Okay, so I will admit that my post title is kind of click-bait. Yes, the volcano we visited is defined as “active”, which means that it has had at least one eruption in the last 10,000 years. But, if you are expecting to see us huddled under a volcano as it spews ash and lava, you can stop reading now. Though it has only been 3 years since its last eruption, so there was at least a little hint of danger, right? Enough to make you read on….?
The Cotopaxi Volcano, an active stratovolcano and the second tallest peak in Ecuador (the peak is 5,897m/19,347ft), is located just a short drive from Quito. We decided to book a day trip through Ecuatouring, a great company who also drove us to and from the airport multiple times while we were coming and going from Quito.
Cotopaxi is not currently erupting, but it has erupted more than 50 times since 1738, and its most recent eruption ended in early 2016. So, all in all, I’d say that is a pretty active volcano!
Cotopaxi is near a somewhat populated area, since it isn’t far from Quito, and poses some danger to nearby populations in the event of an eruption. The biggest danger, though, is not from ash or lava, but instead the danger is that an eruption would cause a flash melting of the snow on top of the volcano, and cause a massive amount of water to go pouring down the (perfectly shaped) sides of the volcano and cause havoc for the communities below the volcano.
For our day trip, Ecuatouring picked us up in the morning and we took the 1.5 hour drive to the volcano. As we approached the national park, we picked up a local guide, which is required in the park. Then we headed straight to Laguna Limpiopungo. There is a nice path around the lake, a home to many nesting birds, and it offers views of the peak of Cotopaxi, in addition to views another extinct volcano behind it.
The walk was fairly unexciting, though it was really nice to have the guide point out plants and explain their uses in her indigenous community.
The best part of the walk though, besides the views of Cotopaxi as it would occasionally pop out from behind the clouds, was when a herd of wild horses went galloping by us!
After our walk around the lake, we headed up to the highest parking point, from which we could choose to walk up to the refugio near the peak.
We had a somewhat nail-biting drive up a winding dirt road to the top of the parking lot, where we parked on a big slope. We were high in elevation (almost 15,000 feet) and the wind was fierce! The boys hopped out of the car for one quick photo (N refused to even do that) and then jumped back inside before they blew away. C and I decided that we had no desire to fight the wind to attempt to reach the refugio, particularly since there was no way the boys would go up. We took a few pictures then headed back down and out of the park.
As we were heading out, the clouds cleared away from the volcano, and suddenly we had a fantastic, clear view of Cotopaxi. I quickly asked the driver to stop the car, and we got out to take a quick family picture!
That’s all from Cotopaxi – more adventures near Quito to come!
