Cotopaxi II

OK, so this part is written in an internet cafe, and as such will not be as elegant nor informational as the start of the Cotopaxi story. So it goes, sayeth Vonnegut. The last third of the hike was way harder than the first two thirds, which made it pretty incredibly hard. The slopes got slopier, the cold got colder, the wind was windier. Andrea started bobbing and weaving like a losing boxer in the 12th round, but after a rest to eat some chocolate and in conjunction with sunrise she suddenly came alive and went from walking corpse to ball of energy. My left foot had troubles with being extremely cold and having a crampon-staying-on problem, so every third step I had to stop and shake it.

One of the final ascents involved our guide going up before us as it was so treacherous and steep, slamming his axe into the ground, putting a rope around it and belaying us upwards. At the top of this 30 foot climb we both lay on our backs panting, but the top was only 20 minutes away so we were up shortly and on our way. The sun rose quickly, and at one point we were on the shaded side of the mountain and off in the distance we could see the pyramid shaped shadow of Cotopaxi on the clouds in the distance.

I was dog tired when I reached the top, probably as physically tired as I've ever been in my life. I couldn't even raise my head for the first five minutes, but when I finally was able to I was rewarded with some of the most spectacular views I've ever seen. Everything was clear, and we were a good 2000 feet above the cloud line, looking out at the other volcanos in the Ecuadorian mountain range. Cotopaxi is the second-tallest active volcano in the world, and the huge crater visible from the top reminded us of that fact with its presence and sulfurous odor. We hung out for a bit, took a lot of pics and video, laughed and embraced and loved the hell out of it.

And then we ran down the mountain! Well, practically ran -- our guide hurried us the whole way as avelanche danger increases as the day moves past 8am. The last 45 minutes the glacier was so slushy that Andrea and I both fell over four times in a row, and our guide told us to take off our crampons and slide down on our butts, which we were happy to do.

We arrived back to the sleeping cabin exhausted and exhilarated, to meet with Jason who was neither of those things. Apparently Michaela, the Italian girl, had felt too crappy only TWO HOURS into the hike and they'd had to turn around. He was pretty bummed, and as much as we tried not to tell him how amazing it was, I think he gathered that it was monumental.

And then back to Quito! And then spent the night on a booze bus in Quito! And then a night bus to Tabuga! Then on to Canoa for a birthday party! Lets just say that Andrea and I don't know how to say 'no' to a party. Amazing time, with the only downside being that I still can't feel the toes on my left foot (they don't hurt, I just don't have a lot of feeling). We think that because I have a little bit of feeling, it'll come back eventually. Keep your fingers crossed! We've been mad busy since then, but that'll be another post...