Family trip to Cotopaxi

So if you remember my post from a few days ago, there's a picture of a beautiful Andean peak called Cotopaxi that is visible from my bedroom window. It's about 2 hours away, and when Mom and Dad visited I really wanted to take them there since they are such devoted mountain people.

Unlike many places in Ecuador, Cotopaxi is pretty difficult to get to on the bus, so we decided to get a tour guide. Funnily enough, we had the same guide that Dana and I had 2 years ago! As we drove out of the city, Mom and Dad got to ask about every mountain and town they saw, so hopefully that gave Mom more of the "lay of the land" kind of feeling she's always going on about!

When we arrived, we stopped at the entrance and disembarked to use the bathroom. That's when we realized that it was freezing cold! Luckily, we had brought some warm clothes, but by the end of the day I definitely found myself wishing I had brought more. A short drive into the park we stopped again, this time to check out a small lake and it's accompanying birds.

Mom and I all bundled up, taking a little stroll
around the small lake at the base of Cotopaxi

Mom and Dad showing off their fine rain gear.
Dad was fascinated by the plants around this lake. You'll have to ask him for the details.

Then, after we tore Dad away from the plants (I think there were some unexpected ferns?) we piled back into the car and continued on our way to the mountain. By this time it was drizzling lightly and I was starting to get anxious about all the cloud cover. What if Mom and Dad couldn't see the Andean peak I had brought them to, even when they were standing on its slopes??

This is what the mountain looked like from the parking lot when we were
 getting ready to walk up to the refuge. Hint: that is not all there is to the mountain.

So I was feeling anxious, but Mom kept reassuring me and saying that they were mountain people and they know that mountains attract weather and not to worry and that sort of thing. So that was nice but I was still worrying.

Then, following our fearless guide (I think he does this like 4 times a week), we began trekking up the side of Cotopaxi. The drizzle that we had encountered down below turned into blowing snow and as we climbed the switchbacks, my face and the back of my legs were alternately exposed to the elements (jeans were NOT enough protection).

Climbing the switchbacks. Mom looking cheerful as usual.

I don't remember how long it took, but I was definitely hoping for the end long before it arrived. We had to plod along at a glacial (haha) pace so as not to tire ourselves out at such high elevation. But finally we saw the small refugio coming up on the horizon! But before we could enter it, we had to take a picture to prove how intrepid we were.

At the sign for the refugio. That says 15,953 feet!

And we felt awesome because we got to 15,953 feet! But we also felt tired because we'd gotten to 15,953 feet. Then we went inside and ate some cookies and drank some hot chocolate. While we were munching, Dad asked our guide if it would be possible to climb another 50 feet to get to 16,000 even, and he said of course! But what we didn't realize is be had signed up to go all the way to the first glacier.

So we set out again and began plodding along, even slower now than before. We were getting more and more tired and starting to think about asking if we could turn around. But then, up ahead, we saw the glacier and it was magnificent! I don't think I would say beautiful, but imposing and awe-inspiring for sure. So we kept walking.

Finally we made it! Here we are, standing on a real live glacier (or something like that)!

Then, as we looked down from our perch on the glacier, we realized that the clouds were starting to clear and the view was opening up around us. Mom rejoiced, "The mountain gods are rewarding our intrepidness!"

Down the mountain to the valley below. The side are that beautiful red color from the old lava.

Antizana from the slopes of Cotopaxi

So then we felt really good about having made it that far. But by that point I was starting to feel a little queasy from the altitude so we started our decent.

This is us at the sign after going up to the glacier. Now you can see the summit in the background.

After we clambered down off the mountain we were feeling tired and exhilarated and definitely accomplished. We figured we had really gotten the most out of our day trip to Cotopaxi. But we were rewarded again on our drive down! This beautiful creature was standing next to the road! Our guide told us it was a lobo del paramo, or a highland wolf! It was definitely the icing on the cake of a wonderful day.

Lobo del Paramo

The view of the magnificent Cotopaxi on our drive out.