It has been brought up here before. See the 5th post on http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=27084.

I did Coto in mid-June and didn´t have a guide. I hooked up with a Danish climber at the hut and reached the summit no problem. On the morning I wanted to leave from Quito, I approached a guide company that was also heading to the Cotopaxi that day and offered to pay him $15 each way to take met to the hut. Extra money for the guide and avoided the inflated prices some places try and charge.

Based on our experience in January '07, if the "Park Rangers" see that you are a climber (can see your gear on your back or in your vehicle) when you enter the park, the rangers will tell you that you need a "guide". We'd been warned this would happen...

But it just so happens that there will also probably be a park-approved "guide" waiting there at the entrance who will take you into the park for something like $40(?). He'll be a "naturalist guide" and he'll point out the wild horses, flowers and trees as he drives you to the hut (almost). We climbed Cotopaxi without a mountain guide, AND I can tell you all about the local flora and fauna of Cotopaxi National Park.

If you need or want a real guide, make arrangements with Moggely before you go. If you don't need a guide, welcome to South America.

Unless things have changed in the last year, I have never needed a guide nor known anyone who has needed a guide in the park. Could be that you do now, but it sounds like a ploy for money to me..

Routefinding wasn't a problem -- boot track all the way (with perfect weather).

If you haven't already checked it out, read this http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/266205/the-intoxicating-taste-of-altitude-ecuador-2007.html. We had a great trip!

bird wrote:Thanks Drizz.
How was the route finding on Cotopaxi without a guide?

Was on Coto a few days ago. Crap weather--wind, clouds, sleet and snow. Had whiteout conditions on the way back--GPS was handy. Never even saw the crater. The route was pretty straight forward. I´ll PM more details when I get time. Off to Cayambe now. Cheers!