Volcanoes of Ecuador 2018

Volcanoes of Ecuador 

(double click to enlarge pictures)
At 17,600' the situation started to change quickly, we were roped together on a precarious ice ridge during the predawn darkness on the iconic Cotopaxi volcano.  When Loraine appeared to be suffering from severe altitude sickness... 

OSVALDO, JOAQUIN GUIDES-MELODY,
ADRIANA,ANDREA,
KALE, GABBY, MARGARET, 
LORAINE AND CHRISTINA

We had joined Wally Berg of Berg Adventures for another exciting journey along the "Avenue of the Volcanoes" outside of Quito, Ecuador. Several of my friends from the 2016 Mt Elbrus Russia trek had joined us. Kale, Melody, Christina and her husband Stephan, Kale brought his climbing partner Gabby, plus we had our two new Brazilian friends-Adriana and Andrea, and Margaret from Australia. 

EQUATOR 

Ecuador is right on the equator 
with 370
volcanoes and 68 of them are still active. This makes for some of the most unique and challenging climbing in the world. 

CO-CAPTAIN KALE AND LORAINE
RUCU PEAK LOOMS BEHIND

We had been at Quito for a few days to acclimate at 9,300'. I was already nursing an altitude headache, so I knew our first climb was going to be stretch...lots of water, snacks and Diamox (my altitude sickness remedy) should do the trick. On our first climb, our guides Joaquin and Osvaldo took us to the top of Rucu Pichincha (Volcano #1) at 15,500’.  We took the tram up to 12,900' and from there; we hiked up to the summit. Totally socked in for most the day the pinnacle dodged our sight in and out of the clouds just to remind us this was not going to be an easy venture.

200' SCRAMBLE
STRAIGHT UP

FORGING
AHEAD

TOP OF RUCU PICHINCHA -15,500'

HELEFERIA  CARIBA CAFE
 ICE CREAM SHOP

At the top we had a 200’ scramble, grasping boulders along the way, a fun challenge and a great way to start our trip. On the way up Joaquin told us about how once again climate change is upon us. His story was great.. in the 1930s, the local ice cream shops, like Heleferia Cafe Caribe, used to send ice miners to the the summit to get ice and bring it back down to make ice cream. The practice called ice mining was a profession when the mountain had a permanent glacier around the peak.. that all changed around 1960s, when the permanent ice disappeared, and nowadays it just gets snow a few days of the year:( 

The next day we headed to the Hacienda Monastery Cusin, built in 1857. What a place! the common areas had fireplaces, sitting rooms and a library. The entire grounds were manicured with a lush tropical garden theme.

STUNNING GARDENS 

ENTRANCE TO
HACIENDA CUSIN

Today it is run by an English gent- Nick Cusin, who shared his political stories of Ecuador. One story told was how in 2001 the Sucre first devalued (back then it was 25 Sucre to 1 American dollar) and then again in 2003, it hit rock bottom. The banks starting closing while the money was being converted to American dollars, people who had millions of Sucre now had virtually nothing, since now 1 American dollar equaled 25,000 Sucre. Several  banking families took all of their patron's money and moved to the US leaving the locals bankrupt. Many Ecuadorians migrated to Spain to work in trades and find new techniques, sending money back to their families in Ecuador. Now Ecuador is financially stable with agriculture, tourism- trekking, Galapagos Islands, beaches and the Amazon.

GUINEA PIG LAKE

Another acclimating hike was around Cotacahi  Cayapas, a reserve with over 600,000 acres. On the far side of the reserve are still some native tribes that have had minimal contact with the outside world and live sustainably. We hiked all around the spectacular Guinea Pig Lake 

ADRIANA, AND ANDREA
FROM BRAZIL

Our guide shared his story about "San Pedro (hallucinogenic drug), that is similar to Ayahuasca, 
(like LSD or Peyote). He explained... "I saw the night sky crack open." This vision gave him enlightenment and it changed his life. He gave up the craziness of a successful fast paced career and took up guiding. 

So I asked him if he had

LITTLE ILLEGAL CROSSING

heard of Jatun Sacha (big forest) Reserve. He said yes they have 5 reserves now in Ecuador. He had traveled there when he was younger to find wisdom with a Shaman, and that is where he studied and learned about the ethnobotany of local plants. Wow, I thought to myself! In the 1993 I had traveled to Jatun Sacha in the Amazon and saw the biggest tropical trees I had ever seen, and the healing powers of some medicinal plants by a Shaman.  Upon returning I showed pictures to my students and for the next 2 years we raised $17,000 dollars and purchased 147 acres to add to Jatun Sacha Reserve, which looks a tad like Yosemite. 

Fuya Fuya...volcano #2) 12,990’, as the saying goes.. Fuya once shame on you, Fuya twice shame on me...but no Fuya 3 times😃

TOP OF FUYA FUYA 

After an hour drive through the rolling hills covered with well- manicured terraced farmland, we ended up at a picturesque lake at the the base of Mt Fuya Fuya. A perfect overcast day for hiking, and that was good since it was nearly straight up as we wadded through two foot high buffalo grass, on a slightly muddy trail. On the climb up to the pinnacle we a had fun section of roped rock climbing, and upon reaching the top a 360 degree view of the lake and valleys below. On the climb down there were several blind foot holds, but thanks to Gabby (our rock climbing expert), she guided us through each step. 

CHRISTINA'S HEAD STAND

ROCK CLIMBING ON ROPES

COURT YARD AT GUACHALA
WITH CHURCH IN
BACKGROUND

Our next stop was the Guachala Hacienda, another interesting overnight stay. The origins of Haciendas go back to the day when the Spanish would award large tracts of land to conquistadors. Many of these tracts were 10,000 acres in size.



Some of the granted land became places of commerce for selling various wares of the local native people, and some had forced labor. They all have large courtyards, with lots of rooms and usually a church.  The owner of Guachala Hacienda is Diego. He inherited it from his diplomatic father and was raised in Europe, and even went to the US and attended Stanford for his master's degree. He returned to Ecuador and became mayor of the local city and helped the town rebuild 300 homes after the 1987 earthquake. 

NATIVE BABIES WRAPPED IN
CLOTH AND PUT IN THE 
RAFTERS

One of the cool features of the Hacienda's is the rooms had their own fireplace that the staff would light every night.  The Guachala Hacienda had a fascinating church, this one was a little different. In the early years when the local native babies died, and had not been baptized, they were wrapped in a cloth and placed up in the rafters to be closer to heaven.

COTOPAXI 19,350'

DOUBLE CLICK & FIND THE JOSE RIVAS
HUT IN THE MIDDLE AT 14,750'  

COTOPAXI: Volcano #3. One of the most photographed symmetrical volcanoes in the world, Cotopaxi stands at 19,350’ (5,900m) and is the 2nd tallest most active volcano in the world, last erupting on Wally's scheduled trip in 2015. Joaquin gave us a refresher course using ice tools, being linked together by a rope and how to do all the various steps using the ice axe with crampons. The first leg of the  adventure required us to drive up to the parking lot, 1000' below Jose Rivas hut. From there we hiked an hour carrying all our gear including sleeping bags from 13,750' to 14,750’ (4,500m). We repacked our hiking packs, had a light snack and then went off to our dormitory bed at 6:00 pm only to get up at 10pm to for a 12am departure. Needless to say nobody got much sleep! 

TREK UP TO THE TOP OF COTOPAXI
19,350' (5,900m)

In the pitch black, for the first two hours, we trooped through loose and unstable volcanic scree.  Then finally reached the edge of the iceberg. It was time to put on crampons, get the ice axe out and prepare ourselves for mountaineering on a steep incline. Great... my brand new head lamp just went out! and no back up--it was new!!! So I hiked in the dark for a while and then Osvaldo gave me his back up light--Close call.  We were grouped and put together on 3/4 man teams with a guide.  We started to weave our way through the majestic ice paths, digging in with our ice axes as we bordered periodic crevasses, and in some cases very steep drop-offs. At 16,600’ Loraine was battling a painful leg cramp, and a throbbing massive headache accompanied with stomach cramps. Still, she continued forging up another 1,000’ feet, but now was completely out of breath & getting dizzy.... classic Altitude Sickness, at 17,600' she had reached her limit.

STEEP!! ICE AXE IN HAND

INDENTED TRAIL
ON THE LEFT

With Christian (our guide), we dropped to 16,600' and decided to wait for the start of the sunrise. Through the peeking dim warmth of light, the spectacular sunrise unveiled the billowing clouds that were thousands of feet below. To this day I have never seen such a surreal sight. The mountain came alive with an illuminating light show of glistening snow figurines with icicles, snow drifts, and rainbow reflections as we ice axed our way down the winding path of sunshine. 

LIKE WALKING ON CLOUDS

In the meantime our four stars were making their way to the top: Kale, Gabby, Christina and Stephen. Exhausted at nearly 19,000' Stephen had to drop off Christina's line, and joined Kale and Gabby as they headed down from the summit. Christina charged her way to the top of the summit with Joaquin to 19,350'.

COTOPAXI SUMMIT-19,350'
KALE AND GABBY -CHECK 
OUT THE SMOKE!

HOT SPRINGS OUTSIDE
THE CABINS

LIFE IS GOOD

SPA BREAK: After Cotopaxi we drove to the luxurious spa at Termas Papallacta, at 11,000'. The spa was surrounded with magical tropical gardens and the thermal pools intertwined between the cabins. Time for a Swedish massage! and a few of the women did wine body wraps, and my favorite was the chocolate wrap (you were wrapped up tight like a sardine and blindfolded so nobody really felt relaxed).

CHIMBORAZO (volcano #4)  20,700’ (6,300m).

CHIMBORAZO VOLCANO 20,700' (6,300M)
OCTOBER 2018

By this point most of the team had met their threshold and they were finished with climbing. The Chimborazo volcano was looming, the highest elevation point from the center of the earth --can you figure that one out? Loraine and I decided to take a day hike from the lodge at 13,124' (we hiked up 1,200' to the base of the volcano) and waited for a cloud break to see the whole face of the volcano reveal itself, but it never happened.

In the meantime Kale, Gabby, Adriana and Andrea attempted the climb to the summit. They had a challenging time and made it up to 18,600’ before the altitude worsened Gabby’s cold condition and the dry heaves were kicking in. On the return trip down it was still dark, Juan their guide suddenly fell off the trail! Turns out,  he was dodging a falling rock. In this area there used to be sufficient glacial ice to hold the rocks in their position, but nowadays due to the warming climate; the rock falls are more frequent and dangerous. Thank goodness everyone made it back safely.
ESTRELLA DEL CHIMBORAZO LODGE 

MARCO CRUZ FAMOUS
MOUNTAINEER

ESTRELLA LODGE IN FRONT
CHIMBORAZO

OLD PICTURES AND
CLIMBING GEAR-BACK IN
THE DAY

We were able to meet Marco Cruz, the famous mountain climber 
(and guide) who first ascended Chimborazo as a boy at the age of 13. He is the owner of the Estrellla Del Chimborazo Lodge where where we stayed. The main lodge is rustic, warm and cozy. It is enriched with a fascinating collection of famous mountaineer pictures and some of the first mountaineering equipment ever used; it was like walking through a really cool museum. Each of the rooms were named after a famous mountain climber; we were in the Walter Bonatti room. 
CLIMATE CHANGE: It would be nice not to have to write about this topic on one of my trips, but here it was again in full force and with our guide's life experiences of climbing these areas verifying previous glacial coverage.

CHIMBORAZO VOLCANO
HANGING GLACIER
1960s - 

Joaquin our Ecuadorian guide said, "that in the last 50-60 years the glaciers in in Ecuador had receded an average of 300', and 50% of that was in the last 15 years!" Marco Cruz took me over to the wall in his lodge and showed me pictures taken of Chimborazo in the 1960s. He compared his photos (past and present) indicating that the hanging glacier of the Chimborazo volcano has lost 50% of its depth (he estimated it to be close to 150'). 

OLD CLIMBING ROUTES UP 
THE FACE OF
CHIMBORAZO VOLCANO -
PRE 1960s

2018 HANGING GLACIER
PRESENT DAY

MARCH 23, 1986-FEB. 5TH-2012

COTOPAXI VOLCANO is also suffering from glacial change here are two pictures side by side 20 years apart: 3/23/86 - 2/5/07. The melt water from the glaciers provides fresh water and hydroelectric power to Quito.
CONCLUSION: This was absolutely and incredible trip with excellent guides. Our limits were pushed physically and mentally, we returned home healthy, enriched, humbled, and once again reminded that we live on a very fragile planet and we can't let apathy creep in and do nothing for our wonderful home.
SUGGESTIONS: 1. Berg Adventures International: 5 stars
2. Stay at the Marriott in Quito--be spoiled-waterfall pool.
3. Ask guide what you expect to be achieved during breaks.
4. Take Diamox- 125 mg morning and night.
5. Take a trip to the Amazon while you are there. 
6. The Ahi sauce is a cultural experience in all the restaurants.