Cotopaxi

Today we got as close to a true mountain climbing experince as we have ever been and some of us (Rhiannon) will ever want to be again.
Cotopaxi is a volcano whose peak sits at 5897m. It is a classical snow topped cone shaped volcano that looks spectacular from the surrounding plains. You can drive a significant way up with the top car park being at 4500m. We walked from there to the base camp or refuge at 4800m. We had a climbing guide who was great because it was really tough at that altitude. It was only 1km from the car park to the refuge but it took just over an hour with Rhiannon suffering the most from the altitude and being carried a bit by me and the guide. Ally virtually sprinted up and waited for us at the top. We felt quite an acievement when we finally got there because at 4800m it is higher than any peak in Europe. The fact that we only actually climbed the last 300m I think is not important!
Needless to say we have spent the rest of the day recovering and I'm sure we will all feel it tomorrow.