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Published: March 27th 2008
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It has now been over 2 months that I´ve been living and working here in the crazy city of La Paz. My spanish has improved immensely, my salsa moves are shakin´and I´ve learned and experienced a great deal from a part of the world vastly different from what I´ve known previously. And while adventures in the concrete jungle have been quite exciting, I have to run to the hills every so often to keep myself sane. Thus, I´ve found great ways to get my adrenaline fix in high places thoughout the Cordillera real, and have been happy to escape the smog and get small doses of exercise outside the city walls.
Shortly after arriving a couple months ago I learned of a popular mountain bike ride operated by a local outfit called Gravity Assisted Mtn. Biking. The tour runs along ¨the world´s most dangerous road¨, a high mountain pass between La Paz and neighboring Coroico, so aptly named because of the huge number of vehicles to plunge over the edge every year. We set off early morning and geared up at the top of the pass at a chilly 15,000 feet. We got familiarized with our full-suspension downhill bikes
while racing traffic down the first 10 miles of winding asphalt highway, and then reached the critical fork in the road at which point we veered off onto the rocky dirt road leading to Coroico. Within the first mile it quickly became evident as to why the road earned it´s name. Though not technical for anyone capable of riding a bike, the road was narrow, rutted and flanked by 2,500 foot cliffs for the majority of the ride. Formerly a popular trade route for merchants commuting from the mountains to the city of La Paz, many sadly met their maker when making small driving errors and rolling off the edge, only to come to a stop in the valley bottom thousands of feet below. Guardrails are nonexistent, and vehicles have to make harrowing passes on stretches seemingly wide enough for only one car. Due to heavy rains in the subtropics, washed out roads and roque landslides add another element of danger to the journey, sometimes blocking off passage altogether. While I felt quite comfortable during the descent and rolled at high speeds through the mud and driving rain, the many crosses and memorials lining the cliffside of the road were
sobering reminders to keep my ego in check. After several hours of exciting downhilling around hairpin corners, through rivers and waterfalls all 10 members of our gringo bike squad thankfully arrived at the bottom without incident. We celebrated our success with a beer and lunch at a local wildlife refuge and were treated by the company of many curious monkeys swinging through the premises.
Several weeks later I found myself getting the itch again, and after daydreaming about the huge snowy peaks that surround the valley of La Paz I resolved once again to seek higher ground. With a local mountain guide and a fellow backpacker from Holland we once again escaped the city and arrived at the base of the 6,088meter/19,974 foot beast, Huayna Potosi. We shouldered our loaded packs and trekked several hours uphill across glacial till before arriving at our high camp at 5,100 meters/16,800 feet. After a 4 p.m. dinner we tried to force ourselves to bed with the sun still up at 6 o´clock. I was disturbed several times from brief hypoxic episodes, breathing the thin air so shallowly that I´d jolt awake gasping to catch my breath again. After fitful sleep we
awoke at midnight and set off into the darkness at 1 a.m. Roped together and equipped with axe and crampons we plodded across the glacial terrain at night, led by our guide´s intuition and the faint glow of our headlamps. Though we had set off after a few other guided parties we soon passed everyone and were blazing trail at a strong and steady pace. After several hours of steady climbing we reached the final pitch, a 55 degree slope rising into the final 800 feet of darkness. Though feeling strong, my breathing grew quite labored on the high altitude steep slope and each step and swing of the axe was punctuated by one or two deep gasps for oxygen. I never experienced any type of altitude sickness, though others showed classic symptoms of AMS, including headaches, nausea, dizziness and even a general lethargy by my partner John, saying that he just felt like lying down in the snow and drifting off to sleep. We finally reached the knife ridge summit at 5:15 a.m, a full hour before our expected arrival. As such, we had another 45 minutes to kill snacking and keeping warm before being treated to one of
the most astounding sunrises I´ve ever witnessed. Other parties arrived slowly, and we congratulated one another and together enjoyed the stunning views over La Paz and the surrounding Andes, sitting on a veritable island with a sea of clouds beneath us.
Following a series of rappels down the summit face and a long and laborious descent, we arrived hours later back at basecamp and then in the noise of the city, happy to drink a cold beer and have a warm bed to nap in. Despite a different and enjoyable way of life in the city, I was reminded once again just where my heart lies. Because, as you highlanders know, you can take the boy out of the mountains, but you can´t take the mountains out of the boy...
I´m on the final stretch now, and following my last week of work in the city I´m off to the desert and finally the jungle, where more great travel tales are sure to emerge. Thanks for keeping up....
Andrew
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Cassie
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Wow
Amazing pics!