Cotopaxi... I wheelie liked it

In the past few years, I've really grown fond of doing mountain biking tours when I travel. It's a different way to familiarize yourself with a new place. It's also a fun way to build activity into a trip, rather than simply walking or even riding a tour bus from one location to the next. 

I've been in Ecuador for four years and I still haven't been to Cotopaxi, the world's highest active volcano. Three years ago, it started waking up with spewing ash and threatening an eruption. In the end, the volcano simply went back to rest. At work, we practiced drills of responding to its eruption and had to maintain a "survival kit" in the event that we would have to remain for an indeterminable amount of time. Water and food. A buff to help filter ash from the air rather than inhaling it. Blankets and warm clothing in case the temperature would drop, or have to sleep at the school. Nothing like practicing a tornado drill to say the least. 

You may have heard this name before, even if you've never been to Ecuador or can't locate the country on a map. Cotopaxi also happens to be the namesake for an adventure gear company, and got its name from this stunningly gorgeous volcano. I know some of you have gear from them... or maybe you have Quechua gear, which was the language of the Inca. It's still spoken throughout the Andes region today. And then there's Quichua / Kichwa, which is basically the Ecuadorian dialect of Quechua. History, people. Maybe it's a sign for you people to come visit this gorgeous region of the world. 

There are plenty of options for wanting to visit Cotopaxi National Park. You could stay at Secret Garden, a popular hostel in the park. There are several other options as well (Tambopaxi, Hostal Valhalla, etc.). Another option is just driving in and then hike around for the day. Some people elect to reach the summit by climbing-hiking up the glacier. My choice was do it by bicycle. I wentthrough the Biking Dutchman, the same company I used for biking to Mindo last year. I saw three main advantages for my choice, in case you are interested too.

• First, they take care of all the transportation to and from Quito. And equipment and gear (though, I used my own helmet I purchased and brought down with me, by Base Camp. That way I wouldn't have to concern myself about GoPro mounts anymore). And lunch and water.
• Second, you get to see a lot of the park and its unique landscape in a relatively short period of time. The páramo is such a unique ecosystem, like a grassland version of the Altiplano to any of you who have been to Salar de Uyuni or the Atacama Desert. 
• Lastly, you are done by early afternoon so it frees up the rest of the day to accomplish whatever else is on your list... we met at 7 AM and arrived back in Quito by 3 PM. Compared to other mountain biking tours I've done elsewhere, this was the most economical for time.

You'd think that by this time I could sketch Cotopaxi from memory. The "sad truth" (even though I'm hardly alone in this) is I've never had an apartment here with "a view." My first place on Bosmediano had a lovely view exclusively of the sides of other buildings. My current place, while having a private patio, looks onto a 5-meter high stone wall. The one in between, sure it looked toward the equator but without any of the iconic volcanos. Not even Pichincha. My ability to view any volcano is limited to friends' homes, bus rides to work, Instagram (@EcuadorEnTusOjos), and clear days from specific vantage points at work. And usually not even when going south toward Riobamba OR Baños. Finally, I had my opportunity.

Funny word, opportunity. Didn't I mean guarantee? Check out my footage, below:

The day started out rainy… of course it did. The past rainy season seemed unrelenting so why not continue through the dry season into the following rainy season? The meet-up point was La Union on Colón y Reina Victoria… they have a solid breakfast, by the way. Any person passing through Quito should go there in the morning for coffee and baked goods at the very least. A few minutes past 7 AM we were on our way south, to leave Pichincha province and enter Cotopaxi. Still, the rain came and came and blocked the picturesque views of the eastern range of the Andes. It didn’t stop ’til we actually passed through the gateway into Cotopaxi National Park, allowing us unblocked views of the wild horses and pyroclastics. That’s not to say the sky actually opened up, but at least it seemed to cease precipitating. 

Seemed. That’s an unofficial theme of this blog. Because as we came to a stop shortly before the refugio to put on our protective gear and mount our bikes it started snowing. Not flurries. Snow. A skift. I’ve spent the last four years boasting about how I’ve evaded the dread of winter and this white horror, yet here I was in the middle of the Earth in the middle of a snow shower in the middle of “summer.” A benefit of it was that it led me to be more cautious descended back toward the páramo. The visor on my new helmet provided me an uninterrupted view, while at the same time collecting my warm breath which fogged up my glasses. I suppose that had something to do with the buff I was wearing to keep my face from getting wind-and-cold burn, but I digress. Once we reached our first stopping point at the base of the volcano, the sky opened and granted us a view of Cotopaxi. Finally. There it stood in majesty and us in awe.

The rest of the morning, we continued through the grassy highlands, through pyroclastic fields and over glacial springs. Even the snowy start made for a special experience with some lovely people from around the world. The whole point was to enjoy our time, so sometimes I raced through the rocky fields and other times allowed the shallow grade to lead me between our stopping points. Lunch was had outside the spring that feeds the Tesalia and Güitig bottled water brands. Finally, after four years, I got to experience Cotopaxi in a special kind of way that will stay in my memories for a lifetime.

What ended up being kind of a bummer when trying to arrange this tour is all the others I wanted  to do before the new school year was Biking Dutchman requires a minimum of two 'passengers' to operate a route. Cotopaxi, being one of the crown gems of the Sierra for adventurists, always has daily tours. Being a solo kind of traveler, Cotopaxi wasn't a concern, if not for it filling up. For the other tours—Antisana and Papallachta-Chaquiñan—I'll have to wait to realize. There was a three-day tour happening in my open timeframe but I wasn't fully interested in that option. Hello, I have fish to take care of and fatten up before I go... well. Before I go somewhere. And it's going to be good. Like really good.