Cotopaxi

Another early start today. We met our tour in down town Quito. Only 5 of us are on the tour, a couple from Brazil, a man from Holland, AL and myself. To get to Cotopaxi is about an hour an a half drive. Once we were near Cotopaxi, we stopped at a beautiful hacienda to pick up the dirt bikes we will need for riding down the mountain. When everything was loaded we drove into the national park. The park has been closed off and on since November because of recent volcanic activity. From the highway you can see steam and ash coming off the summit. The ride up the mountain was beautiful. Mostly low growth plants and trees. We had a brief stop at the first station where our guide explained the vegetation we'd find on the mountain and how it has been used by the local people. We then went to Laguna Limpiopungo. It's on a plateau just below the mountain. There we saw wild horses, cows and a variety of birds around the lagoon. We hiked around the lagoon for about 2.5 miles. We could also see on the mountain the upper shelter. We could not go up to it because they have closed that section of the mountain. People who hike the summit stay there and hike the summit at midnight. It is when the snow and ice terrain is most stable. They hike six hours to the summit and get there just at dawn. It must be beautiful but I'll settle for seeing the videos. The weather at our level was sunny but chilly. I was happy I had worn layers.

Then some real fun began. We all got on our dirt bikes and began the one hour ride down the mountain. It really was an adrenaline rush even though people probably could have pasted me walking. My bike was the one with the steam coming off the breaks as my fingers grew numb from holding the breaks.

I'll post someone else's video from YouTube that will give you the feel of the experience.

Touch
Cotopaxi down hill,