Oh my gosh look at that......!
Iliniza Norte summit shot!
Ski decent
Cotopaxi from Illiniza above the clouds!
Refugio Jose Rivas, Cotopaxi (4800 m)
1 AM Start with our Kiwi Friend Mike.
Iliniza with the cotopaxi shadow looming
Iliniza with the cotopaxi shadow looming
If you haven´t read the last post do so BEFORE reading this one, as this is a continuation! By the way, we can´t spell check these things, sorry.
We quickly got to the car part and loaded up our gear. I asked Francisco about the equipment rental, he confirmed that it was a daily rental. About 10 minutes into our 30 minute ride to the campground Francisco said he would give us the equipment for half price if we wanted to give the climb another try. He also said that he knew of a guide that was in the campground that would be taking two tourists up to try to climb as well.
This got the wheels turning... before we left the refugio the nice guarderia there (Wilson) also mentioned that there would be other parties with guides up there that night. Steven and I chatted a bit, going throught the budget and the options. Would we be too tired? It was definitley more money. We did think we knew where the correct route might be....but were we being too focused on the summitt, not appreciating the journey enough? Waffel, waffel...We decided not to do it and to hike in the park for the next couple of days as we had planned, and werode in silence for a bit. Decision made.
Until we pulled into the driveway for the camping area. We had the 10 second, ¨"we probably won´t be here again lets go for it conversation", told Fransico and got our gear back out and said goodbye to him and Mike! We talked to the very arrogant guide that was waiting for his clients. After some negociating he finally agreed to let us ride up with them for a hefty fee and said we would just see how it went hiking tonight... sounding like we would talk more if we needed to follow him or something.
We quickly got to the car part and loaded up our gear. I asked Francisco about the equipment rental, he confirmed that it was a daily rental. About 10 minutes into our 30 minute ride to the campground Francisco said he would give us the equipment for half price if we wanted to give the climb another try. He also said that he knew of a guide that was in the campground that would be taking two tourists up to try to climb as well.
This got the wheels turning... before we left the refugio the nice guarderia there (Wilson) also mentioned that there would be other parties with guides up there that night. Steven and I chatted a bit, going throught the budget and the options. Would we be too tired? It was definitley more money. We did think we knew where the correct route might be....but were we being too focused on the summitt, not appreciating the journey enough? Waffel, waffel...We decided not to do it and to hike in the park for the next couple of days as we had planned, and werode in silence for a bit. Decision made.
Until we pulled into the driveway for the camping area. We had the 10 second, ¨"we probably won´t be here again lets go for it conversation", told Fransico and got our gear back out and said goodbye to him and Mike! We talked to the very arrogant guide that was waiting for his clients. After some negociating he finally agreed to let us ride up with them for a hefty fee and said we would just see how it went hiking tonight... sounding like we would talk more if we needed to follow him or something.
Despite the lack of sleep and the 7 or so hours on the volcano I actually felt better on the slog up to the refugio, a good sign. When we got up there were already several groups up there eating, and Wilson totally hooked us up with soup, popcorn (a typical sidedish with meals here), crackers and dulce de leche...it was great. We passed out for a few hours, and when we got up he fed us again!! There were a total of 6 parties there eating, getting their gear together, including the guide and the German that we passed on Ilinizas.
There was a Swiss guy that I chatted with, told him our story of the night before, and he said there should be no problem making it up with all the groups. I mistook him for a tourist, he was actually a guide! We talked about the route, and he was totally cool about my questions and the idea of going behind him if we needed too, he was the opposite of arrogant guide guy that gave us a ride up.
We both actually slept before the midnight alarm went off. We were the second party up and met the Swiss party and the german guy and his guide on the glacier. The Swiss guy said we could go on ahead or follow other roped teams up. We felt good and were moving well and eventually we were out in front, traversing back and forth across the glacier with the lights of the other groups shining below us. Eventually we got to a wall, it looked like you could go right or left around some crevases.
There was a Swiss guy that I chatted with, told him our story of the night before, and he said there should be no problem making it up with all the groups. I mistook him for a tourist, he was actually a guide! We talked about the route, and he was totally cool about my questions and the idea of going behind him if we needed too, he was the opposite of arrogant guide guy that gave us a ride up.
We both actually slept before the midnight alarm went off. We were the second party up and met the Swiss party and the german guy and his guide on the glacier. The Swiss guy said we could go on ahead or follow other roped teams up. We felt good and were moving well and eventually we were out in front, traversing back and forth across the glacier with the lights of the other groups shining below us. Eventually we got to a wall, it looked like you could go right or left around some crevases.
Other guided groups at Dawn
We waited for the German and guide to catch up, and I said hello and asked right or left. He didn´t answer, whisteling, singing (the guide was a character), and as each party caught up to us he asked in spanish "right or left? Capalitist or socalist? Bush or Castro"! I was thinking I was geting cold and that I would ask the Swiss guide, but decided to wait. When the Swiss guys made it up and recived the same question, the answer was "recto!" or "straight!". The Germans´s guide proceed to go up the wall, kicking steps in with the crampons and using the ice ax.
Lesson learned. From that point on I began to understand that we belonged in the middle or in the rear of these groups and thought more about the alpine climbing ethic. Its different than rock climbing. The parties waited for each other, there was no hurry or thought of faster parties passing at this point, there seemed to be comradare between the guides.
Things got more technical and steep, there were some slopes that we were traversing up that had they been dirt there would have been no way to stay on due to the steepness. There was a crevase to step over.... crazy to look down into those things!
I started feeling sick to my stomach again and stared moving slower. Before the final push had to stop and go to the bathroom, again no fun on a glacier. The last 30 minutes or so I had to stop every 20 feet or so to keep from throwing up, couldn´t really talk, just had to focus on moving and breathing. Steven was a rock star.
We finally made it up at 6:30, 6 1-2 hours after we started up! I just sat on the backpack for a few minutes letting things calm down, looking down at the clouds and at the peaks of other volcanoes poking through. Got up and looked down into the crater of Cotopaxi with some steam coming up (its an active volcano), pretty amazing. It was awesome that we made it, it was carthic and emotional being up there!
We waited for the German and guide to catch up, and I said hello and asked right or left. He didn´t answer, whisteling, singing (the guide was a character), and as each party caught up to us he asked in spanish "right or left? Capalitist or socalist? Bush or Castro"! I was thinking I was geting cold and that I would ask the Swiss guide, but decided to wait. When the Swiss guys made it up and recived the same question, the answer was "recto!" or "straight!". The Germans´s guide proceed to go up the wall, kicking steps in with the crampons and using the ice ax.
Lesson learned. From that point on I began to understand that we belonged in the middle or in the rear of these groups and thought more about the alpine climbing ethic. Its different than rock climbing. The parties waited for each other, there was no hurry or thought of faster parties passing at this point, there seemed to be comradare between the guides.
Things got more technical and steep, there were some slopes that we were traversing up that had they been dirt there would have been no way to stay on due to the steepness. There was a crevase to step over.... crazy to look down into those things!
I started feeling sick to my stomach again and stared moving slower. Before the final push had to stop and go to the bathroom, again no fun on a glacier. The last 30 minutes or so I had to stop every 20 feet or so to keep from throwing up, couldn´t really talk, just had to focus on moving and breathing. Steven was a rock star.
We finally made it up at 6:30, 6 1-2 hours after we started up! I just sat on the backpack for a few minutes letting things calm down, looking down at the clouds and at the peaks of other volcanoes poking through. Got up and looked down into the crater of Cotopaxi with some steam coming up (its an active volcano), pretty amazing. It was awesome that we made it, it was carthic and emotional being up there!
Summit Glory Shot
Cotopaxi crater
We only had about 10 minutes up there before we had to head back down while the glacier was still hard. Got to check out all the crazy rock and glacial formations on the way down.... the otherworldly aspect of being up there.... this part was really cool, but the views themselves were better the day before when it was more clear! We were SO LUCKY to get both worlds in our two climbs!
Made it down 3 or so hours later, in a daze by the time we made it to the refugio. We learned there that two parties didn´t make it up that day, and that it actaully hadn´t been summitted in 4-5 days! There had been a good bit of new snow, no wonder we didn´t find the path. (even if we had, we would have turned back at the technical stuff)
Thirsty Anyone???
The short version of the next part of the story is that we evenutally went down to the carpark to try to hitch a ride down and Wilson unknown to us had hooked us up with a truck that was taking a couple on a tour, we hopped in with them, zoned out and waited while they did little hikes, picked up our bikes and went to a hostle. We slept 11 hours that night.
We are both so glad we decided to try again. I was totally humbled by the experience and learned a ton.. it was just incredible!
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