1 day

Altitudes: 4,500 meters - 3,200 meters (14,765 ft. - 10,500 ft.)

After picking you up at your hotel, we depart from Quito at 8:00 a.m.  We then drive to Cotopaxi National Park, home of Cotopaxi, the world’s tallest active volcano at 5,897 meters, or 19,348 feet tall.  Once there, we will visit the park’s museum (4,200 m.), drive up to the parking lot where the trail begins heading up the mountain (4,500 m.) and begin our ride descending to the Laguna de Limpiopungo (3,800 m.), a beautiful alpine lake.  No uphill on this ride!  The magnificent views of the valley of Machachi below, Rumiñahui (4,286 m., 14,062 ft.) as well as the mountains of the Cordillera Occidental beyond will accompany you on your high-speed decent to the lake.  Then, we'll descend another 600 meters on dirt roads and meandering single track through a beautiful pine forest.  We return to Quito in the late afternoon.