Back and showered in Huaraz

The following blog is composed of my journal entries from the last four days, written on my trekking trip in the Cordillera Blanca. Dave, my new Australian ´´mate´´ and I made the trip without a guide or burros, just a couple good maps and a good sense of adventure. I feel so fortunate to have been able to experience this amazing place while the glaciers still exist...

June 20, 2007

I´m sitted here listening to the sound of a rumbling creek. Occasionally a small bird chirps. My hands are pretty cold. The sun has already hid behind a mountain, but looking down the valley, I find one mountain still illuminated, its rocky peaks dodging the passing clouds. In the other direction the clouds have formed a crown around the glaciered peak of another mountain. I imagine that it is snowing there. Above there is still blue sky, crisp and pure, the kind of sky that you can only find in places like this, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Where I am sitting is an open area with some kind of short grass that grows almost stuck to the ground. There are rocks dotting the landscape and shrubby little plants. All of them seem to grow in little bunches as if they needed each other to survive the conditions. The mountains cut in and out of the valley, almost completely green! The air is thin, but I finally feel like I can breath deeply.

I am at the Paria campsite of the Santa Cruz trail in the Cordillera Blanca. I have my cup of mate de coca and my little campiong chair to finally give a rest to my sore back. Today was a ´´four´´ hour hike, but we did it in about three with a little break here and there for water. The hike was a ascent of 150 meters (480 feet)...nothing really considering that tomorrow´s is 900 meters (2,880 feet).

We left the hotel in Huaraz at about quarter of six this morning, waited by the bus for a little while only to find out it was full. Then we walked a couple of blocks down the road where we took a combi (VW van) to a town called Yungay. It made a lot of stops, picking up and dropping off people and after an hour we arrived in Yungay, but hungry. We went to a bakery to have yogurt, bread and cheese. When we went to catch the next combi to a town called Vaqueria, they told us that it too was full. We sat down on our backpacks, a little discouraged and after a few minutes, they miraculously made room. The combi went full. Dave had to ride on the fake seat behind the driver (fake because it is really more inclined than reclined, and I rode on a bucket in the middle of two rows. There was a little boy sitting on his mother´s lap next to me and occasionally his head would fall into my lap. I didn´t mind but once when I fell asleep too and our heads both collided, rudely awakening us from out dreams.

The combi went for three hours along endless switchbacks on the typical one-lane dirt and stone road. We passed Llanganuco lake about halfway through. The lake has emerald water and the wind formed miniature waves with tiny white crests. In the foreground, slate gray cliffs fell into the lake and rose far above to green peaks. Along the shore were these mysterious trees with reddish brown bark that peeled off in layers and sheets like an old abandoned house that has been painted over hundreds of times only to be ignored and dealt a good hand of humidity and sun over many years. Even the tiny leaves and braches seemed like spider webs in the sun, and still covered with moss and some other parasitic plants. The whole scene was unreal, the colors more caried than any palate, nature´s way of showing off to the handful of people who actually see this remote place.

The combi finally arrived to Vaqueria, which was nothing more than a few houses on the side of a mountain, and from there we started our hike up the valley. First we passed by several small houses, all mud brick and mostly thatch roofs. The majority of the people were our working their land, but all of the little children greeted us. The kids here get so dirty playing...all covered in mud and dust.

There was a long uphill bout to begin with. Dave ended up a bit in front of me, but I was breathing as hard as I could and tried to just maintain my pace. Occasionally we pased though a more open grassy area, dotted with the reguarl gray stones and other times we passed closer to the river, through forests of eucalyptus and the mysterious peeling bark trees (quenoa). Finally, right before arriving to the campground, we passed through a thicker forest of the mysterious trees with moss lining either side of the trail and up the mountainside. The scenery is just amazing, the hiking challenging, but I just keep a mouthful of coca leaves and try to maintain a steady pace. I look forward to a good night´s sleet and taking a good beating tomorrow. In the end, its gratifying to carry all my own weight when I look at the other hiker who carry nothing and have everything set up and food cooked when they arrive to camp. Its well worth the effort.

June 21, 2007

My hands are very cold. I am writing with gloves. It sounds like the cows are cold too. They are making lots of noise. Today´s campsite is at 4,250 meters (13,600 feet). Today was a very hard hike. We didn´t leave until all the other people had left the campsite, no rush really. We had a breakfast of oatmeal with cinnamon, maca and honey and coca tea with more maca...just can´t get enough when you are backpacking! The beginning of the hike passed through more of the quenoa forests, but they were a bit farther from the trail.

We gradually rose out of the valley and up along a mountain ridge. The slate mountains opposite us seemed to glisten, even with the sun hidden behind the clouds. As we rose along the ridge, the vegetation grew thinner and thinner and it started to drizzle. The rain was scarce and was actually pretty refreshing. As we heared a curce on the ridge, I was sure we would follow it to the left to cross the closest-by mountain. Dave, looking at the imposing stone ridge opposite us said, ´´Wouldn´t it be crazy to have to cross that ridge?´´ I couldn´t even imagine. As we neared it, the drizzle turned into snowflakes and we were finally able to visually follow the trail up and over the ridge that Dave had commented about. The was the Punta de Union pass (or the back way into Mordor, as we decided upon reaching the other side).

The first four hours of our day ended up being pure ascent, but crossing my several turqoise ponds and all with the lightly falling snow. The last bit of the trail before the pass, nearing the 4,750 meter (15,200 feet) mark was the most challenging. I constantly chewed my coca leaves and everytime I sucked in the juice it was like a big burst of energy. I crept along at a slow pace. Every time that I stopped, my legs felt like rubber. The switchbacks continued. Occasionally a group of people or donkeys passed us going downhill. Dave decided he would stop to rest every ten minutes. I just wanted to get to the top. It was so gratifying to end up beating him to the top. The last part of the trail leading up to the pass was the most sinuous, a stone staircase crossing back and forth, steep and with tall steps.

I arrived to the pass, threw down my bag and looked at the views on either side, first down over the valley that I had just hiked up...the lakes and glacierous mountains looming over all. I turned to see more glaciers, also crowned with clouds, but in parts glistening in the sun. As I looked closer, I could follow the little melting paths that led down into another jaded turquoiselake, Towards the left, more valleys with mountain ridges cutting in from either side and yet another turquoise lake far in the distance. Above it rose another mountain with glaciers, even taller and more majestic than the others. In the distance was blue sky with several puff of white clouds.

Dave arrived about ten minutes later and taught me all the words for ``exhausted`` in Australian. The only one I remember is ´´buggered.``

The hike down was surprisingly hard, as all my muscles were already tired and my back sore from the load of the backpack. When the campsite finally appearred, it seemed tiny in the distance. We went down 500 meters in one hour after having gone up 900 meters in four hours. The scenery was just as amazing in the arrival to the campsite...new horizons constantly opened with views that streched even father towards the infinite. A man on a horse lead his cattle down the valley, greeting me as he passed. I continued over a river and wherever the water did not form rapids, it sat in emerald pools.

Now we are camped next to a river, surrounded by five peaks all with glaciers and snow. It is beyond impressive. I am drinking hot maca with powdered milk and sugar, in a feeble attempt to recharge. The sky behind the mountains is gradually changing colors, an orange in the lowest spots fading to purple and indigo above the peaks. The clouds are still reflecting some sun underneath, but their tops are already in the shadows. There is a crisp wind. I am dressed to the max- pants, jeans, leg warmers, a long and short sleeve shirt, a fleece, a wool sweater, my trusty vest, hat, scarf and gloves. I look forward to being warm in my sleeping bag tonight.

I moon is half full and directly above me. I can already see the first star in the indigo part of the sky whose colors are become more intense by the second. The light is quickly fading and I must close.

June 22, 2007

Here I am at camp at 3,700 meters when I thought that I would be at 5,000. Today we woke up at 7:00 to try to be hiking by 9:00. We were planning on a very long and difficult day. Upon leaving camp, it was drizzling and cloudy. None of the peaks that we saw last night under the moon and stars were visible anymore. We started hiking and when we arrived at the junction of another valley we saw what looked like a shortcut to the Alpamayo base camp, one that cut straight across the mountain instead of descending down into the valley only to return ascending. The shortcut trail was still uphill, but at least was a gentle path. Soon we were able to see the lowest glaciers of Alpamayo, the rest being covered by the clouds. As we hiked closer, the valley opened up and there were bunches of quenoa trees on one side. We saw a camp not far in the distance. I asked a guide who was sitting with two hikers next to a large rock. He said that I was looking at the Alpamay base camp and that the next camp beyond it is only accessible with full gear including crampons and ice axes. So what we had thought would take us six hours only ended up taking us an hour and a half and it was still early!

to be continued...