cotopaxi

t'was a brilliant morning
much like the morning before
the sky was crystal clear
and off i walked to meet my guide and friends
marco heredia the guide
and daz and chrissie, my new friends
leaving quito we were soon treated to a beautiful view
of cotopaxi unobstructed by clouds
this served to heighten the anticipation of the day's trip
it would take almost two hours to reach the park
along the way
heavy clouds gathered and the prospect looked weak
but marco kept promising us
that we would see cotopaxi in all his glory
he said he'd never been wrong in forecasting the weather
in the last 25 years of doing this
and we joked (or i joked) that if he was wrong this time
we'd have to toss him off the mountain as a sacrifice or something
speaking of sacrifices
i noticed that marcos pulled out a handful of change
and as we drove closer to cotopaxi
he would often take a few coins and toss them out of the window
into the tall grass lining the roads
he said a lot of people laughed at such actions
but he always paid his respects to the mountain
literally.
i learned that marcos had started climbing the local mountains
when he was 15
he'd summited chimborazo and cotopaxi too many times to count
he'd also summited 51 separate mountains in the americas
and in 2007 he would be part of a 6 man ecuadorian team
attempting to summit k2
in any case
these mountains are his home
and even after all these years
he still treats every approach and ascent
even just to the refuge
with the sincerest of respect
very cool
and we all felt like we were in good hands
as cotopaxi drew near
sure enough
there was a band of clear sky
and cotopaxi was there
clearly lit
with clouds moving about him like a living shroud
we stopped to take a short walk around a lake at about 3800m
this helped us to acclimate
the wind was extremely strong
but not strong enough to completely support my 210lb weight
when i leaned into it
close tho!
after that we drove up the mountain
making stops to take photos
for which chrissie had a great eye for
and reached the parking lot in good time
at 4500m we would have a 65 degree grade ascent
up 300m to the refuge
marcos watched the clouds like a hawk
and said we'd have until noon, 1pm at the latest
and then the clouds would drop
the walk was different from chimborazo
as we were trodding up a volcanic ash slope
which is much harder
because stepping into the loose ash and scree
would often result in one's foot sliding down
a bit
or a lot
depending on how good one's footing was
marcos strode up the mountain
like he was walking on flat ground
and daz pretty much kept up with him
pausing only to put on a pair of gortex pants
i was a far distant 3rd
with chrissie a little farther down behind me
the two of them reached the refuge way before i did
and i often paused to take a breather
and to see if chrissie was doing ok
it's REALLY nice to have
an excuse to stop
because i really needed those stops
and it made me feel like i was just a tiny bit useful
rather than just severely out of shape
:)
having zero cardio is not helpful when climbing at altitude
remember that!
anyways
the refuge was a busy place
many locals were walking the mountain that day
often dressed in normal clothes
we witnessed many a person
freezing their butts off
while climbing in light sweaters or t-shirts
and believe me
when the rain started to whip down the slope
it was cold enough
that i was happy i was wearing
every single piece of cold weather clothing i'd brought
including my thermals
yup
windchill and cold rain can be a killer
thank god for gortex
at the refuge
marcos had gone in
saved us a table
and whipped up some cheese sandwiches and hot tea
later followed up with a big pot of steaming hot soup
very nice!
i'd brought a package of olives
and some plaintain chips
which i shared with everyone
and after some photos
marcos announced that the weather was changing
and it was time to go down
going down
was one of the coolest things i'd ever done
the ash and fine gravel
was a perfect cushion
and i bounded down the slope of cotopaxi
one gigantic leap at a time
hopping from one leg to the next
my foot sinking into the volcanoside
i made it down the mountain in probably 10 minutes
(and yeah, it took hours to climb!)
a rain had picked up
as well as the wind
but it didn't matter
as i flew down the mountain
with my soul screaming in exhiliration
i must say
it sure was a neat way to end the day
tho another end almost happened
as marcos drove us home
and on the way down the mountain
fell asleep
and crashed us up against the dirt bank of the road
(thank god it wasn't one of the cliffs)
we lost a hubcap
and a mirror
and little bits of his fender and light
but we got the car out of the embankment
and made the rest of the trip smoothly
i was kind of dozing myself
and it wasn't till later
when talking to daz and chrissie
that i found out
they were quite terrified at his driving
as he looked like he kept losing control
(ie. falling asleep)
sometimes
it's good to be oblivious
and here they thought
i was some kind of iron-willed, cold blooded passenger
when really
i was asleep most of the time myself
;)