the lake from the mirador
The Quilotoa, is a crater lake that was formed after an eruption around 800 years ago. It is a very popular tourist spot where people go to peek into the crater to see the bright green water. The mountain itself is approximately 4,000 meters high at its highest peak. One of the most popular activities is to around the caldera, which is 10km in diameter, and then to descend 400 meters to the lake. Of course once you walk down you have to walk back up to get out.
Our day with Zona Verde, the mountaineering group I do most of my walks with, started pretty early. We left Quito at 4am since the Quilotoa is not exactly close to Quito. We passed by the small andean town Zumbahua and started hiking at around 10am. Our guide, Jaime, has a predilection for adventure and always likes to explore new paths, so instead of circling the caldera counter-clock wise as most people do (and as the path is signaled), he decided we should circle it clock-wise, just for fun. And the truth is it was fun, there was a moment where we off the path for a while and started descending down the outer side of the mountain, which is not what you are supposed to do, but it wasn't too bad. The Quilotoa is a really easy mountain to hike and you can do it without a guide, but I believe it is more fun to climb mountains with more people. I also love hiking with Zona Verde, it might be an acquired taste, Jaime is not exactly the guide for everyone. He is very demanding and most walks with him last at least 6 hours. He loves taking detours and exploring new paths which sometimes leads to getting "lost" and walking a little bit longer on rougher terrains, but that is exactly what makes it more exciting.
at the highest point of Quilotoa
We reached the highest peak at around 2:30 pm and continued towards our starting point. Most people go back to the mirador and then climb down to the lake, we of course didn't do this. Instead Jaime had seen an alternate path that went down to the lake and possibly connected with the most used path. Some of us decided to follow Jaime in this adventure, knowing that this new path might not meet the most used one and we might have to walk a lot more to get to the end of our hike and back on the bus. It was a lovely walk and we reached the lake just in time for the last rays of sun, since after that clouds filled the sky and it got a bit cooler. A couple of people jumped in the lake for a short refreshening splash. I stayed outside because I can never handle the idea of jumping into cold water, not even when I am pretty hot from walking for almost 5 hours.
some of the guys enjoying the incredibly cool water
Although the hike around the Quilotoa was fairly simple, by the time we reached the lake I was completely tired. It had been about 4 months since I did any sort of physical activity, so the climb back out of the crater was hard on me. I felt as if my lungs weren't big enough for all the oxygen my body was asking for. However, I made it out of the mountain and into the bus, concluding our lovely trip to this mountain. I am glad I went to this volcano, it was the perfect way of starting this climbing season.
