Riding the Quilotoa Loop

Quilotoa, Cotopaxi, Ecuador

Ecuador-Galápagos 2018

9 February 2018

Summary:

The Quilotoa Loop is a frequently hiked route for backpackers. While there are plenty of trails, there are some nicely paved roads that are less traveled with incredible switchbacks. The views are breathtaking along the ride, and the highlight is visiting Laguna Quilotoa.

Laguna del Quilotoa is a volcanic crater lake at about 3,500 meters elevation. There is a 10 kilometer hike around the crater rim. You can also descend all the way down to the lake, where you can rent kayaks and even primitive camp. The trek up can be strenuous, so you can rent a donkey to help you and your things get back up to the top.

I took the route the "opposite" direction. Most travelers start in Latacunga and get a bus or transportation. My original opportunistic plan had been to ride from the North entrance to the South entrance of Cotopaxi National Park, which ended up being a big epic fail that turned into quite the adventure. You can read about it here [Link Coming Soon]. Instead I left Machachi right around lunchtime and took the Panamerican Highway to where I turned East into the loop.

So basically the order of towns I road through were:

Toacazo
Planchaloma
Sigchos
Quilotoa
Zumbahua

There were also many villages along the way. I stopped several times for pictures, as you will see plenty further down in this post. My main two stops were at the Laguna del Quilotoa area as well as a quick one at Toachi.

The Gear:

Suzuki DR650
Sony A5100 Mirrorless Camera

The Story:

Once I turned into the "loop", I began to ride through rolling hills where there was a large presence of farming.

A sign for Sigchos!

Quilotoa

I arrived at the Quilotoa village, where I had to pay $1.00 to enter through the gate. It is essentially a very touristy area. I parked my bike towards the end of the paved road, and I have adopted the Ecuadorian tradition of parking motorbikes wherever the hell I want.

Up here is where you can get your first views of Laguna del Quilotoa. However I decided to stop into a small place and warm up with delicious canelazo.

Now that I was relaxed, I made my way over to the view point.

It looks just like the pictures! But obviously even better in person. There are many levels of view points where you can photograph the crater lake in slightly different angles.

Thanks to Volcano Discovery, here is a list of fun facts about Quilotoa Volcano/Lake:

Quilotoa volcano is the farthest West of the Andean volcanoes in Ecuador
The caldera is the remaineder of a dacitic stratovolcano
The lake is about 240 meters deep
The year 1280 is the only exactly known eruption of the volcano, and it was one of the most explosive eruptions in the world in the past 1000 years

This explosion emptied 11 cubic kilometers of magma during four eruptive phases.

1 - Produced the Andes' largest air-fall pumice and ash layer
2 - Generated pyroclastic flows and lahars that reached the Pacific Ocean
3 - Formated of the caldera
4 - Placed a small lava dome

Some studies have provided evidence that there have been at least 8 massive eruptions in the past 200,000 years - occurring about every 10,000-14,000 years.
There are no reports of eruptions from the lake. The only evidence includes fumaroles on the lake floor and hot springs on the Eastern side

This is the hostal I was originally going to stay at the night before. I was hoping to do the 10km hike around the caldera in the morning, but sometimes things just don't go as planned.

Once I had taken in some good views, I needed to satisfy my stomach. There is a cute restaurant right at the top called something along the lines of Restaurante Kirutwa Mushuc Wasi. Steak with mushroom sauce and mate de coca por favor!

I'm not sure...

Looking down, you can see some of the route and the area right on the water.

I also trekked a bit on the rim trail. I'll come back another time and do it!

In this photo you can see two different types of transportation: donkey and una moto. The donkeys had just come up from the lake. I probably would have dropped this beast of the bike into the lake...

Here is the entrance/exit to the village. It is free to just walk in but costs money with any type of motorized vehicle.

Mirador El Toachi

A few kilometers past is Mirador El Toachi. There is a parking lot, which I missed, so I just parked on the road. The Toachi River is apparently one of the most popular rivers in Ecuador for rafting. It was just a quick stop. I don't know if I really could see any of the water because the canyon was so high.

And the remainder of the Quilotoa Loop!

Sometimes in Ecuador you need to share the road with cows

Zumbahua is the most southern point of the loop. Many people start here and go the opposite direction. They may take a bus from Latacunga. Or you can get two wheels and have fun :)

Hurdles:

Bike problems that led to me missing my hostal reservation and then I couldn't hike around or down to the lake. Everything worked out, and now I have an exciting story to tell rather than hundreds of pictures of the lake from different angles.

The Mountain Lioness