Beautiful, fascinating Cotopaxi

One of my best ideas was to rent a room at Hostal Tambopaxi which is the only hotel inside the national park Cotopaxi, at an elevation of 3700 m. where you have a fantastic view from your large window on gorgeous volcano Cotopaxi, 5911 m., supposedly one of South Amerixa's most active volcanoes. Cotopaxi erupted more than 50 times since 1738. At the moment it has been dormant for more than 70 years, which is an unusual long interval in its recent history. 

Here is Cotopaxi, reflecting in the little fish pond of the hostal

If you want to see Cotopaxi without a dress of clouds or a veil of fog, you have to get up early in the morning. Mostly, at this time, the sky is blue and the volcano is best seen. Soon clouds come and envelop Cotopaxi and if you taake photos every 2 miniutes, it will look different, which is really fascinating. The clouds usually start rising from the valley below

Here with the restaurant of Tambopaxi

later, at noon, dark clouds approach, signalizing that rain is soon to come.

These clouds fascinate me

and in the later afternoon, if you are lucky, it might look like this again

Starting from Tambopaxi, you can hike up to the Refugio Jose Rivas at an elevation of 4864 m., which is a bit below the glaciers, that have receded a lot in the last years. 

Starting from Tanbopaxi, it is a hike of about 5 hours. I was lucky. After I walked for an hour a camioneta (little truck) came by and took me up to the parking place where the steep ascent to the refugio beginns. From there it is about 1,5 km. ascending about 350 m. in elevation up to 4864 m. The ascend is extremely steep. I was there on a Sunday and there were lots of Ecuadorians going up, even families with children. 

The colors of the landscape are fascinating

. As you can see, a bit above the refugio the glacier starts. Unfortunately there were lots of clouds coming and going, especially after I made it up to the refugio it became very cloudy and even started snowing. A national park guard would not let me go up to the glacier without a guide, so I could just photograph it from a bit above the refugio.

Can you see the refugio in the clouds down left? 

and here what I could photograph of the glaciar: 

I have been told that to climb up to the crater takes 10 hours. People leave at 10 in the evening and climb up during the night, arriving in the morning. Difficult to imagine, when you look at this glacier.

It is an unbelievably fascinating landscape.