Cotopaxi

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So we have left Quito, and we ventured to Cotopaxi. Our original plan was to spend one night at a hostal in Cotopaxi, and then go into the National Park to camp for a couple days, then continue on our adventure. When we arrived at the hostal in Cotopaxi, we were struck with awe with the views we had, and with the overall atmosphere. It was a real nice change from the feel that we had in the city. A combination of the hostal, and the surrounding area, plus the fact that it seemed to rain every afternoon, and the temperatures were always in the low double digits, we decided to just spend 4 nights at the hostal, and venture into the park and surrounding areas on little day trips. The hostal was warmed by wood stoves, and we used candles to light our ways, so in a sense, we didn´t totally abandon our original plan to camp...we just camped with luxury.
Our main adventure was a trip into the Cotopaxi National Park, and to climb up part of the Cotopaxi Volcano. The volcano is actually starting to show signs of being active again, but not severe enough to warrant an eruption when we were on it, so the adventure continued. We were driven into the park, and to a parking lot on the mountain. We started our trek upwards, and eventually made it to the Refuge which was at 4800 meters. After spending a bit of time there warming up, we climbed a little higher to 5000 meters to be able to claim that we had made it that high, as well as to be able to say that we were standing on a glacier. I was reminded of home during the climb because all of a sudden, huge winds picked up, and snow started to dump down on us. It was nothing that I hadn´t experienced before, but something that I wasn´t expecting. Being covered in snow while pretty much on the Equator still doesn´t entirely make sense to me.
After the trek was complete, we went back to our hostal to enjoy the unlimited coffee, and to warm up by the fireplace. After a couple more nights, we decided to move on, although much more time could have been spent lounging around, and exploring the large area around us.

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