King of Volcanoes

Another weekend in the Andes: this time we went to mighty Cotopaxi Volcano (5897 m). We were supposed to get close to this ice-capped giant with the help of a pickup truck but we could not make it all the way to our hike’s initial point: the person being in charge of guarding (and unlocking, if needed) a gate was not there – so we were not able to continue by vehicle. Unfortunately, things like that are quite common in Ecuador… We climbed over the fence and started walking.

Since we needed to hike more than expected we did not get to our destined camping site. Further, we had a thunderstorm on our back and already got soaked. So, we ended up having an early night.

Next morning: clear sky! 🙂 Instead of hiking Morurco (4880 m), a perfectly situated mountain for enjoying the view on Cotopaxi’s southern flank, we headed to Santa Bárbara (some 4000 m high). Hiking through the tundra-like superpáramo, the very limit up until vegetation can occur here, was a special experience. The ground is covered by a few resistant, ground-covering plants which itself are topped by bright, bizarre lichen structures (see photos) giving the landscape an iced appearance. We eventually reached the barren land composed of volcanic gravel and soon even got above the snow line – quite something at the equator! Cotopaxi showed off all his beauty and we indulged ourselves in this snow-white view. O_O

Joy at Santa Bárbara summit was short since thick fog appeared which forced us to hike back to our camp. We packed up everything and returned to real life walking in the same greyness through which we came the day before…

Viaje a Santa Bárbara. Drive to Santa Bárbara. Anfahrt zur Santa Bárbara. (© Claudia Villar)

Excursionistas con el glaciar del Volcán Cotopaxi al fondo. Hikers with Cotopaxi Volcano glacier in the background. Wanderer mit Gletscher des Cotopaxi-Vulkans im Hintergrund.

Un caballo delante del Volcán Cotopaxi. A horse in front of Cotopaxi Volcano. Ein Pferd vorm Cotopaxi-Vulkan.

Panorama del Cotopaxi, Santa Bárbara y Morurco. Panorama of Cotopaxi, Santa Bárbara, and Morurco. Panorama von Cotopaxi, Santa Bárbara und Morurco.

Primer plano de los liquenes cubriendo el suelo. Close-up view of lichen covering the ground. Nahaufnahme der bodenbedeckenden Flechten.

Estoy caminando cerca del Cotopaxi. Me hiking close to Cotopaxi. Ich auf meinem Weg am Cotopaxi. (© Claudia Villar)

Nos acercamos al Cotopaxi. We are getting closer to Cotopaxi. Wir nähern uns dem Cotopaxi.

La cumbre de Santa Bárbara. Santa Bárbara summit. Gipfel der Santa Bárbara.

Panorama del Cotopaxi. Panorama of Cotopaxi. Panorama des Cotopaxi.

Bajada de Santa Bárbara. Hiking down Santa Bárbara. Abstieg von Santa Bárbara.

Primer plano del superpáramo. A superpáramo close-up view. Eine Superpáramo-Nahaufnahme.

Un nido de pájaro en el superpáramo. A bird’s nest in the superpáramo. Ein Vogelnest im Superpáramo.

Regresamos a través del páramo. Walking back through the páramo. Wir wandern zurück durch den Páramo.