Entries By mike walter
We had a very nice and relaxing stay at the Hacienda Chilcabamba, enjoying excellent food, great views of
Cotopaxi, magnificent star gazing, and warmth from wood stoves.
Well fed and rested, now we're headed to the climbers' hut on
Cotopaxi where we'll review climbing techniques and prepare for our summit bid. Hopefully the weather cooperates; so far it hasn't disappointed.
We'll check in again tomorrow to keep everyone up to date.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
July 1, 2014
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 15,500'
We had another great day today, hiking up to the climbers' hut on the Ilinizas at an altitude of 15,500'. The weather, once again, was very cooperative and we had great views of Cotopaxi and the
Ilinizas. Afternoon clouds produced some showers, but not until we were already back at our van and driving down from the trail head. Now we're headed to the beautiful Hacienda Chilcabamba to rest for the night. We'll be in touch again tomorrow.
RMI Guide
Mike Walter & Team
June 29, 2014
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 9,000'
Our
Cotopaxi Express team enjoyed a tour of colonial Quito today, visiting various churches, museums, parks, and plazas, and learning about the history of Quito and of
Ecuador. We then traveled to the equator, just north of Quito. There we visited an ethnographic museum, and straddled the equator with a foot in each hemisphere!
It was a good, relaxing day in
Ecuador as everyone is adjusting to the new altitude (9,000') and recovering from a long day of travel yesterday. Tomorrow we'll head out on our first acclimatization hike, climbing Rucu Pichincha, a volcano outside of Quito.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
June 26, 2014
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 9,000'
Well, we earned this one. We woke up early, at 10:30pm, to eat 'breakfast' and don our climbing clothes. At first it was warm and calm at the hut; soon it was foggy with light rain. We weren't sure what to expect. The first hour was dry and very warm. The last hour to the summit was anything but. On our ascent of
Cotopaxi, we climbed through various intensities of rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow. The winds picked up in third hour of our climb, and were persistently strong and gusty, strong enough to make us work even harder to maintain our balance. Our climbers were as persistent as the winds though, and eight hours after starting out we were standing on the summit of Cotopaxi (19,347')! The summit celebrations were short-lived because of the weather. After a tiring decent, we were all back at the parking lot, safe and sound, twelve hours round trip.
For the bulk of the climb we were all covered in rime ice; our ropes looked like frozen fire hoses, and we were glad to have helmets on when a flapping jacket hood would clock you from behind. We gave up any semblance of a view from the summit for the opportunity to test our merit in full alpine conditions. And we came away with no more than a few blisters and some tired climbers.
I'm proud of our
Ecuador Volcanoes team for climbing hard all day today...we were the only team on the mountain today, and we even got a summit! Now we're en route to Quito, anticipating hot showers and well-deserved cervesas (with maybe a nap or three thrown in there) before meeting for a celebration dinner tonight. Great job team!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
June 26, 2014
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 19,328'
Thursday, June 26, 2014 - 10:07 AM PT
The Ecuador team is back at Cotopaxi's high camp. All is well.
Thursday, June 26, 2014 - 7:01 AM PT
RMI Guide
Mike Walter checked in this morning from the
summit of Cotopaxi!
We look forward to hearing from Mike again once the team is safely off of the mountain.
Congratulations team!
On The Map
June 25, 2014
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 16,000'
RMI Guide
Mike Walter and Team are checking in with the RMI office as they prepare for their summit bid on Cotopaxi:
June 25, 2014 5:38am PT
We enjoyed a relaxing rest day at the Hacienda Chilcabamba. Today we will head into Cotopaxi National Park and prepare for our summit bid. We'll be in touch!
June 28, 2014 - 3:01pm PT
We we're treated to good views of
Cotopaxi and five condors as we drove into the National Park. We are at the hut now, going for the summit tonight.We'll be in touch soon!
Stay Tuned!
June 23, 2014
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 16,300'
We had an alpine start this morning, waking up in the middle of the night for our summit attempt on Cayambe. At midnight the winds were moderate and there was a beautiful, clear, and starry sky above us. We were psyched to see the clear sky, and we hoped that the winds would subside a bit throughout the day.
By the time we left the climbing hut (15,300') at a little before 1 a.m., a cloud had settled in on us and it was raining lightly. As we ascended, the wind and rain increased in intensity and the temperature kept dropping. After about a thousand feet of climbing, we were soaking wet and the wind speed was strong enough that it made climbing difficult. With another couple thousand feet more to climb, we turned around and headed back to the comfort of our climbing hut. Wet and cold, we drank some hot tea and then crawled in our sleeping bags for a few hours of well deserved sleep.
We are all off of the mountain now and headed for the
Hacienda Chilcabamba, located just outside Cotopaxi National Park. We will take a rest day there tomorrow, drying out our clothes and getting ready for our climb up Cotopaxi.
We will be in touch again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
June 22, 2014
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 15,300'
We had a very windy day today amidst the clouds at 15,300'. Despite today's weather we're optimistic about our
Cayambe summit attempt for tomorrow. Caio for now!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
June 21, 2014
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 15,300'
Hola from the climber's hut on
Cayambe! We just enjoyed a high-altitude soup and bread dinner at 15,300'. Everyone is doing great up here. We'll touch base soon.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
June 20, 2014
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 13,986'
After a couple of nice days in Quito, our team packed up early this morning and left the city life for more rural flavors. We traveled north a few hours from Quito to the beautiful mountain lakes of Lagunas Monjanda and went for a great acclimatization hike up
Fuya Fuya.
The hike consisted of a steep trail through high altitude Andean grassland, or "paramo", followed by a rock scramble to the summit...with great views of beautiful lakes below us. Everyone climbed really well as we made short work of the 14,000'-plus peak.
Now we're resting at the tranquilo Casa Sol, watching Ecuador play Honduras in the World Cup. Buena suerte Ecuador!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Love following your travels to Cotopaxi. I need more pics!!!
Posted by: Mary on 7/3/2014 at 6:50 am
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