Climbing Cotopoxi – Last Adventure

Now or never

I figured that if ever I would have a chance to climb Cotofpoxi, it would be after living in Ecuador for four months.

Cotopoxi

Rumiñahui

Contracting for a trip

Condor Trekk is the adventure agency that I chose. They have an office near Plaza Foch in Quito and offered a three-day climbing trip to Cotopoxi. The trip included all the cloths and equipment, transportation, lodging, food, and a guide. Guides are required on mountains/volcanoes with glaciers due to recent deadly accidents.

Pablo - Joe's guide

Friday, 14 December – Climbing Rumiñahui

I had to catch the green bus to Quito and be at the Condor Trekk offices by 8:30 a.m. There I met Pablo my guide for the weekend and another climber, Xandro from Verona Italy. We took a 4x4 to Cotopoxi National Park and proceeded to climb Rumiñahui which is a smaller, older volcano near Cotopoxi.

No rational explanation

Our ascent of Rumiñahui

Joe at top of Rumiñahui

Climbing Rumiñahui convinced me that there doesn’t seem to be any rational explanation for this sport/activity, at least not from my perspective. It is hard to breath, your heart rate is up (and stays up), sometimes your hot and sweating, then a few moments later your cold, you take a step and slip backward instead of going upward, your feet hurt, and you are just plain tired.  But I made it.

How can I get out of tomorrow's climb?

That night after the climb I lay in a cabin at the Park contemplating how I could get out of attempting Cotopoxi the next night. The next morning I told Pablo that my attitude for climbing was not good, but he had just the right words to make me at least attempt the climb.

Saturday, 15 December – Climbing Cotopoxi

Joe with pack at Condor Trekk office

We took the 4x4 from our cabin to the parking lot below the Cotopoxi Refuge. From the parking lot you climb to the refuge with your pack filled with all the stuff you will be needing to make the climb of Cotopoxi, and to stay in the refuge.

The Cotopoxi climbing agenda

This weekend there were about 70 climbers in the refuge.

• Climb to the refuge
• Get a bunk, have hot tea, and get ready for some practice with the ice equipment
• Go practice using the ice equipment on the glacier
• Have dinner
• Go to bed around 6 p.m.
• Get up at 11 p.m. to Midnight
• Start the 5 to 6 hour climb sometime after midnight
• Arrive at summit at break of dawn
• Come back down, taking about 2 to 3 hours
• Pack up and go home

The refuge is the yellow speck
Photo taken from parking lot, no zoom.

Photo taken from parking lot, some zoom.

Photo taken from parking lot, more zoom.
Click to enlarge

Joe Climbing

Part of the reason I wanted to quit after climbing Rumiñahui was that I tried to climb too fast. So Pablo told me to take small steps, try to keep a rhythm, don’t stop, just take one step after another, and that’s what I did from the parking lot to the refuge.

My cool orange boots.
Imagine my step being slightly
longer than this.

Small Steps

Small steps meant that when I put my right foot forward, the toe of my left foot would end up being even with the arch of my right foot, after the step. By doing this I kept my heart rate under control, and I was able to get enough oxygen. If I tried to make the step as much as one entire boot length, I immediately felt my heart rate increase and my lungs did not take in enough oxygen.

Mind Games

From the parking lot to the refuge, I practiced constructing sentences in Spanish using the subjunctive mood. This took my mind off of the hard work, and it also alerted me to when I had inadvertently increased the length of my step. How? I was lacking sufficient oxygen to my brain to concentrate well enough to do the sentence construction - so I decreased my step size. 

I couldn’t take small enough steps

We went to bed sometime after 6 p.m. I was actually able to sleep, but most said that they were not. We got up 11 p.m. put on our equipment, and headed out. I was able to climb about 1000 feet before I ran out of gas. I tried my best, but I just couldn’t take small enough steps. We stopped and I rested, and you might think that the rest would see me through at least 10 more minutes of climbing, but uh-huh. After the rest, in about 10 steps my heart rate was climbing and I was out of breath. I made it to 5100 meters or about 16,700 feet. I wasn't the only one to go back down though. It turns out Pablo and I were actually gaining on another climber, Andres (from Argentina). It seems that Andres had run out of gas too.

Quito at night from the refuge

As usual ...

At some point I was asking myself "why do you get your self into these things?"  

But now that it is over, I'm glad I climbed Rumiñahui and I am glad I tried to climb Cotopoxi

Money – one more time

This is a follow-up post to an earlier post on money called “Tiene sueltos?”

Spending money is a daily occurrence, so you really start to notice the finer points on how it is done.

Ecuador uses U.S. dollar

Just so you know, Ecuador switched to the U.S. dollar as its currency in 2000; Panama and El Salvador also use the dollar as far as I know.

Planning your day

Cash is used so much here, it starts to look faded like this one.

In the previous post I mentioned that if you have a $20 in your pocket you often plan your day by determining which stores will take that $20. After that, you’ll have smaller bills and change in your wallet.

Oops!  The clerk already sees I have a $5
No chance of spending my $20 now.

Don’t show your smaller bills

But, when you arrive at that first store, you need to have switched that $20 to a different pocket from the rest of your money. Why? Because the store clerk will be watching what you pull out of your pocket and if the clerk sees that you happen to have smaller bills or change, they will ask you to use that instead of your $20.

Speaking of what's in your pocket ...

Early on in my stay here I was required by Fulbright to go to the U.S. Embassy for a personal security briefing. I learned many interesting tactics for keeping safe while living in Ecuador. One of them was, do not carry a wallet. Just carry some cash, your ID, and your cell phone. Why no wallet? It makes a big lump in your pocket and is easier to spot. Plus you really do not want to be carrying around credit cards or debit cards.

U.S. Dollar coins

Sacagawea U.S. Dollar Coin
Use more in Ecuador than in U.S.

For years now when I go to the IU Credit Union to withdraw cash, I have been asking for a roll of dollar coins. I started using dollar coins after travelling to Canada where they have $1 and $2 coins and to Europe where they have the Euro coin. When I would spend the U.S. dollar coins in stores in the U.S. I would often get asked “What is this?”, or “Is this real?” Here in Ecuador, you use the U.S. dollar coin everyday, and there is no hesitation in accepting it by the store clerk. 

I find it interesting that in Ecuador I don't get strange looks spending the dollar coin, but in the U.S. I do.

Parking Attendants

One of the challenges of driving in Quito - parking

Parking (along with driving) in Quito is often a challenge. I just read an article that in 2000 there were 200,000 cars on the road in Quito, and now there are 500,000.  (*Sarcasm* - you can bet there are now 2.5 times more parking places now as compared to in 2000.) 

Many people find employment by being a parking attendant.

Employed by Store Owner

Sometimes (I believe) they are employed by the store owners to help keep traffic flowing in the store's parking lot.

Employed by SuperMaxi
Grocery Store
(I think)

Employed by La Esquina
Small Shopping Center

Employed by La Esquina
Just up the hill from the other guy.

Self Employed

Other times a parking attendant just takes up residence along a street, and "helps" you get your car parked, tells you if it might get towed, and supposedly watches (protects?) it while you are shopping, etc.

Self employed along the street
outside of USFQ

Employed by Government

In Quito there are no parking meters, but there are streets where you must pay in order to park. There is a special marking on the street that indicates one of these areas. So how do you pay?  There is a parking attendant that walks the stretch of street. He or she has a uniform of sorts so that they can be identified. After you park, you find the attendant, pay your fare, collect a receipt, then place the receipt in your window to prove you have paid.

Don't forget the tip

No matter what, you have to pay the parking attendant a tip for the "help".