The Baby Volcano (guagua in the Quichua language means "baby.") Guagua Pichincha, towering over the capital city of Quito at 4794 meters, is one of Ecuador's most active volcanos. Many minor eruptions have occurred since the beginning of the Spanish era. The largest historical eruption took place in 1660 when ash fell over a 1000 km radius, accumulating to a depth of 30 cm in Quito. The last significant eruption occured on October 7, 1999 when an ash column rose to a height of 16.5 km above sea level, later falling and forming a layer of 1-3mm in parts of Quito. Volcan Tungurahua, to the south, also woke up at this time. But unlike the sporadic explosive bursts of Guagua, Tung is actively erupting today. Starting from the village of Lloa (3030m) I walked up the long and winding road to the Refugio (4600m) and the crater rim (4794m). A rapid ascent of 1764 meters took me 2 hours 45 minutes. Because I arrived at the crater about 9:30am it was already buried in clouds. By 2:45pm I made the call to spend the night in the Refugio at 4600 meters, hoping for clear skies the next morning. Various internet reports by travellers spoke of how cold it is up here; even with the snow and pea-sized hail they obviously were not written by Canadians. My overnight gamble paid off: a 5:45am rise provided fantastic views of the surrounding countryside and mountain peaks as well as the Guagua crater. I spent five hours peaked on the crater rim taking in the views and snapping pictures. The picture above is taken from the dirt road upon approach. Below: the October 1999 ash cloud column.