Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Day two, up through the pass
We set off for the hardest day of the trek, 6 hours and just under 900m up. It was a climb from 3870m to 4750m and back down to 4250 to camp. It was up then gentle up, up then gentle up, up then.... you get the point. Just incase you don't remember, altitude starts affecting you over 3000m.
We set off and like yesterday it was a reasonably slow pace. We walked over a makeshift fence designed to stop the donkeys from walking home in the night, and headed up the valley. There's not much to say but we went up, all types of slopes and stairs. We had a slow couple a long way back all the time and another guy who was suffering altitude sickness, not badly but bad enough. This stretched our group long and thin.
As we were a kilometre and a half from the top, Carlos our guide let us lose while he waited for the slower couple and the altitude sick Frank. It was a steep climb from here and we set off ready to tackle it. I walked with Sarah for a while and then with the German guy Tony. After a while he stopped and I thought I'd push myself and try make the last 500m without stopping. It was really hard and I was out of breath and feeling the altitude when I arrived (as the last 100m was steeper than I expected) but I got there. I waited at the top, meters before the pass for Sarah, catching my breath as she came through third, well before the others. We crossed through and I coaxed her to climb up the edge of the pass walls for the full view.
From this point at the pass there was a breathtaking 360 degree view of the cordillera Blanca's main peaks and you stood just under Mount Taulliraju at 5830m. There is a great video of the view, it was spectacular. The three other main peaks are quitaraju (6036m), Ririjirca (5810m) and Artesonraju (6025m). We enjoyed lunch and just took it all in. After lunch but while sitting atop the pass we had some birds flying around us, it really was an amazing place.
We climbed down from atop our lookout at the pass and started heading down, past the glacial turquoise waters of lake Taulliraju, same name as the mountain. After awhile the guide told us to go on, pointed out our red tents in the distance and he waited for the three others. We walked back, taking photos and entered our camp first with the hardest day over, easy day really!!
We were camped at another brilliant location (see the photos) and right next to a river. Three of us walked in to the water to ice bath and wash our feet. It was so cold, within 15 seconds it hurt.
The other interesting part was Jana one of the German girls went to do some yoga. She got interest from donkey herders and other workers but the best was a cow that wouldn't leave her alone. First staring her down followed by doing a lap and as she sat up, giving her another inquisitive sniff and stare. Good bit of entertainment for us anyway.
- comments