Entries from Ecuador

That's a wrap on another great trip to two of Ecuador's highest volcanoes. Unfortunately, we did not get the chance to summit Cotopaxi this time. The risk of lightning was too high for us to continue past 16800'. It was unfortunate to run into those conditions as we had a strong team who had all proven themselves on Cayambe. I felt confident we were all headed for the top of Cotopaxi as well. But it was a good moment to look inside ourselves. Sometimes more important than a summit is what we have learned about ourselves along the way and the confidence we have gained through diligent preparation. For this group, there will be many more mountains and they will be prepared when the opportunity for a summit exists.

With some spare time and due to our early finish, we did some light birding at Limpiopungo, a lake in the national park with a well-maintained trail around it. The time was spent identifying species of birds and reflecting on our experience on the mountain. This was a good reset for our minds and a nice way to round out an overall lovely trip to the Ecuadorian highlands.

Thanks for following along with us!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier & Team

Cayambe Summit

The first six days of this trip feel like they move slowly. Acclimatization is not a quick process and it certainly makes the anticipation build. Each day it feels as if we are inching closer to Cayambe, literally. From the Hotel Mercure in Quito on day one, Cayambe occasionally pokes out in the distance. We hike Rucu Pichincha to get a slightly better view. As we drive north to go hiking, it occassionaly comes into better view, except that it often dips behind a nearby ridgeline. But then comes the day we move to the lower Cayambe hut and there it is, right in front of us in all of its beauty. We watch the sun rise and set on the mountain, the moon lights it up at night. The anticipation reaches a maximum the day we drive to the upper hut, where you can strap on your boots and climb the mountain. No more bus rides inching closer, no more distractions.

With all the time spent prepping and thinking about climbing this big mountain, the day finally came and when it did, the entire group made it to the top! We were fortunate enough to have a perfect weather day, practically windless and some slight overcast that was both picturesque and helped shade us from the intensity of the sun. The route itself was also in great shape, with just one serious crux to navigate near the top in the form of a large crevasse system at 18,500' that we had to descend into and then climb steeply out of. It honestly made for a great distraction from the difficulty of the high-altitude exercise. By 7am we were on top, high fiving, taking in the views and snagging a few photos before making what turned out to be a pretty quick descent of just under three hours.

Now we find ourselves on the move towards Cotopaxi. However, this time we do not have to repeat the same acclimatization schedule. Instead, we traveled for six hours yesterday to reach the Chilcabamba Eco Lodge, our lovely Andean home for two nights. We were jostled in pickup trucks coming down from the hut, jostled on the bus getting back to town and then fought traffic from the town of Cayambe to Machaci. Along the way we did stop to eat some lunch and resupply on snacks so that we could arrive at this peaceful place and enjoy a full rest day today. Tomorrow, we head for the Cotopaxi Hut with plans to climb in the night again. But for now, eating well, hydrating, stretching and reading are our focus.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

PC: Dustin Wittmier

Sunday, November 10, 2024 - 3:46 pm PT

We are settled in at Cayambe for the night. All reports are that the route hasn’t changed since I was on it two weeks ago, which is great news because the route is scenic and fun! We are planning for the classic middle of the night start and hope to be on top just after sunrise. Wish us luck and safe passage please!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Saturday, November 9, 2024 - 6:14 am PT

The team is on the move now. From this point on there is only one day of the trip that does not involve hiking, climbing or traveling. Yesterday, as an example, we left Quito in the morning, drove three hours north, got out and hiked for about four hours and then back on the bus for a 45 minute ride to the Intiyaya Residences. That's a full day, but hey, it's what we signed up for and we all were able to enjoy the lovely hike around Laguna Cuicocha. Everyone also enjoyed the serenity of the Intiyaya Residences; most people had a full night's sleep before the neighborhood dogs started barking at about 6:30am.

Today, we head for the market in Otavalo to experience some local culture, shop for souvenirs or just drink a nice latte. Following that sensory overload, we will hop on the bus and head for the town of Cayambe and eventually the lower Cayambe hut. Our group is really coming together as a team; meals have been spent telling stories and much of our time on trails has been spent trying to get some pro bono physical therapy from Malina.

In just a day and a half we will put our bodies and minds to the test on Cayambe!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Hello friends, family and everyone else who plans to follow along! We are off to a great start on another RMI Expeditions Ecuador Volcanoes trip. On this itinerary we plan to (hopefully) visit the summits of both Cayambe and Cotopaxi, the third and second highest mountains in Ecuador, respectively.

To kick of the acclimatization, we traveled around Quito yesterday seeing various sights, mostly related to gaining independence from the Spanish and to the cultural history of indigenous peoples. Of course, that takes us in and out of a variety of old churches as we all marveled at the architecture of these places. In addition to learning some interesting things about Ecuador, it was also a chance to dust off the jet lag and get the bodies moving around a bit.

To continue in that direction, we hiked Rucu Pichincha today. The day started off a bit hazy, but as that layer moved we had glimpses of Cayambe, Antisana and Cotopaxi amongst other high mountains of the Ecuadorian highlands. The group all did well today and we are about to head out for one more dinner in town before we leave for the countryside tomorrow.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier & Team

Friday, November 1, 2024

Cotopaxi Summit!

Yes, you heard that right. After a couple years of eruptive activity, the mountain is back open and today was the first Cotopaxi summit for RMI since December of 2021. In that time, a lot has changed.

The two years of eruptions have been characterized by frequent outbursts from the caldera in the form of ash plumes. This has led to a loss in glacial mass as the sun beats down on the dark material deposited on the usually reflective snow surface. The current numbers are not yet known, but also this is not a new part of the mountain's history. Cotopaxi is the second-highest active volcano in the world and has had numerous periods of activity in the past that have led to closures of the mountain for recreational purposes and threatened local communities. In fact, in the past 50 years, Cotopaxi has lost over 54% of it's glacial mass.

In addition to the ash, the country of Ecuador is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. Due to both factors the route has changed dramatically. It routes through some different aspects of the mountain and is quite icy. The main obstacles we encountered today were moving through steep, icy terrain that at times required front pointing with crampons or the occasional swinging of our ice axes. One big factor did save our climb, which was the 6-8cm of fresh snowfall the mountain received yesterday. It deposited just enough snow on the surface to give a little more traction than the hard ice, but not so much to create avalanche hazards. We hope the snow in the mountains will continue, for the sake of the climbing routes; and more importantly, we hope for the people of Ecuador that this is marking the beginning of the wet season.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Thursday, October 31, 2024 - 8:22 am PT

Yesterday's trip to Illiniza Norte went quite smoothly. We were on the move just after 5am and were able to complete the loop from the refuge to the summit and down the alternate descent back to the trailhead. The route was a touch slippery to begin with as a wet cloud blew past the mountain all night, but as the sun rose, the rocks dried off and we had mostly dry conditions once we reached the scrambling portion. For our entire climb it was dry and in the afternoon there was a heavy downpour, which may signal the change towards the rainy season.

Today, we are headed for Cotopaxi. The mountain does not seem to have received any fresh snowfall from yesterday's weather as we were treated to perfect views of the mountain from our hacienda this morning. The conditions are "dry" meaning that the glacier itself is mostly ice instead of "neve". Tonight after a few fitful hours of rest, we will make our summit attempt starting from the hut at about 16,000'.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Tuesday, October 29, 2024 - 6:20 am PT

We had a lovely acclimatization trip to the summit of Rucu Pichincha yesterday. We caught a bit of light rain, not enough to stabilize the electrical grid, but enough to keep us cool for our nice day hike. On the way down, the clouds opened up a little and were treated to views of surrounding valleys, which includes the city of Quito.

Today, we are heading for the Illiniza refuge and hopefully a summit of Illiniza Norte tomorrow morning! While this is labeled as an "acclimatization" hike, it's definitely fun in it's own right. The route from the hut goes up a steep ridgeline that occasionally requires some class 3 scrambling. The views from the summit are astounding and the movement enjoyable.

We will check back in tomorrow with an update as we head towards Cotopaxi!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

The whole team has arrived in Ecuador and we spent our first day of acclimation touring around Quito. While the activities were the standard preplanned trips to the indigenous equator museum and the old town of Quito, the feel is a little different this time. The country of Ecuador is experiencing it's worst drought in sixty years. Their power grid is based about 70% on hydroelectric power and as such, blackouts are a regular part of life right now. Fortunately for us, the hotel has generators that keep the power on throughout the day, but most residences and businesses in Quito have power for only 10-14 hours per day. This brings some moderate uncertainty to everyone here and it is felt in our interactions with our local friends and service providers. Nonetheless, life goes on and local businesses are happy to have the continued support that tourism brings. All that being said, everyone is doing their best rain dance! It feels like one of those moments where if it begins raining, everyone in the street will stop what they're doing to celebrate and honestly, even if it turns us around on Rucu Pichincha today, it will bring a smile to my face as well.

Dustin

Chimborazo Summit!

We have now traveled much of Ecuador's "Avenue of Volcanoes", visiting some of the highest mountains in this country and having the fortune to stand on top of a few:

Rucu Pichincha (15,354') - A warm-up hike that often sets a new altitude record for someone on the team

Cerro Fuya Fuya (14,039') - The first agenda item after leaving Quito, another acclimatization hike

Cayambe (18,996') - Wow, the weather almost stopped us and we were the only team to summit that day

Chimborazo (20,561') - A perfect sunrise summit this morning

Tonight, we find ourselves in the city of Riobamba, recovering from a third alpine start within a two-week vacation. As it turns out, even with built-in rest days, that is a demanding schedule. On top of climbing, there are the long bus rides and the never-ending duffel shuffle. Every member of the team has two large duffels full of mountaineering gear and general travel items that are continuously being unpacked, repacked and subsequently toted around. Hacienda and hotel staff always get a chuckle when they see how much stuff we have.

As for last night's climb, the weather worked out perfectly. It has been several days of wind and humidity on Chimborazo, which has been regularly stymying climbing parties' attempts. Even yesterday, right as we arrived at camp the clouds moved in and there was hail off and on for a couple of hours. However, in the late evening the sky cleared and it was a calm, clear night and morning. It was the perfect way to cap a trip that saw us turn around on Antisana for some pretty intense weather. We can go home with a couple big summits and start thinking about our next trips!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier