Tag Archive for: Cotopaxi

Imbabura Volcano

On the summit of Imbabura

One last day of acclimatization hiking around Otavalo before the team heads to Cayambe tomorrow.  Garrett provides the details of today’s hike up the Imbabura volcano:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Ecuador Volcanoes program.  Today we hiked up the volcano Imbabura – 15,000 ft.!  It was a beautiful hike up this inactive stratovolcano in northern Ecuador.  It hasn’t erupted in over 14,000 years, but its intermittently capped with snow – no permanent glaciers.  Very fertile slopes around Imbabura.

We got back down this evening, had a nice dinner here at the Hacienda Pinsaqui for our last night.  Tomorrow we’re gonna pack up and drive to Cayambe, up to the mountain hut on the volcano and get ready for our first glaciated climb.

All’s well here in Ecuador!  We’ve been having a great time and are excited to head to our first mountain soon.

Acclimation hike on the Imbabura volcano

Acclimation hike on the Imbabura volcano

Nearing the summit of Imbabura

Nearing the summit of Imbabura

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

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Lake Cuicocha and more acclimatizing

Laguna Cuicocha, Ecuador

Our Ecuador team continued their acclimatization today with a hike around Laguna Cuicocha just west of Otavalo.  Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, has today’s dispatch:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Ecuador Volcanoes program.  Today we hiked around Lake Cuicocha and it was nice weather, we got to see the lake and some nice views overlooking the hills around including the summit we did yesterday and tomorrow’s objective as well.  Another great day here acclimitizing in Ecuador.  We’re staying at the Hacienda Pinsaqui, which is a great accomidation.

We are excited for tomorrow’s hike and then heading over to Cayambe, the first glaciated volcano in our program.  Everyone’s doing well and all’s good here in Ecuador!

Acclimatization hike near Laguna Cuicocha, Ecuador

Acclimatization hike near Laguna Cuicocha, Ecuador

Hiking around Laguna Cuicocha, Ecuador

Hiking around Laguna Cuicocha, Ecuador

The view of Laguna Cuicocha, Ecuador

The view of Laguna Cuicocha, Ecuador

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

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Acclimatizing on Fuya Fuya

Laguna de Mojanda, Ecuador

Our Ecuador team has jumped right into their acclimatization after just arriving in Quito last night.  Garrett Madison provides a recap of the day:

Hello!  This is Garrett calling in the Ecuador Volcanoes climb program.  Today we left Quito in the morning and drove to our first acclimatization hike, Fuya Fuya, and we hiked up to 14,000 ft. (4275m).  Day one!  Wow, really strong crew.

And then we came to Hacienda Pinsaqui, an old hacienda here in the countryside of Ecuador, and had a nice evening cocktail, some music, and a nice dinner.  Looking forward to a good night’s rest and tomorrow we’re heading off for another acclimatization hike.

All’s well here in Ecuador.  We’re very excited to be here with our good friend and local guide, Estalin Suárez, and heading to Cayambe soon after.

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

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Ecuador Volcanoes Expedition Kick Off!

Today we kick off our final expedition of 2020 in the capital city of Quito, Ecuador.  Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, provides this initial Ecuador Volcanoes expedition dispatch.  We hope you will follow along.

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Ecuador Volcanoes program.  Today we are meeting in Quito, Ecuador.  I’ve just arrived and tomorrow we are heading out to the small town of Otavalo and going for our first acclimitization hike up to about 12,000 ft. (3658m).

Our first volcano that we are heading towards is Cayambe (5758m/18,891ft).  And then after Cayambe, we’ll come back to Quito for a couple of nights and then head off to Cotopaxi (5897m/19,347ft) and then Chimborazo (6310m/20,702ft), the highest peak in Ecuador and the closest point to the Sun.

We’re looking forward to a great trip here in Ecuador with Todd and Jen.  We’ll get started here tomorrow.  All’s well!

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

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