Ecuador and volcanoes

Due to causes mentioned here this trip has unfortunately been cancelled.

Just having come back home from Borneo (an update will be arriving when I have sorted my photos which will take a while) it's obviously time to start planning the next trip. I have had a trip in my sights for a while; the Annapurna circuit in western Nepal. But then a chance to go to Ecuador to climb three volcanoes suddenly appeared. The trip to Nepal would be 3 weeks and the trip to Ecuador only 2 weeks, but as I'd like to have a couple of vacation days to spare for later the decision was almost made for me.

So here we go!

18th - 19th of November

Flight to Quito and spending time getting used to the altitude (the city is at 2850m). This also includes a visit to the equator, just north of Quito.

20th of November

Early departure driving to Pasochoa NP where we start the first real acclimatization and climb the first volcano on the trip, Pasochoa, which is 4164m tall. After summitting we go south and end up at a hotel in the Machachi village at app. 3000m.

21st of November

We start the day with a 4 hour drive to Zumbagua where we dismount and start the day's walk. Horses and porters handle our luggage so we only need to take care of personal daypacks. The walk will be a short 3-ish hour walk, taking us from 2895m to camp Los Pinos at 3300m in the Mulatullo area.

22nd of November

Leaving early and heading towards the village Yayachanchi using a path which is being used by the locals as a trading route. The village is located at app. 3900m, and after a break we will continue towards the waterfall Pigua where we will set up camp at 4073m.

23rd of November

The morning will be used to get us to the highest pass of the trip at 4466m and from here we will have a clear (hopefully...) view of the next couple of days' goals. Going down again we will be passing through an isolated valley  filled with small Indian villages. We'll end up at a road where we will be picked up and driven to the Quilotoa lake. Here we will be having lunch and spending the night at 3884m.

24th of November

From the crater edge at the lake where we camped we'll start descending down towards the Guayama valley and the village itself. From there we will continue down towards the bottom of the valley at 3995m before we start a slow ascent that takes us to the Chugchilan village at 3198m. From here we will be picked up and driven back to Machachi.

25th of November

An early start will bring us by car up to 3900m from where we wll walk to Refugio Nuevos Horizontes at 4650m. From here we have a steep ascent towards the summit of Iliniza Norte at 5126m before returning to the parking lot and being brought back to the hotel late at night.

26th of November

Rest day in Machachi.

27th of November

A 3 hour drive brings us to the parking lot at 4500m at the foot of the final volcano, Cotopaxi. We will walk to Refugio Jose Rivas where we will have a lunch break, and just above at 5100m we will be doing our glacier training in preparation for the climb of Cotopaxi. Back with the bus we'll go to the Tambopaxi hut at 3800m. An amazing view of the volcano can be had here, the weather permitting.

28th of November

Late departure and travel back to the Jose Rivas refuge. The distance from the parking lot to the refuge will be the only part of the trip where we will be carrying all our own equipment ourselves. Early dinner to have a decent sleep before the summit attempt tomorrow.

29th of November

Departure at midnight and start the long climb to the summit of Cotopaxi. Everything is on a glacier and with only a few steep passages the climb should be doable. A magnificent view from the summit at 5897m. Again - if weather permits. After coming down we have a break at the hut before continuing down to the parking lot and drive back to Quito.

30th of November - 1st of December

We will be departing late afternoon so it's mostly just killing time before we go to the airport and fly back.