Pasochoa is a 13776 foot volcano in Ecuador between Quito and Cotopaxi. Due to its low stature, it is not a destination on its own but is commonly climbed for acclimatization purposes. We decided to climb it during the 2nd week of our trip to Ecuador while we waited for conditions on Cayambe to improve. We were picked up from our hostel in Machachi and driven around to the eastern side of the volcano. The roads were a mess since it had rained the entire previous day, but our driver managed to get us nearly all the way to the summit. I would have been annoyed about the hike being so short, but the weather looked threatening again, so we were glad to be able to stay close to the truck. We began hiking at 12:01pm from 12702 feet above sea level.
We hiked west on the muddy trail. We passed a large group of people on the way up. This was the first hike of their trip to Ecuador, and they were also hoping to climb the Cayambe and Chimborazo later.
We had to hike through pools of muddy water at times. Everything was soaking wet. The trail steepened as we neared the top.
We reached the summit at 12:44pm at 1.2 miles. We did not have much of a view.
We returned the same way we came up. It started raining 5-10 minutes from the truck, which we reached at 1:54pm. Stats for this hike were 2.44 miles, 919 feet elevation gain, and 1:45:25 total time.
The drive back down to civilization was probably the crux of the day. The roads were so muddy that our truck slid downhill a few times. One time we even had to get out and push the truck out of a rut.
TJ's Adventures 