ECUADOR TRIP #2 (Sincholagua, Carihuairazo, Cotopaxi, Montañita)
"TURF AND SURF"
DAY 1: Fly to Quito, Ecuador. Arrive at night. Check into the Hotel Ambassador.
DAY 2: Hike up to Cruz Loma (about 13,000 feet) overlooking Quito. Tour Old Town.
DAY 3: Pack for Sincholagua. Drive to Tambopaxi in Cotopaxi National Park.
DAY 4: Climb to the summit of Sincholagua (16,049 feet). Return to Quito.
DAY 5: Visit market towns of Otavalo, Cotacachi (leather), San Antonio de Ibarra (wood).
DAY 6: Prepare gear for Carihuairazo. Drive, then hike to camping site.
DAY 7: Climb Carihuairazo (16,471 feet). Drive to Hacienda Abraspungo in Riobamba.
DAY 8: Guided tour of Riobamba. Drive to 400-year-old Hacienda La Cienega. Prepare for climb of Cotopaxi.
DAY 9: Drive into Cotopaxi National Park. View wild horses. Hike up to the Jose Ribas high mountain refuge.
DAY 10: Climb to the summit of Cotopaxi (19,348 feet). Return to Hacienda La Cienega.
DAY 11: Return to Quito. Check back into Hotel Ambassador.
DAY 12: Fly to Guayaquil. Take bus to town of Montañita on Pacific Coast, Ecuador's premier surfing destination. Check into the Casa del Sol (visit
www.casasol.com).
DAYS 13-15: Sun and fun in Montañita. Take surfing lessons. Enjoy side-trips.
DAY 16: Return to Guayaquil. Fly back to Quito. Farewell Dinner.
DAY 17: Fly back to USA.
TRIP DATES: Call for dates.
TRIP PRICE: $2400
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ECUADOR ITINERARY #1, DETAILED:
DAY 1: USA/QUITO. Fly to Quito, Ecuador, the country's capital, situated at 9405 feet/2867 meters above sea level and about 15 miles south of the equator. All incoming group members will be met at the airport and escorted to the Hotel Ambassador, a lovely three-star hotel located close to banks, restaurants, transportation and night life. Each trip member will have his or her own room with a private bath. When in Quito we will always stay at the Hotel Ambassador.
DAY 2: QUITO. Spend the day sightseeing in Quito and acclimatizing to the higher altitude. Quito is divided into a "New Town" and an "Old Town." "Old Town" Quito was declared a "World Cultural Heritage" site in 1978 by the United Nations. There are many plazas, buildings, churches, palaces and narrow streets that are over 300 years old.
DAY 3: RUCU PICHINCHA. We will get up early in the morning, take taxis to the outskirts of Quito and spend the whole day climbing Rucu Pichincha (15,706 feet/4787 meters). Rucu is situated directly to the west of Quito and and as we climb it, we will continue acclimatizing in preparation for our climbs of Cotopaxi (19,348 feet/5897 meters) and Chimborazo (20,703 feet/6310 meters). During the long and gradual ascent, you may enjoy impressive views of how this capital city of 2 million inhabitants fills up the long mountainous valley below. Weather permitting, the snow covered peaks of Cotopaxi, Cayambe (18,997 feet/5790 meters) and Antisana (18,715 feet/5704 meters) may also be visible. We will return from our hike at around 8 PM and spend the night in our hotel.
DAY 4: QUITO/DAY TRIPS. A day of rest. Possible day trip destinations include the "Mitad del Mundo" (Middle of the Earth), a stone monument with tourist facilities located on the equator; Pululahua, an enormous volcanic crater filled with farms and houses; or Papallacta, an enchanting hot springs resort in the mountains where you can soak away any residual soreness from the previous day's hike. We will spend the night in our hotel in Quito.
DAY 5: ILINIZA NORTE. We leave our hotel with full backpacks and two days of food and take a bus south one hour to the town of Machachi. Then we will travel by "camioneta" (pickup truck) to the foothills of Iliniza Norte (16,818 feet/5126 meters). Iliniza Norte and Iliniza Sur (17,268 feet/5263 meters) are a pair of high and impressive peaks that rise up out of wide expanses of open farmland in rural Ecuador. Iliniza Norte is the easier of the two climbs and is not a "nevado" (snow-covered mountain), although there is usually some snow and ice at the summit. The hike from where the truck leaves us off to "el refugio," a high mountain refuge situated at 15,584 feet/4750 meters where we will spend the night, takes about 5 hours. The mountain refuge is a stone structure built high in the mountains to accomodate climbers and provides bunk beds, a gas stove, water and, of course, some amazing views. The Ilinizas' hut is the oldest of the Ecuadorian mountain refuges.
DAY 6: ILINIZA NORTE. We will arise before the sun does, have breakfast and begin the 3 hour climb to the summit of Iliniza Norte. If we reach the summit in clear weather, we may enjoy views of the steep, glacier-covered slopes of Iliniza Sur, Cotopaxi, Chimborazo (Ecuador's highest mountain at 20,703 feet/6310 meters) and the valleys and farmland below. After summiting, we will descend to the refuge, pick up our gear and descend to our rendezvous with the pickup truck. We will board a bus back in Machachi for the ride back to Quito where hot showers and a warm bed await us.
DAY 7: OTAVALO. Today has been nicknamed our "shop till you drop" day. We will travel in our private van north to the market town of Otavalo a town of about 20,000 inhabitants (Otavalenos) three hours to the north of Quito, which is internationally famous for its shops and open-air markets. We will pass (and hopefully be able to see) the snow-covered peak of Cayambe (18,997 feet/5790 meters) along the road to Otavalo. The markets of Otavalo date back to pre-Inca times when jungle products were brought up from the eastern lowlands and traded for highland goods. You can walk through the three main plazas and feast on the sights, sounds and smells of this extraordinary collection of shops, stands, street vendors, musicians, and people from all over the world. Popular items to buy include wool sweaters, alpaca or sheep wool wall hangings, blankets, jewelry, wood carvings, paintings, handmade bags and knapsacks, cotton clothing, hats, etc. Two mountains tower over and can be easily seen from Otavalo -- Cotacachi (16,205 feet/4939 meters) and Imbabura (15,122 feet/4609 meters). After lunch we will travel to the nearby town of Cotacachi -- Ecuador's leatherwork capital -- where major bargains can be had on leather jackets, bags, shoes, etc., We will then visit Laguna Cuicocha, a beautiful lake which fills an extinct volcano situated at the base of the mountain Cotacachi (16,205 feet/4939 meters). Finally, we will travel to the town of San Antonio de Ibarra, famous for its wood carvings and wood furniture. This will be our final shopping destination and all that's left for us to do now is pile our booty into our van for the ride back to Quito.
DAY 8: QUITO/HOSTERIA LA CIENEGA, LASSO. We will have the morning free for last minute preparations before we head south towards Cotopaxi. At about noon we will board our van and travel 40 miles south along the Pan American highway (a stretch of highway also known as the "Avenue of the Volcanoes"), to the small town of Lasso and continue on to "La Hosteria La Cienega," a famous, beautiful 400-year-old mansion and hacienda that in 1982 was converted into a hotel. We will sleep in regal comfort here at La Cienega and eat exquisitely prepared food before our trip to Cotopaxi.
DAY 9: HOSTERIA LA CIENEGA/COTOPAXI. We will get up early, have breakfast, board our van with a full pack, and travel into "Parque Nacional Cotopaxi" (Cotopaxi National Park). We will make the hour-long ascent to a parking area situated at around 15,000 feet directly below the Jose Ribas Hut, a high mountain refuge similar to the one we stayed in by the Ilinizas, but much larger (sleeps 70) and better equipped. There is an excellent chance we will see wild horses roaming the plains on our ride through the park, and a lesser chance we will spot other park inhabitants such as llamas, condors, deer, fox, bear and pumas. Once at the parking area, we will put on our packs for the hour climb to the refuge, where we will claim bunk beds and unpack. On go our plastic boots, crampons, harnesses and ice axes for a short hike to a nearby glacier to review the fundamentals of glacier travel in preparation for tomorrow's climb.
DAY 10: COTOPAXI. The alarm rings at 12 midnight -- sorry! We will get up in the dark, get dressed, have breakfast and join other climbers from all over the world as we begin our ascent of Ecuador's second highest mountain at around 1 AM. The reason we leave so early in the morning is to insure that when we begin descending from the summit at around 8 AM, the sun's heat has not yet made the snow soft and mushy which makes footing very slippery and dangerous. The climb to the summit takes about 6-8 hours. At night we will see the lights of Quito and other small towns way off in the distance. When the sun rises, depending on weather conditions, we may enjoy a panoramic view of Ecuador from the Amazon jungle to the Pacific coast and be able to see a number of other snow-capped volcanoes, including Chimborazo, Antisana, and the Ilinizas. After summiting, we will descend to the hut, pack our gear, hike down to the lower parking area, board our van and ride back to La Cienega for a welcomed shower, hot meal and comfortable bed.
DAY 11: BAÑOS. With three Ecuadorean peaks under our belts, Baños is the perfect resort town to rest our weary bones. After breakfast, we will make the quick 2 hour drive from La Cienega to Baños, located in a lush, green valley at the foot of a towering volcano, Tungurahua (16,457 feet/5016 meters). The principal draw of Baños are its legendary baths -- geothermally heated pools of water, some steaming, some "just right," where one can go anytime of the day (until 10 PM) for a medicinal soak. Baños' stunning natural beauty attracts tourists from all over the world, yet it manages to retain its quiet, small town appeal. We will check into the Hotel Palace, one of the finer establishments in Baños, and spend two days here before making final preparations for our most ambitious climb of the trip -- Ecuador's highest mountain, Chimborazo (20,703 feet/6310 meters).
DAY 12: BAÑOS. A day of rest here in Baños; we will be free to take advantage of this town's many attractions and places of interest. Take a bus or taxi to San Martin Zoo to see condors, jaguars, Andean bears, roaming tapirs, monkeys and assorted birds, rent a bicycle or moped and take local trips around town or to a number of nearby waterfalls or canyons in the area, take a hike (or give your feet a break and rent a horse) up one of the many trails leading up and out of town for a panoramic view of Baños and the steep, surrounding mountains, have lunch at one of the Ecuadorean, American or European restaurants in town, or head back to the baths for another relaxing dip. Later in the day, we will meet and buy groceries for our two-day excursion to Chimborazo.
DAY 13: CHIMBORAZO. We will get up early and travel by private van into the isolated area where Chimborazo (20,703 feet/6310 meters), awaits us. Before reaching Chimborazo, we will try our hand at trout fishing at a local trout nursery to catch tonight's dinner of, you guessed it, fried fresh trout. Our van will make the gradual ascent in about 4 hours to a parking area situated by a lower mountain refuge at about 16,000 feet. From here we will ascend another 800 vertical feet by foot to a higher mountain refuge, called the "Refugio Whymper" (Whymper hut), named after Edward Whymper, a famous English climber who came to Ecuador in 1880 and made first ascents of her highest mountains, including Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Cayambe, Antisana, Iliniza Sur, Carihuairazo, Sincholagua, Cotocachi and Sara Urco. In memory of Whymper and his astonishing trip, a street is named after him in Quito, as well as Chimborazo's mountain refuge and the highest of Chimborazo's five summits, the Whymper summit (20,703 feet/6310 meters). In similar fashion to our trips to Iliniza Norte and Cotopaxi, we will claim bunkbeds in the modern, comfortable Whymper refuge, unpack, prepare our gear for tomorrow's climb, have dinner, take some late day pictures of Chimborazo's monstrous, overhanging glacier and the surrounding valleys far below and get to bed early.
DAY 14: CHIMBORAZO/BAÑOS. We will arise at midnight for a very early start to take advantage of hard snow conditions during the colder nighttime and early morning hours. Setting out from the Whymper refuge, we will head up a loose scree slope until we finally reach the main glacier. Here we will put on our crampons, tie into our rope, take out our ice-axes and gradually climb up this glaciated slope. It will take about 8-10 hours to reach Chimborazo's summit and about 4 hours to descend. Once back in the refuge, we will pack our gear, hike back down to the lower parking area, and board our van for the ride back to the Pan American highway and onto our hotel in Baños.
DAY 15: BAÑOS/QUITO. Today we say goodbye to the enchanting town of Baños and drive back to Quito for our final full day in Ecuador. We will check back into the Hotel Ambassador, run last minute errands and prepare for our wine and cheese party and farewell dinner at a local restaurant.
DAY 16: QUITO/USA. We will take an early morning taxi ride to Quito's international airport for our flight home and to bid final farewells to fellow group members and the beautiful country of Ecuador!
Other itineraries are available. (Call or email for details). Other mountains to which CLIMB ECUADOR has guided in the past include:
CARIHUAIRAZO: (16,470 feet/5020 meters) -- Carihuairazo is often overlooked by climbers because of its proximity to Chimborazo, but it offers some of the most beautiful and exciting mountain scenery in all of Ecuador. The ascent is fairly routine and offers no particular technical difficulties. It takes about 4 hours to reach Carihuairazo's main glacier from the trailhead and another 2 hours to ascend the glacier to the summit. Crevasse danger is minimal.
TUNGURAHUA: (16,452 feet/5016 meters) -- Another 5000 meter peak, Tungurahua is an active, glaciated volcano that towers over the resort town of Baños, Ecuador. The climb is not technically difficult but is quite long and requires a one-night stay in Tungurahua's high mountain hut situated at 12,500 feet/3800 meters. Generally, we travel by pickup truck to the town of Pondoa and we have horses carry our gear from Pondoa to the hut. On summit morning, we arise at around 4 AM and begin the 5 hour ascent to the top. On a clear day, the view from the summit of Tungurahua is stunning -- one can see the illusive mountain, El Altar, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Sangay and others.
COTACACHI: (16,200 feet/4939 meters) -- Cotacachi is a high, sharp mountain located north of Quito near the shopping meccas of Otavalo, Cotacachi (leather) and San Antonio de Ibarra (wood carvings, etc.). Group members who climb the mountain Cotacachi first stay at the beautiful 300-year-old hosteria, "Meson de las Flores," located in the town of Cotacachi, a short taxi ride away from a number of interesting tourist sites and attractions. One such site is the Laguna (Lake) de Cuicocha situated at the base of Mount Cotacachi. The lake itself fills an active volcano crater and there are boat tours to and around two islands in the center of the lake. There is also a restaurant, hotel and exciting views of the mountains. The climb of Cotacachi usually requires an overnight stay in tents near an antenna station about half way up the mountain.
