The Cordillera Blanca

Just a quick update from Peru. I’ll let the pics do most of the talking here with the exception of some “interesting” stats I’ve included at the end of the post.

After riding the porcelain throne through the long, muddy streets of Shitsville for nearly two weeks we had to bail on our Huayhuash Circuit plans and settled for a few rounds of antibiotics mixed with some rock climbing, camping, and alpine hiking. Actually, who am I kidding, porcelain thrones would be a treat around these parts! Huaraz is kind of a dump but the Cordillera Blancas easily make up for it!

We enjoyed an epic, rough ride to Huaraz – no surprise here in Peru. When in doubt, pay some miners 8 soles and take the shortcut through the desert! Then, try to find some room between the Cordillera Negra and the Cordillera Blanca to drive the van through…

After checking out Huaraz and deciding it’s river smelled like we were indeed in Shitsville, we drove directly into the Blancas and camped around 11000 ft. Beautiful, serene sights at every turn. It was very peaceful. I even tried my hand at some night shots. They will get better, I promise.

Some more driving on, you guessed it: rough roads, took us to the trailhead for Laguna 69. An excellent hike to a stunning glacial lake that chills at cool 15,200 ft. Tranquilla.

We smoked the estimated trip time for the “fittest, most acclimatized” hikers. I chalk this up to hailing from ColoRADo. Our home turf must breed big lungs. Or perhaps it’s because in the circles we hang in this would be called the approach 😉  Regardless, the destination did not disappoint. We forwent our lunch here and ate some more antibiotics – yum!

We camped at the trailhead for the night and chatted up the tour operators waiting to transport hikers back to town. In the morning we too returned to Huaraz on the steep, dirt road. Like babies, cars can only take so much shaking. We’re hoping for paved roads from here to Lima and on. The Craggin’ Wagon will need as much rest as it can get before Bolivia. But that’s still a ways off. For now, I thought of some more stats I could share with everyone.

• Buses we I have hit: 1
• Buses that have hit us: 1
• Electrical fires in the van: 1 – (note to self, 220v is not the same as 120v)

On a side note, we might start a foundation to help educate Peruvians in the customs of walking down a sidewalk. It’s a freaking free-for-all down here. The same pattern, or lack thereof, can be seen on the roads. It needs to be studied and cured, of this much I’m sure.

Craggin’ Wagon out.