Day 1: Mid morning departure from Quito on the Panamericana Highway southbound where we will cross a rich green and fertile valley, commonly referred to as "The Valley of the Volcanoes". After one and a half hours, we head east into The Cotopaxi National Park, where our driving destination ends at the Cotopaxi car park, situated at 4.550m (14.924ft). From here we have a forty-five minute hike with full packs up to the Jose Rivas Refuge on the flank of Cotopaxi at 4.800m (15.744 ft). After arrival at the hut, we will enjoy a hot tea and a short rest before heading out to the glacier for an afternoon of technical training and equipment familiarization. Supper late in the afternoon and then early to bed at 6:30 P.M.
Day 2: Wake up at midnight. Breakfast and equipment check-up. We leave the refuge at 1:00 A.M. We will pass a group of uniform slopes and ice ramps of 30 and 35 degrees before reaching a glacier platform. We enjoy one of the spectacular color displays in the Andes. From this point we see the valley below us where the morning sunrise welcomes us with incredible colors. Our route will pass under a base of rock 400 feet wide called Yanasacha "Black Forest". The quichua name says it all, its a black wall of impressive size. The indians called it the route of the moon. Here we start climbing glacier slopes of 35 and 45 degrees, at the top of which we will only have 15 more minutes climb to emerge onto Ecuador's second highest summit: Volcan Cotopaxi at 5.898m (19.348 ft). Our approximate climbing time will have been 7 hours. Return to the refuge around 9 or 10:00 A.M. Rest and drive to a beautiful country-side hacienda located at the base of Cotopaxi.
