On Sunday, the class took a day trip to Cotopaxi, a stratovolcano south of Quito. The peak is 5897 m (19347 ft) above sea level. It's the second highest peak in the country, and is the highest active volcano in the world.
We arrived at the Cotopaxi National Park only to have our bus searched by 3 guards under the suspicion that we had alcohol with us. I know we're American college kids, but it was 9:00 am on a Sunday...
We started off at a little museum to read about the flora and fauna found around Cotopaxi. We then continued up the road...
We stopped to snap some photos of Rumiñahui, a stratovolcano, behind the Limpiopungo Lagoon. The wind was already very strong here!
Bosher cousins with Cotopaxi in the background!
Glorious Cotopaxi! I apologize for some repetitive photos later on...
We did a mini project on how plant height and diversity changes with increasing elevation. It's the first of our many small projects. The group split into four groups, and each group measured a 1m by 10m transect at each of 6 sites we visited. In each transect we counted the number of species we found and measured the height of the tallest plant (if we remembered to...).
Alison and Amelia measuring the transect.
As you can see, I was really focused on counting plants...
This vertical face does not support any snow.
Alison and Amelia counting and documenting plant species in the Páramo.
A brave little flower in the mid-páramo. You can see the cushion plants in the background. Cushion plants grow very close to the ground to avoid exposure to the wind, therefore minimizing their heat loss.
Class at the foot of Cotopaxi.
This plant is called mountain climber's friend because it is the largest plant found high up in the páramo.
Some more brave flowers at mid-páramo. The cushion plants are more visible in this photo.
As we made our way up the road to the parking lot, the bus had to take some pretty intense switchbacks. I was beyond impressed with our bus driver because we managed to avoid tipping over. We rocked back and forth up the road, clutching our stomachs and possessions to avoid nausea and injury. We finally made it to the parking lot to do our last transect--but there wasn't much life out there to count.
Here, you can see the refuge (a small yellow rectangle to the left) for climbers. The snow and glacier used to cover the reddish part of the mountain just up until the refuge. But climate change, blah blah blah you know the story, has caused the glacier and snow to recede. The rock is reddish because it contains iron that has been oxidized with its fairly recent exposure to oxygen.
I'll be back for you, Cotopaxi! Gotta start training now...
A better look at the reddish rock and the glacier.
Our mighty, magic school bus in the parking lot.
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