Justin and Jennifer vs. the Volcano

For our final weekend aventura, Jennifer and I chose a site that, on any other day, may strike awe and wonder into any passer-by: the Volcano Cotopaxi. Yet today, the mighty mountain hid from us in cowardly shyness. We suspected as much - we woke up this morning to clouds and fog so dense you couldn't even see Quito's landmark mountain, Pichincha. So when we set out on our nauseating bus ride, we held out hope that the clouds would lift magically and the volcano would reveal itself to us in an abracadabra moment. But alas, the clouds followed us in, so even when the bus controller announced our stop at the entrance to Cotopaxi National Park, we had no idea we had arrived because the looming mountain was nowhere to be found! At the entrance, we hooked up with Carlos, our driver/guide for the day who we hired on the spot for $35 per person. Carlos drove us around the winding road, passing by one of the only volcanoes we could really see, Volcano Rumiñahui.

After about an hour drive up the side of the mountain, we finally reached a parking lot perched on a rocky precipice. Straight ahead of us was a steep, rocky hill that led up to the Refugio, where we were to rest and dine before heading back down to bike down the mountain. Off we went! We hadn't taken but about ten steps when the effects of the thin air started to take their toll. We crawled up the hill, panting and puffing, our feet shuffling in the loose ash and dirt. This is about what our faces looked like the whole time:

During the hour it took us to go about 300 meters, the clouds came and went, and at times we were able to see the snow that capped the mountain:

And then, total white-out. We continued our grueling journey, shuffling along, until finally we reached the yellow house at the top: the Refugio!

By the time we reached the refuge, we were pretty dog-tired:

At the refuge, we rested, and dined on $2 bowls of broth and bars of Nestle chocolate. And once we had refueled and re-energized, we started down the hill back to the car where Carlos waited with our bikes. Going down was MUCH easier than climbing up! We skidded down the rocky cliff at breakneck speed, reaching Carlos in record time! We wasted no time in testing our bikes and started down the road back to the base of the volcano, Carlos trailing behind in his white truck. The road was rather rocky and bumpy, and we jolted down the hill, most of the time under cover of clouds. The wind was extremely cold, and we had to stop once when our hands almost froze off. Fortunately Carlos had a spare pair of gloves for Jennifer, and I put an extra jacket on backwards so that the sleeves gave me protection from the biting wind. We finally made it to the bottom, breaking through the clouds, and loaded up our bikes on the truck to drive the rest of the way back to the main road to catch the bus back. But first, we stopped at a laguna perched at the base of the Volcano Rumiñahui, admiring the serenity:

And Jennifer took the opportunity to take photos of some wild horses that roam the volcano's realm:

Finally, we reached the end of our Cotopaxi journey, sufficiently miffed at the fact that the volcano remained under cover of clouds the whole time. Yet as we were driving off into the distance, we could see, very slowly, that the clouds were lifting and the volcano was peaking out under its blanket... it was mocking us... (the picture below is actually the most we could see of the volcano all day!)

And so the volcano had the last laugh yet.

Now we prepare for our final Ecuadorian adventure, and our biggest to date: the 8 day cruise of the Galápagos Islands! We embark tomorrow at 9:45, and from then until May 11, we will be away from the blog experiencing the sights and sounds that await us off the coast of Ecuador. But stay tuned, ye who remain faithful to our blog, as we will return en force on May 12, full of all the stories and tales that we will bring back. So be sure to check the blog then! And if you want, you can check the blog in the meantime, as there may be a few surprise postings that pop up (if we are able to find an internet café!).

Until then, dear readers, stay safe and healthy, and we'll see you back here on May 12th!