Ecuador has the highest volcanos on earth, with several over 19,000 feet. We sought to climb the two highest, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo. In preparation we planned to climb a series of smaller peaks around Quito, and to complete a four-day high-altitude trek which including climbing a beautiful 16,500-foot peak, Carihuayrazo.

Quito is a 4-hour flight directly south from Miami. There's plenty to see and do there . . . colonial Quito is known for its seven churches, and nearby New Quito (actually not so new anymore) has a wide variety of restaurants, shops, and places to stay. The suburbs extend both north and south great distances, and are a mix of poor and wealthy neighborhoods. At 9,000 feet, the town has a pleasant climate and is a great place to start acclimatizing for higher elevations.

We arrived on Friday. On Saturday, Otavalo, a town a few hour's drive north, has a market known for handicrafts. We headed up there to take in the scene and to do an easy hike in the hills above a nearby lake. Sunday we headed south of Quito and hiked up to the cross on Cerro Llalo, a 10,500-foot peak near Tumbaco, and also visited colonial Quito.

Monday we again headed south from Quito and climbed 14,000-foot Cerro Pasochoa. This was our first true taste of the Ecuadorian highlands, and we were energized by the green meadows, and vistas over cultivated fields clinging to mountainsides. As we approached the top, the clouds came in from the north, breaking at the peak.

The next day we staged for the trek. The route was generally north to south, starting in the Rio Blanco valley, between Carihuayrazo and Chimborazo. We spent two days on the flanks of Carihuayrazo, camped just below the glaciers in the photo below. We began our trek from a climbers' hut near the site of the photo

With the assistance of a local family who provided four horses for carrying our gear, we proceeded up to Carihuayrazo. Our camping spot at the base of the glacier was at 15,000 feet, and featured a spectacular view of Chimborazo and its clouds.

Those of us still in the mountains started the third day of the trek with an ascent of 16,500-foot Carihuayzo. The climb, which included basic instruction in glacier travel, went well, though it was not enhanced by the clouds which obscured the view most of the time.

Later that day we packed up, descended into the Rio Mocha river valley, and hiked about nine miles to our next campsite. What was to be an uneventful afternoon turned out to be a bit of an epic, with driving rain and sleet throughout most of the hike and also when setting up camp. We were constrained on camping locations due to the wet ground, and ended up on a narrow peninsula with cliffs on three sides and a couple of deep ditches going cross-ways. Care was taken on the nighttime breaks.

We hiked out without incident the next morning, through cultivated fields, ending at the Urbina train station, where we met our van. We proceeded to Banos, a town at the base of volcano Tungurahua which features hot baths and attracts Ecuadorian tourists in large numbers. We relaxed there for two days, and retrieved our companion from the clinic in Ambato.

The parking lot for the start of the climb is at15,000 feet. The climbers' hut (actually a large structure that holds 70 people), is about an hour up the trail. We unloaded from the van at about 5 p.m. and got a few hours sleep in the hut before starting the climb at midnight.

The sky was clear, the winds low, and the moon full, making for absolutely perfect climbing weather. We split our team onto two ropes, each with a guide. The climb was nearly all on glacier, with many exposed and steep sections and even a few stretches requiring front pointing with the crampons. By the time the clouds came in we were above them. I reached the 19,500-foot summit with one of the guides in about six hours. While descending we met our other rope at 18,000 feet. They decided they had had enough, and proceeded down with us.

So what was it like at the top? Imagine reaching the summit just as the sun starts to rise, first shining through the clouds from below. The tops of all of Ecuador's volcanos, still also lit by the stars, are highlighted in soft yellows and reds. Below you are miles of glaciers, then old lava flows, and finally the lights of Quito, 40 miles away. The volcano crater is behind you, and you catch whiffs of sulfur. It strikes you that the people who reach the top of mountains like this are some of the most fortunate people anywhere.

On the descent, we had the dubious pleasure of seeing in better light all the crevasses, steep slopes, and narrow ridges of the route. The snow got softer at the lower altitudes as the day warmed up, and it became clear why the climb had to start in the early night.

By 9:30 we were back at the climbers' hut. We learned that our party was one of the few to actually get high on the mountain. About 25 other climbers gave up within an hour or so and went back to bed, realizing they had not acclimated properly. Only three teams with a total of six people summitted that day.

After Tena we proceeded up the road to Quito and then to home.

Thanks

Thanks to Mark Pearson for organizing the trip, and to Kirk Backman of Sawtooth Mountain Guides www.sawtoothguides.com, who took care of logistics for the group and guided me on Cotopaxi. Thanks also to our porters on the Carihuayrazo trek.

On the trek, we were joined by Brian Warmington, a renown English climber who has lived in Banos with his Ecuadorian wife, Martha, for many years. They hosted us in Banos at their comfortable hotel, Sangay Spa, www.sangayhotel.com.

We thank Brian for conducting the life-saving medical evacuation. We also thank him and Martha for making us feel like family; they could not have been more gracious.

Country Overview

One of the most environmentally-diverse countries in the world, Ecuador features two mountain ranges, a high-altitude central plateau, a coastal plane, and jungle lowlands. The Galapagos islands, 650 miles off the Pacific coast, are also part of Ecuador.

The population of 13 million is 65 percent urban and predominantly of mixed Spanish and native descent. The country has two large cities, Guayaquil and Quito, each with about 2 million inhabitants. The gross domestic product is $1080 per capita, the literacy rate is 97 percent, and life expectancy is 72 years. Oil and mining are important industries. The country has climates conducive to growing a wide variety of plants (bananas and cut flowers are major exports) and there is an abundance of food.

Quito was a capital of pre-Inca and Inca empires and is one of three American cities that pre-date European conquest (the others are Mexico City and Cuzco, Peru). The Spanish first landed in 1526 and took control of Quito shortly afterward. About three hundred years later, Ecuador and regions to the north won independence from Spain under the leadership of Simon Bolivar. Ecuador became a separate country a few years after that, in 1830. Since independence the country has alternated between conservative and liberal governments, for the most part under democratic processes. Major power brokers have been wealthy families of Spanish ancestry, the military, the Catholic church, and (most recently) native groups.

In the 1970's, Ecuador prospered as an oil exporter, but foreign debt and lower oil prices caused stagnation in the 1980's. The 1990's were characterized by political scandal and short-lived administrations. In 2000, further economic decline and austerity measures prompted a bloodless coup by junior military officers. After condemnation by the U.S., the U.N., and the Organization of American States, leadership was relinquished to the vice president, Gustavo Noboa. He was subsequently elected president in democratic elections and is the president today. The adoption of the U.S. dollar, other fiscal reforms, and higher oil prices have stabilized the economy.