On day two at Secret Garden Cotopaxi in Ecuador, we decided to hike to Cotopaxi base camp and mountain bike down. 

At 7:15am we walked from our cozy hobbit home over to the main building for breakfast together. We had crepes with bananas, a drizzle of chocolate and a cup of fruit. At 8am we met our guides outside and took the drive to the north entrance of Cotopaxi. On the way, we stopped to pick up our mountain bikes and at the entrance to the park to use the loo. From the entrance of the park it was still about a half hour drive. In total it took over an hour to get from Secret Garden to Cotopaxi.  

Hike to Cotopaxi base camp

As we went up and up, the visibility got worse and worse. There were moments where I couldn’t even see the winding red dirt road in front of us. Eventually, we stopped at what was apparently the car park. We got out and began walking. By this point it was hailing lightly and the visibility remained low. There must have been some point where we started to emerge above the clouds because we started to be able to see better. Though the hail continued, it wasn’t too cold. The hike to the base camp was mild. If it hadn’t been for the altitude, it would have been a walk in the park.

From the car park to the refuge at base camp, it’s just over 360 meters in elevation gain. Base camp sits at 4,800 meters (15,748 feet) elevation. We moved painfully slowly in order to prevent any altitude sickness. This was the highest I’d ever been before. Luckily I felt fine until that point.

Hike to the glacier

Most of our group decided to continue for an additional 20 minutes to see the glacier. At the glacier we stood at just over 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) in elevation. We only stayed for a bit, to take a few photos before heading back to base camp. I did feel a slight headache when we stopped, but as soon as we started to walk down it subsided. 

At the refuge, we sipped hot chocolate and ate some snacks provided by Secret Garden Cotopaxi – a focaccia and a slice of banana bread. We also got to stamp our passports with a Cotopaxi stamp. Oddly satisfying and exciting.

After our rest we began to head back to the car park with our guides. They told us that rather than take the switchback path like we had done on the way up, that we’d go in a straight line. The snow had gotten thicker so we skidded down rather quickly until we were back.

Mountain biking Cotopaxi

At the car park, the guides decided it was too dangerous for us to mountain bike the full way down. They decided to drive us a bit lower first. When they decided it was safe, we grabbed our bikes, put on our helmets, took some gloves and that was that. We were apparently ready to go.

I had never been mountain biking before and I must say, I found this experience totally terrifying. The entire journey was downhill. I kept my hands clutched too tightly to the breaks. Holding on was incredibly challenging due to all the bumps and the rain in my face. I felt the mud kicking up into my socks, my face and my back.

Mike asked if I wanted to stop – yes I looked that miserable. But despite how badly I wanted to, I told him no, using slightly few more nasty words than that. Only five of us made it the whole way down. As we speeded towards the bottom I started to have some fun. After 20 minutes of tensity, we eventually hit less steep terrain and the hail and rain weakened. Thank God! Soaked and muddy, I wasn’t going to quit. The weather got better and better and I thought hmm, maybe I would give mountain biking another try some time. Just, not in the hail.

The drive back was far from comfortable, but I was proud to have survived the adventure and have the warm fireplace at Secret Garden Cotopaxi, where we were staying, to go back to.

Cost: $38 per person for the hike. An additional $10 or $5 if you’d like to mountain bike the full or half way down respectively.

Read more about Ecuador.