Finally got to the part of the trip that we all signed up for – climbing the three highest volcanoes in Ecuador. Prior to climbing our first volcano, we went up to the flanks of Cayambe and spent a couple hours reviewing glacier travel/skills and to see how we worked as a team. It was one of those situations that I should not have listened to the advice of the guide – he said the weather probably would break and we shouldn’t have to worry about getting wet. I left my rain paints back at the hotel and regretted it almost immediately – it was a cold and wet ride back in the bus!

The next day we moved up to the Cayambe Hut at 15,282′. From that point we would launch our midnight assault on the mountain, weather permitting. The goal of getting an early start is to ensure that the snow conditions are stable – it is much easier to walk across the glaciers and snowfields in crampons when they are still frozen. Unfortunately it is not easy to get a lot of photos as you are climbing up in the dark.

Manual and I had left an hour earlier than the rest of the group. I was slower than the rest of the group but it was unclear how much slower. I was glad that I didn’t impede the progress of the rest of the group. Once I got to the summit, they soon arrived. We all sat on the summit as the sun rose and had a few snacks before heading back down.

Once we started heading down it was easier to take photos of the dramatic features of the upper mountain that we really couldn’t see on the way up.

We regrouped for a quick snack stop near the base.

Then back down about 1,000′ over the rock and sand once we got off the glacier.

Fun drawings at the hut on what to wear for each elevation – hiking vs mountaineering.