Cotopaxi

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This is my third international placement and it has been an incredible time so far.  Ecuador is gorgeous and i am enjoying myself to the fullest!  This weekend (February 8 and 9) i had the chance to take in a little bit more of this incredible country.  Namely Cotopaxi.

Cotopaxi is a stratovolcano with a summit elevation of 5,911 m (19,388 feet).  It has erupted 50 times since 1738, causing the snow and ice at the summit to melt and generating mudflows that have traveled up to 100 km (60 miles).  The most recent eruption ended in 1904.  The most recent activity was an increase in steam emissions, melting snow, and small earthquakes from 1975-1976.

I took a train ride down on Saturday morning which was a really cool experience, i sat on the roof and had some great views of the communities as well as the mountains that line the route.  The only real hardship was when some of the kids from the communites hopped up on the carnival spirit decided to through buckets of water down from the bridges.  This of course made sitting on the inside of the train seem more appealing.  No matter the views were well worth a little water.  I did a couple of solo hikes on Saturday in the north reaches of the park before heading down towards the south entrance.  Before long i stood and then camped in the shadow of Cotopaxi and it was nothing short or mind-blowing.  The night was a really cold one and the wind was unbelievable!  

Sunday saw me up early, wet and really cold; i packed up my tent and headed to the park museum.  There i met the birthday boy my buddy Daniel who was being surprised by his girlfriend Cris with a trip to Cotopaxi.  My housemates Jordan and Anne were there and the five of us buckled in for a great day.  Daniel was totally surprised by the excursion and finding me waiting there for him at him wondering how all of this could have been so slyly planned behind his back.  Nice one Cris!

We pushed on and headed to the upper parking lot which is at 4,500 m above sea level.  The road was nuts as we climbed with crazy switch backs all the way up, and SOOOO beautiful!  From the parking lot we could see a little yellow hut...our goal...the refugio.  A mere 300 vertical metres above the parking lot.  The oxygen was thin, it was cold and the wind from the night before was nothing compared with what now blew through any and all of the layers we were wearing.  We trudged up though and eventually enjoyed lunch and hot chocolate at 4,800 m.  A great feeling.

I will shut up now because the words i write here could do little to nothing in the way of explaining what an incredible day this is, but not before i say thanks to Cris for organizing the whole deal, to Jordan and Anne for always being there and a ginormous happy birthday to Daniel who is a wicked friend of mine here and thanks for everything, buddy how are we going to top this one next year?  I'm sure Cris is already plotting...

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	Those of you who have been paying attention may recognise this picture, The perfectly conical Cotapaxi in the distance while i ride the bus to work.
The snow covered peak stands above its peers.
	Taken from the refugion the cars in the parking lot can be seen as dots in the middle of the picture
The mountain in all of its glory.
	The glacier, huge chunks of ice that creep down the mountain side.
	left - a giant in the clouds above - how can you get enough of shots like these?
Cotopaxi as seen from neighbouring Iliniza Norte.

Thanks again guys for a wickedly good time!
Pictures thanks to Hi-C Productions