Volcano Chimborazo is like the Holy Shit of volcanos. It is grand. It is gorgeous. It is gnarly. The sheers looks of it reminded me of a Doberman Pincher at a junkyard. Stunning from a distance, but if you get too close, it won't hesitate to eat you. At a whopping 6,310m in elevation, it is recognized as the closet point to the sun in the world. However, it has a reputation for unpredictable weather and a terrible history of people being killed every year by getting struck by lightning and avalanches. Only experienced climbers are supposed to attempt the summit, but of the few who attempt, far less ever reach it. With that being said I decided to hike half and mountain bike the rest:)
I found this really great guy who runs ProBici (a bike shop who specializes in mountain bike rides of Chimborazo). He drove me and a couple of Canadians from Riobamba to Chimborazo where he explained a lot of the history along the way. The drive there was gorgeous. We drove through several indigenous villages where he explained some facts about Quechuas, their language, and religion. He said that most of them in that area converted to Christianity from Catholicism because there was a large influx of Western missionaries who started to come.
It took about 1hr and 30min before we made it to the base of Chimborazo and the view of this volcano was mindnumbing. The sky was the color of mouthwash, and felt about as clean and crisp as it too. You could see a few of the glaciers and the snow looked like white glitter. It was freakin' awesome! The start of the hike wasn't as difficult as Cotopaxi for me because even though it was higher in elevation the incline wasn't as steep. The wind, however, got up to 50mph- and this was just before the refuge! Once I reached the top I tried to reclaim my breath and took refuge in the base camp. There, I met this Australian family of 4 who were on a 6 month—24 country—family vacation. They looked like the happiest family I'd ever seen, which is strange to me, because a 6 month vacation with my family would be the equivalent of getting bullwhiped with snake fangs (okay maybe not that severe, but close..) I was happy for them, it looked like they were having a great time; plus, the mom gave me the rest of her porridge, which was the most delicious leftovers I've had in South America.
Once I climbed back down from the refuge the Canadian guys and I geared up for our 6 hour mountain biking trek. It was an intense ride through sand, snow, boulders, cobblestone streets, and alpaca fields. I don't think I was supposed to actually ride through the field, but since there were a few dogs chasing behind me I was in no position to stop.. I just kept trucking along... It made me realize how much I miss bike riding. I biked a lot in Austin—a whole lot—but when I got off that 6 hour bike ride around the volcano I have to admit I was a little sore. It was a wonderful day. Perhaps my favorite adventurous activity I've done in Ecuador.
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