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Published: September 5th 2012
Hey Everyone,
It has been awhile since I have updated the blog. I have probably missed lots out so these are a few of the highlights. After Machu Picchu we went back to Cuzco and had a lazy day doing a bit of shopping ready for our early bus transfer to Puno near Lake Titicaca. The bus journey was long but ok there was alot of space and the roads weren't as bad as I expected. We arrived in Puno and went out for chicken and chips a local dish.lol which was really good and just what we all needed. The next day we got tuc tuc's to the port and went on a boat ride around the lake to the floating island where we were told how the are made ad how if the people on the island fall out or dont fulfill their jobs the president of the island will just that part of the Island off and they have to make it on their own. The ladies on the Island dressed us in the local dress and showed us their homes they where small and very basic making me realise how much we have.
From Puno we crossed the border into Bolivia and went to La Paz a city built in a valley surrounded by mountains and was my first sight of Hyani Potosi the 6,088m peak I was attemping to climb. We did a city tour seeing the moon valley and the 'posh' side of the city it was very different from the centre and then went round the museums and churches. It was the end of the tour so said bye to the group and then went to the hostel for a relaxing day before the climb.
Hyani Potosi
I got up early and went to the office to meet the rest of the group to discover it was just me climbing that day. I met my guide Lewis who was only 21 but have summitted over 20 times. I was taken to get my kit, ice pick, crampons and boots then we set off for the mountain. After a few hours we arrived at a lodge at 4795m next to the hydro electric plant had some lunch and then went to have a go at some ice climbing. It was the first time I had ever used crampoms and the boots felt like ski boots so not that contable for the 1 hour walk to the glacier that we were practising on. Lewis started off showing me how to wlak uphill the crampoms digging the side of the boots into the snow-ice. After a while he climbed up about 150m and set a rope in place for me to climb up with the ice picks it was scary to begin with but after a while you got use to the feeling that was until I got to the top and was told to absiel back down but after straightening my legs I was ok and got down ok. We walked back to the lodge which was freezing at this point as the sun was about to set. Had some dinner and then went to bed at 7.30- 8pm as it was so cold and dark that their was nothing else to do. The next day I got up and waited until lunch when another person was coming to climb the mountain in 2 days and was joining us. After lunch the 3 of us started the journey to 5300m where the high base was to begin with there was a path to follow which after about an hour turn into rocks to climb I had got a sore throat and was finding it difficult to breathe. after an other hour we had climb the rocks and had to put the campoms on to walk the final 200m upto camp. It was hard work but got to the camp (a metal container) that had a kitchen and about 10 mattresses for people to sleep on. At this point I'm feeling unwell due to the altitude and after being sick make it into bed for 7pm as we were getting up at midnight to start the summit attempt. I didnt manage to get much sleep due to my cough so before I knew it we were getting up and putting on all our clothes to start walking. It was hard due to the cold it was difficult to take the deep breath that was needed to get air in your lungs as it felt like ice. I walked for 5 hours feeling gradually weaker and getting slower and slower, i got to about 5,800-5850 when I had to make the decision to turn back as it was getting crowed and to the more dangerous part of the trek. I walked backed to the high camp and tried to get some sleep whislt waiting for the other person to come back as they had been able to continue by joining another group. At 8.30am he came back after summitting and we started the trek back down. It felt much better going down as it was gettign a little easier to breathe. We made it to the low camp for 11.30 and had some lunch before going back to La Paz. I had a few days in La Paz to rest and recover.I may not have got to the top of Hyani Potosi but it was a great experince and the views were amazing.
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Mikesage57
Mike Sage
Go Ruth!
Well done for getting so far without full acclimatisation. You did really well. Looking forward to the photos.