7-day Antisana “Trek & Climb” expedition in Ecuador

We leave Quito driving east, following the main road that goes into the jungle.  While crossing the Andes from the west to the east, at its highest point of 4.000m, we will stop to enjoy the wonderful view of the forest of Antisana. We will descend to Laguna Papallacta and will arrive to the hot springs where we visit the interpretation centre, have lunch and do a short walk in the afternoon. During the rest of the day we enjoy & relax in the hot springs of Papallacta.

Today we leave in the morning around 9am. After a short drive on the main road we arrive at a location called el Tambo, where we meet the rest of our team and our horses. It is here, where our trek starts. Along the trail we need to cross a couple of small rivers and pass a small water fall. The hike to Laguna volcan takes 4 to 5 hours. Laguna Volcan is located at the beginning of a massive lava flow that descended from Cachaco Volcano a long time ago.
Once we get to the camp, the tents will already be there and during the rest of the afternoon we explore the lake and it´s north side, where the ancient lava flow starts.

We start the hike at 9am. Today´s hike is steep, especially during the first two hours. We walk through an amazing polilepis forest and some of the vegetation we will see are Chuquiraguas, Pumamaquis and Achupallas. There is a chance you will meet spectacle bears as they are fond of Achupallas.
The last part of the trek is easier as we get into the plateau, where we can appreciate the majestic of Antisana. The hike of today takes 6 hours. Once we get to the camp the tents will already be there and you will enjoy your well deserved rest.

From Santa Lucia camp we start hiking towards Chusalongo Grande, also known as “Antisanilla”, a hill that stands out on the plateau in front of Antisana. We will hike as high as 4.650m and descent via a lake to our next camp on La mina camp 4.075m. This hike takes normally 5 hours.

We meet our driver and our 4×4 transport in the morning. After a short drive today we do a gentle 2 hours hike to 5.000m on Antisana to increase our acclimatisation and to enjoy good views of the surrounding peaks such as Sicholahua, Cotopaxi, Pasochoa and the Ilinizas. Afterwards we drive down to Hacienda la Guaytara at 3.500m for the night. Guaytara is a comfortable hacienda converted into a hotel, located at the base of Antisana. It is an excellent location to rest at a lower elevation before our summit push.

From Guaytara we drive one hour to the base camp on Antisana. After we set up our camp and have lunch we walk to the glacier where we will do some glacier skills review prior to the ascent. Also you will be briefed about the technical aspects of the ascent. Night camping.

The long awaited day is there… we will be climbing Antisana. We leave the camp around 1am for a six hours climb. Along the way we will walk over complex crevasse patterns and snow bridges. Route finding makes the climb very interesting. After passing through a crevassed area, we reach the final summit slope. Here a challenging section of 38-45 degrees snow leads to the abrupt finish of the climb on the main summit of this beautiful mountain.
From the top of Antisana we hope to see most of the peaks of Ecuador and towards the east a sea of clouds over the amazon jungle. The view from the summit is one of the most spectacular one´s in Ecuador.
Technically the normal route is not difficult, but special care has to be given to potential hidden crevasses. The descent usually takes around two hours.