Cotopaxi

I finally left Otavalo after a five day break . . . I was going to leave on Sunday but the first mountain stage of the Tour de France was in the morning and the final game of the World Cup was is the afternoon which didn't leave much time for riding. I left late Monday heading for Volcano Cotopaxi just above Quito. The riding was pleasant with no climbs much over 2000 feet and on day two I turned up into the mountains towards the community of Rumipamba and Cotopaxi. I do not have a specific map of Ecuador, and forgot to make a copy of Dylan's, but Matt had emailed me a rough descriptive outline of the route - Cotopaxi is huge (5800+ meters) so going to be hard to miss. The weather has been pretty unsettled and I am getting rained on daily and this afternoon was no different. At 3 o'clock I turned off the main road for what promised to be a steep rocky climb. I hesitated and drank a beer while watching black clouds roil with thunder and lightening in the valley to my right. But they seemed to be tracking down the valley and I was headed up and up. The worst is that I get wet and cold - there is no bad weather just poor clothing choices, as they say. Wow! it really was steep then it went from dirt to narrow slippery cobble. Originally, I thought 15 km was no problem but I began to have doubts when I was pushing my fully loaded ride up the steep cobbled hills (if in Binghamton, think Sherwood). Cold and wet was becoming a distinct possibility, as well as, dark. The three great motivators. One would think 3 hours is plenty of time for 15 kilometers, one would think. The green hills occasionally relented, the right choices made at unmarked intersections, I soothed a sketchy horse tied in the road, and made it to a shelter before dark in time for cocktail hour.Perhaps the credit should go to my new found ride mojo, Barbie.
The shelter was by some cascades and it was nice to be out of the rain without having to set up a tent. I missed my fly rod camping by the perfect trout stream that I knew was good because of the "no fishing" signs. The morning dawned not too bright but not raining yet as I pushed up the steep wet cobbled hill to the main route, I hesitate to say road. I stopped within a half kilometer to catch my breath and to check out what appeared to be a shrine. The well maintained shrine was a water stain in the likeness of the Virgin Mary - you do not even have to squint to see the likeness. I have noticed a greater prominence given to the Virgin in the Ecuadorian Andes that reminded me of Mexico. Though not as much as Mexico, where you really have to look around to find Jesus in some churches. Also, if you are looking for divine intervention you tend to ask the mother - any eight year old can tell you that. After climbing down from the shrine and pondering an unclear map with cryptic sign I see below Dylan pushing up the steep cobbled hill.
Ah, reunited! We did not exactly plan it but we were all going in the same direction at the same time. Matt and Dylan had left from Quito the day before and were just a little behind me having stayed in someones spare house 5km below me. We sat, ate, pondered maps (theirs), then finally asked directions from a local passing on a motorcycle (all dirt bikes and enduros here). We continued climbing steeply with breaks passing through valleys before coming up onto the plateau somewhere over 11,000 feet. Clouds were starting to build up in the valley below and we knew that Cotopaxi was somewhere close by towering over us but we couldn't see for the clouds. We continued climbing on a dirt road until it finally started to rain while we made lunch huddled out of the wind against a stone wall. But the flowers were pretty.

Decision time, stay up high in the rain seeing nothing getting wet and cold or head down at the last intersection back to the Panamercana below . . . we decided head down. The point was to see Cotopaxi not get hypothermia. First, we stopped at a nearby swanky lodge to fill up water bottles. When we walked into the main lodge a wood stove was burning and fresh coffee was brewed . . . oh yes! lets sit and see if it clears. An hour+ later we stepped out and it started to rain again, then hail, then sleet, then we went back in and I ordered a beer. Two hours later we decided to take up the offer to camp and ended up in the caretakers carport ($25 rooms were a little out of our price range). We cooked dinner and passed the night warm and dry with temps in the low 40's. The next morning we were rewarded with a stunning view of Cotopaxi. I rousted Matt from his downy warmth saying, "you are going to want to see this while it lasts."Our setting was a little more spectacular than we had imagined despite the repeated assurances of the caretaker.
And the views lasted all of an hour between 6am and 7am before the clouds moved back in.
We set off after coffee to pass through Cotopaxi National Park and down the other side back to the Panamericana. The terrain was high alpine and what few trees existed were planted as a wind break - perfect for Bolete mushrooms! And rewarded I was, though many were slimy from the rains I found enough perfect specimens for lunch later in the day. Both Matt and Dylan are unfamiliar with wild fungus but I assured them that the worst that can happen is a few hours of vomiting and diarrhea, besides I have picked and eaten a lot of boletes etc. . . and these are fine. Where is your cast iron skillet? Break out the butter! They were tasty and nobody died.
We never did see Cotopaxi again, besides the lower scree slopes, the eruption paths, and the occasional glimpse of the lower snow line. I forgot to mention that Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world and it really is active along with all the others around this area of Ecuador.

The riding was pleasant and gently climbing until just shy of 13,000 feet. We stopped occasionally to enjoy the view but it was a little chilly and Dylan is cold. Matt to make a handstand for his collection of handstands across continents. When we started down from the plateau it was a fast dirt road descent of close to 2000 meters.The road was in pretty good shape with one stream crossing and as we approached the Panamericana in the valley below we found other signs of civilization.After getting fully down to pavement in about 45km we headed to the small commercial city Latacunga to take naps, shower, and eat. All in all a very worthwhile detour from the busy Panamericana that has me pretty excited to drop into the Amazon Basin and traverse the second half of Ecuador on dirt roads into Peru.