Hello Everyone,

Following is four excerpts from my climbing journal, kept while on the mountain. Hope you enjoy. It was quite the adventure.


Photos of our prepping for and trip to camp.

Packing for Cotopaxi, we sure know how to trash a room fast.

Entering Cotopaxi Nat'l Park.

The drive through the Park, along a very rough and winding dirt road.

Rain.... lots and lots of rain.

Gearing up at the trailhead... in the rain.

The approach hike, with a rare glimpse through the clouds, of the valley below.

Setting up the tent in the sleet.

Climbing Journal
December 21st, 2007
7:30 pm
Cotopaxi Base Camp
We arrived at the trailhead toady at noon. Weather conditions were bleak. It had been snowing/raining on and off since we had entered the park an hour earlier. Wind was approx. 5mph and there was a very low cloud cover that was making visibility less than 500 ft. It took us 35 min. to ascend 1,000ft to the climbers refugio (hut) where we stopped for 30 min. to talk to some people we met there.
We then continued for another 10 min to camp in a small gully over a ridge from the refugio. We set up camp in the rain and Jer and Trav immediately crawled inside the tent and fell asleep. We were dealing well with altitude, but it was still taking its toll on us. Our elevation at camp was 14,800ft. At 4:00pm we started making dinner and boiling water for tea. Dinner tonight consisted of cooked carrots, pasta Bolognese and toast.
After doing dishes, I took my camera and climbed up a ridge 500ft above camp. The clouds were starting to clear for a minute and I ended up getting a beautiful sunset, above the clouds! At 6:30pm I made my way back to camp and organized myself for bed. A coyote was prowling around camp when I returned, so I moved all our food inside the tent. It is now 7:45pm and we are going to try to get some sleep. Jer and Trav feel slightly ill due to the altitude so we are working on drinking lots of water and getting as much rest as we can for the next 28 hours before we make our summit attempt tomorrow at midnight.

Normal view from our tent window, fog and snow.

Jer and Trav, tent bound.

December 22nd, 2007
11:26 am
Cotopaxi Base Camp

Last night we got very little sleep. A 15-20 mph wind picked up as the clouds started to clear after dark and the flapping and fluttering of the tent combined with the altitude made for a rough night. We went to bed at 7:30pm and woke up at 6:30 am, in all we probably didnt get more than three hours of sleep. Listening to someone sleep at high altitude is a bit strange. They will breathe normally for two or three min. and then take one or two fast, gasping breaths, and then return to normal.
At 6:30 am we brewed up some hot tang and stretched out a bit, then laid back down for another hour or so. (Everything moves slower at high altitude) At 7:30 am we started getting ready to climb above camp onto the glacier to help our bodies adjust to elevation. Weather at this point was still approx. 20 deg. and snowing lightly.
We left camp at 8:30am and ascended to a crevasse approx. 1,000ft above camp. We took a break there. All three of us felt very good, strong, breathing well and healthy, a good change from the night before. At this point, Trav returned to camp to watch our gear and Jer and I continued another 500ft up the glacier. We took cover under an overhanging crevasse and sent out a SPOT signal. Wind was 15-20mph and we had blowing snow and spindrift. After resting for 20 min. we descended back to camp and purified water for the day, had a breakfast of granola and yogurt and went back to sleep. If everything goes as planned and the weather is good, we will go for a summit attempt at in 12 hours.

Jer, sending out a SPOT signal.

Coyote, watching our camp from the ridge.

December 22nd, 2007
7:14 pm
Cotopaxi Base Camp

In five hours we make our summit bid. As of now, everything is looking good. Travis and Jer got some much needed sleep this afternoon. Weather has been on and off. We were tent bound most of the afternoon from before noon until after 4:30pm. Late afternoon the skies cleared, the sun came out, and God blessed us with a wonderful evening. We ate an early dinner at 5:00pm, purified all the water for the climb and prepared for the morning.
The plan is as follows,
Wake up at 11:30pm, brew up tea, eat a quick snack, and leave by 12:30am. I am going to take lead on the rope; we are taking one summit pack, which we will share between us, two liters of water, thermos of hot water, down jackets, med kit, and lots of energy goo. If everything goes well, we will summit sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 am. We all feel strong and prepared. It is now up to weather and the higher altitudes to determine if we succeed.

A rare view as the skies clear the afternoon before our summit bid.

Jer making dinner during a few beautiful, clear hours.

Trav, watching the clouds move across the valley below us.

The summit of Cotopaxi, seen through the mist as the sun goes down and the weather starts to change again.

December 23rd, 2007
10:12 am
Cotopaxi Base Camp

We are back to camp after a successful summit of Cotopaxi! God is good. We managed to sleep through two alarms last night and woke up at midnight. We got dressed, brewed up, prepped our packs and left camp at 1:00am. 15min. out of camp, Trav started feeling very sick with a headache that was getting much worse. We were close enough to camp that he could return safely alone, and he did so. Jer and I continued on, roped up and put our crampons on at 1:45 am and started up the glacier. We were the first rope team of 5 that we going for the summit that morning, we were in the lead, 20 people followed behind us, a line of headlamps in the darkness far below us.
Weather conditions, approx. 10 deg. light snow and gusting winds up to 20mph. We settled into our slow pace and made very good time. At 4:00am with heavier snow and visibility at less than 40ft, we lost the route due to the windblown snow. We took a 20min. break in an overhanging crevasse and waited for another team to catch up, hopefully with someone who knew the route.
After two more attempts to find the route on our own and an hour of waiting, at 5:00 am a team of four arrived at our location and started across a traverse into the darkness, we followed very carefully. As faint light started to illuminate the mountain at 5:30 am we could see that we were 300ft above the route on a ridge that was un-climbable above us, due to a large 70ft ice wall. At this point, two of the climbers that we had been following (who put is in the wrong place), approached us and asked if they could rope up with us. They spoke no English and for some reason were at 17,000ft with no rope or proper equipment. Considering the situation, we decided it would be best to help them. We tied them in on our rope and began a tricky traverse across a rock band and snow slope towards the upper part of the main route. The two climbers now on our rope were slowing our progress quite a bit, and we were moving very slowly now. One other rope team of two passed on the far side of the slope. We took over two hours to climb the last 1,500ft of headwall to the crater rim. By the time we reached the summit, Jer was practically hauling the two climbers behind us. We reached the summit at 7:45 am. We had ten minutes of sunlight and views through the clouds before fog rolled in again and visibility was back to 200ft or so. We snapped our summit photos and began our rapid decent, trying to manage the two Ecuadorian climbers still, which was making things very challenging. As soon as we reached safe ground, we untied from the rope, backpacked it and said farewell to our two “friends”, we glissaded (controlled slide) down the glacier from 17,000ft to 15,000ft in about 15 min. and arrived back at camp in one hour, fifteen minutes after leaving the summit! Eight Hours round trip!!
We are now taking a short rest before packing up and heading out to catch a ride back to Papagayo. It is still raining…

Jer, in the early hours of the morning, making his way through the snow at 16,000ft.

Michael, route finding in the fog.

God is good. 7:45 am, on the summit of Cotopaxi.

Jer, on the decent, looking at a massive crevasse we had passed in the night. With light now, we could see inside. It could eat a school bus whole. 60 ft wide, 150 ft deep, 1/2 mile long.

We are now sorting and cleaning gear and taking off to attempt the Ilinizas this afternoon, For once, we awoke to sunshine outside; hopefully it lasts for quite a while.

Since we will be climbing on Christmas, I will not get a chance to write a blog on the 25th. It is very strange being in a foreign country, alone on Christmas; I would have to say it is going to end up being one of the worst parts of a great trip. Such is the life of adventure I suppose. We all wish we could be at home celebrating with you, but know that we send our love and you will be in our thoughts as we climb Christmas morning.
I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and may God Bless you.

Love Always,

Michael

A parting photo, Pretty beautiful world we live in!

(see the tent in the bottom right corner)