As out truck rumbled along the dirt road to Cotopaxi National Park and I looked to my right, all I could see was the towering mass of Cotopaxi covered with glacial ice. Cotopaxi is the second highest mountain in Ecuador at 5,897 meters (19,347 feet) and has spewed lava as recently as 1942 with some activity starting again in 2003. One day prior I had decided to climb to the summit with not much preperation or acclimitization. Now, as we rumbled closer and I saw this monster tower towards the sun, I heard the voice of doubt becoming slightly audible. My backpack was full of the necessary gear; a sleeping bag, crampons, ice axe, harness, warm clothes, and plenty of water. Our small group consisted of the Ecuadorian guide, a girl from Austria I had met two days prior, and myself (feeling almost like a true mountaineer).
After arriving at the parking lot at 4,500 meters (14,763 feet) and hiking to the refuge at 4,800 meters (15,748), I knew the ensuing climb would not be easy. The first day was fairly mellow and designed for proper acclimitization. We arrived at the refuge in the afternoon, ate lunch, climbed to 5,000 meters (16,404) to practice some techniques on the glacier, and descended back to the refuge for dinner and some rest. We were alotted 5 hours of ¨sleep¨ before our wake-up call at 12am. Sleep proved to be very elusive...
As I lay in the dark unable to sleep, my stomach rumbled, nausea crept in, and I felt a slight headache start to develop. Were these effects of the altitude taking shape or were my nerves asserting themselves? But what was there to be nervous about? I had done this a million times, it was just walking. Whatever the reason, this was not a good way to start of a hike of such magnitude. The night passed slowly and I probably slept 20 minutes before being woken close to midnight for breakfast and preperation. I downed some bread, granola, yogurt, and coca tea (used extensively in high altitude regions of South America to combat altitude sickness), filled my bottle with more tea, and pulled on every item of clothing I owned.
I stepped out into the frosty air and the shadow of Cotopaxi stood luminously overhead, directly under a sea of stars. Wow! It was 1am and we were only just beginning. With every step my head pounded and my stomach churned, but the air was clean and pure and the views continually became more stunning. The shimmering lights of Quito, miles and miles away, came into view; the snow and ice crunched under my feet; and I focus only on the next step. I slowly became stronger and my head cleared. I started to really enjoy the experience and focus less on reaching the top. The journey was the destination.
We forged on and the mental ups and downs came and went. We crossed over gorges in the glacier on ice bridges , huddled for breaks in ice caves, worked our way up steep ascents and narrow ledges, and slowly came closer and closer to the peak. All of a sudden, I noticed the sun had started to rise and was illuminating everything around. As the sun rose higher in the sky, we climbed. Finally at 8am, 7 hours after our start, we had arrived! The weather couldn´t have cooperated more and we had beautiful 360 degree views. We could see other snow capped peaks, a sea of clouds below, and the crater from the latest eruption. As these sites nearly took my breath away I noticed how little oxygen existed at this altitude. The lack of oxygen begins to take a toll on your body and I could feel my headache start to creep back and fatigue begin to set in.
The descent was almost harder than the ascent. I walked like a zombie towards the promise of oxygen rich air that could restore my depleted cells. After a total of 11 hours we arrived back at the refuge and I drank my last cup of coca tea as I tried to recover the energy to walk to the car.
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