FTA Ecuador Jan 2011 - Headed to Jose Rivas!

From Brad

Tambopaxi Lodge, fully caffeinated

It has been a wonderful morning here at Tambopaxi Lodge. In fact the internet is running at early 90's speeds which is better than last night! Many of us woke up with (or before) the sun to watch the teams heading up Cotopaxi by headlamp.

As the sun rose the mountain was completely clear and our sleeping bags became infernos so there was little sleep thereafter. We had a slow morning of coffee, fresh juice, fruit, yogurt with muesli, fried eggs and toast with butter and jam. We were once again breathing heavy as we repacked our bags in preparation for the ~ 1 hour ride to the parking area just below the stone hut, Jose Rivas.

It will be a short walk today to the hut, perhaps an hour or less. We will spend the afternoon here eating, resting, drinking (water), and perhaps doing a bit more practice with crampons and self arrest. It will be an early dinner and after we will quickly retire to bed as we will be awakening at about 11pm to eat once again and prepare for our summit bid! Wish us luck, safety, warmth, easy breathing and of course good fashion.

More to follow from Quito tomorrow afternoon. I'm sure we will be exhausted but I will attempt to get a dispatch out!