"Silence. Stillness. Purity. People who live near the great peaks invariably regard them as holy, as gods themselves, or as the home of the gods. Vast forces humble us with their size and their timescale- the upward thrust of the earth and the erosive power of the wind and water. Life becomes simple. We become attuned to rythyms of elementail opposites- up and down, day and night, warmth and cold. Life or death. Being or not-being."
-Mark Mann, The Gringo Trail
Greetings compadres,
-Mark Mann, The Gringo Trail
Greetings compadres,
The process of making it to Peru was quite the hassle. We spent a total of two days trying to get from Guayaquil, Ecuador to Huaraz, Peru, and had to make stops in three cities along the way. Regardless of the pain it was to get there, Huaraz was well worth the trip. The city has a population of almost 200,000 people and sits at approximately 3,050 meters (roughly 10,000 feet) above sea level.
I had done some research about Huaraz and read that it is the climbing/trekking/adventure tourism capital of Peru and one of the top destinations for the same in all of South America. Huaraz sits right in the middle of the breath-taking Cordillera Blanca region of the Andes. The city itself is not all that attractive, but the background makes up for its lack of luster. The glacier-capped peaks shine all day and catch your eye in any part of the city. Weather this time of year tends to be picture-perfect; not a cloud in the brilliant blue sky which creates an incredible contrast with the white and grey mountain peaks. Huascaran, Peru's highest peak, is most visible from Huaraz.
In the 1970's, Huaraz and the smaller surrounding pueblos suffered a catostrophic earthquake that caused land slides and avalanches that essentially buried the city and ended up killing half of its population. Click on THIS for some more Wikipedia information on the Ancash earthquake.
We arrived in Huaraz on Wednesday, July 6 after our break at the beach and I was quite happy to be in the mountains again. The bus pulled into the terminal around 5 AM and it was below freezing temperatures. Huaraz is one of those cities that gets hot during the day under the insanely powerful sun (at that altitude) but dips below freezing at night.
The first day was spent relaxing and walking around the city. Every block in the “el centro” area had at least 5 tour agencies, all offering similar trips into the surrounding Cordillera Blanca. I had read about the Santa Cruz trek which is pretty popular among hikers in South America, and after seeing many photos and hearing the stories of several different tour guides we decided to book it and headed out the day after next (Friday) into the mountains. But first, we wanted to do a day-trip, as our hostel offered them at fairly low prices. We read up on the ruins of Chavin and it seemed like an interesting trip to take. At 8 AM the following morning (Thursday) we were picked up in a transport van which, sure enough, was filled with an older crowd, many of which were senior citizens. Little did we know this trip was going to be extremely boring. The ruins of Chavin are incredibly interesting and have an amazing history that dates back in time to before the Inca civilization ruled the area, but the tour itself was not the least bit entertaining. Needless to say we were happy to get back to Huaraz after a full day of walking and listening to our tour guide ramble on about this and that, and even happier that the next day we would be starting our 4-day tour of the Cordillera Blanca.
The Santa Cruz trek started in a town called Cashapampa and ended in Vaqueria. Click HERE for a map of the tour. We lucked out with an awesome group of foreigners from all around the world. There were two Dutch girls, 2 French couples, a guy from Finland, a father-daughter pair from Vermont, 3 Israelis, and a couple from Austria. All together we got along really well and have been keeping in touch with our new friends since we parted ways at the end of the trek.
During the 4 days that we hiked through the mountains we saw incredible views of some of the most beautiful landscapes the Andes have to offer. According to our guide, Miguel, we saw the titled “Most Beautiful Mountain in the World” and another surprisingly familiar mountain that most people may recognize:
The second day of the trek was spent at high altitude, but we were lucky with great weather and sun for the majority of the day. Miguel led us on a short side trip from the camp site to a glacier lake just a few kilometers off course. It was well worth the steep hike; the lake was a brilliant blue/turquoise color against the grey/white mountains and the enormous glacier. At first when I arrived I was alone for a few minutes before the others made it to the top and I heard several loud booming sounds that sounded a lot like thunder. After I realized it was the glacier cracking, and after a few more people from the group arrived, there was another loud CRACK and BOOM and we witnessed the lower part of the glacier falling into the lake. Quite the experience- something I'll only get to see once in my lifetime I imagine.
On the third day we climbed up to the highest point of the hike at Punto Union which was about 4,750 meters (roughly 15,615 feet) above sea level. Beautiful views, but also a bittersweet feeling as we were able to see the entire path that lay ahead of us for the rest of the day. I believe that day was about 8 hours of walking.
Four days and three nights camping in the middle of the Cordillera Blanca and among some of the most beautiful scenery in the world was an unforgettable experience; we had an awesome group of really fun people, a great and very knowledgeable guide, and delicious food prepared for us every night. I could easily have spent a lot more time in Huaraz doing similar treks, as I learned after Santa Cruz that we didn't even see a portion of the Cordillera Blanca.
All in all, I was sad to leave Huaraz so soon after about a week in the area, but time is ticking and we're at just under a month left now in our trip. Hard to imagine how fast it has gone by. Please enjoy some of my favorite photos from this trip below.
Cheers,
Travis
Huaraz, Perú
The ruins of Chavin
First day on the Santa Cruz trek
Day 2- backside of Alpamayo (most beautiful mountain in the world).
Glacial lake containing probably some of the most potable and coldest water in the Andes.
The group at the amazing glacial lake near Alpamayo.
Awesome birch-like trees whose name I do not recall.
End of day 2 hike- a view down the valley we had been walking through.
Sunset day 2
Day 3:
Day 4 woke up to these awesome clouds.
Sheep crossing.
Without perspective it may be difficult to tell that this man and his bulls are working on a rather steep hillside.
The group at the end of the hike.
The trail that awaited us on our drive down from the mountains.
Back at the hostel with our Dutch and Israeli friends.
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