plethora of other items available here, from paintings to jewelry to 'panama' hats.
After enjoying the market this morning, we will head up to the climbing hut on Cayambe. We will have a light dinner and hit the sack early so that we are ready for an alpine start for our summit attempt tomorrow. I will keep you posted with our progress.
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Hello everyone-just a quick note from Ecuador.
Today we traveled north from the city of Lasso to the city of Cayambe, and we've spent the afternoon resting in Ecuador's oldest hacienda, Guachala. The drive through the central Andes of Ecuador was beautiful; verdant rolling hills, with a mosaic of multi-colored farmland was the backdrop to the small pueblos we traveled through today. The clouds cleared enough that we were able to sneak a peak back at Cotopaxi during the drive, as well as see the southern flanks of Cayambe. The weather this afternoon has been beautiful-mostly sunny with a breeze. Tomorrow morning we will head out early for some shopping at the world famous market in the town of Otavalo, and then carry on to the climbing hut on Cayambe. I will be in touch tomorrow with an update.
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
We're back from Cotopaxi now, relaxing and enjoying warm showers, delicious food, and soft beds at the Hacienda La Cienega. We attempted to summit Cotopaxi this morning, but did not reach the summit due to a ferocious storm that blew in. We woke around midnight to a beautiful starry night. After breakfast and hot drinks, we set out on our climb around 1:00 am. A couple of clouds had started to form by then, but we still enjoyed nice weather for the start of our climb. Ascending the slopes above the climbing hut, everyone was doing well, and it sure seemed as if we had a great day for climbing.
By the time we got to around 17,000', the weather changed dramatically; the cloudy sky above soon turned into a cloud that engulfed us. Winds were blowing in the 30-40 mph range, and we were coated in rime ice as we ascended. We reached an elevation of ~17,800' where we were able to take shelter in a natural ice cave formed by a crevasse. The team was climbing strong, given the challenging conditions-the wind made it challenging to keep our balance as we ascended. Even though the team was climbing well, I made the decision to turn around because of safety concerns; steep, icy slopes at these altitudes are no place for a mistake. The summit of Cotopaxi will always be here for us to attempt again, but you don't get a second chance with safety.
We all descended safely to the climbing hut where we arrived covered in ice. After a couple hours of warming up and rehydrating, we descended to meet our vehicles and headed for a hot shower! We climbed roughly half way to the summit of Cotopaxi before the weather turned us around. We are all happy and rested now down at the lower altitude of our hacienda (still 10,000'!). Tomorrow we will drive north and head to the Hacienda Guachala. Everyone is healthy and happy, and did well fighting through the challenging weather.
We spent last night here at 16,000', and today we are resting and getting used to the rare air up here. We will head out to the glacier soon for a little training-review of cramponing, ice axe arrest, and other climbing techniques. We will get and alpine start and head out for the summit some time around 1:00 am tomorrow morning. I will be in touch when we return!
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
This morning we packed up our gear and left Quito, heading south along the "Avenue of the Volcanoes". After driving through the small pueblo of Chaupi, we followed a dirt road that took us towards the goal of our second acclimatization hike: the climbing hut (refugio) on the mountains known as the Ilinizas. The hike was very enjoyable, and the weather was comfortable for hiking. Clouds and some wind came in up towards the top of our hike, accompanied by some frozen precipitation, which made the hut a welcome sight. We rested in the hut for about 45 minutes, enjoying hot tea, before heading back to the trailhead.
We are spending the night at the relaxing hacienda Chilcabamba, on the flanks on Cotopaxi. Tomorrow we will head up to the climbing hut on Cotopaxi, and prepare for the climb.
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