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While most friends back in the States were grilling out, watching fireworks and celebrating independence day, Jordan, Paul and I made history on our own...well, sort of. Quite fittingly, July 4th was Peru´s second annual ¨Friends Day¨which, as part of a new social campaign, falls on the first Saturday in July. Mostly a marketing strategy put on by a local beer company, this day actually symbolized a whole lot for me and my two best friends. Some would call it irony - either way, it happened on the culmination of quite an adventure...
Fresh off the bus in Idyllic Huaraz, which is tucked in the middle of the Peruvian Andes - a true gem, we checked into a recommended hostel, which Paul had read about in some outdoor/trekking guide. Naturally, before putting our gear down and figuring out the game plan for the next three days, we found the closest bakery and put down another impressive desayuno, consisting of all kinds of fresh baked goods, local jams and coffee. Paul felt compelled to diverge from his natural adversity to coffee and drank two cups of the delicious potent Peruvian beans - as if he needed more energy in his life.
Next thing you know, he was bouncing off the walls and could not sit still...Paul, high octane... no?!!!
Huaraz is truly a beautiful, mystifing town, which still retains a genuine feeling of true Andean folkloric culture, which also happens to be the outdoor adventure capital of the Andes. Some sad, yet important background on Huaraz, in May 1970, the Ancash earthquake (7.8 on the Richter scale) destroyed most of the town, killing 10,000, leaving only 91 surivors behind and practically destroying the entire town. The main square was the only major structure that survived the earthquake and so the city was rebuilt around it. But what a beautiful city it is!
The city sits at about 10,000 feet of elevation, and coming from sea level on a night bus, you definitely feel the alitutde! Feeling a little short of breath, slightly fatigued and in need of some alpine relaxation, I decided to hang back at the hostel, rest, read and acclamate for a few hours while Paul and Jordan set out on a mountain biking, single track ride in the area. It was the perfect time to unwind and recharge the batteries - much needed, as the past
few days had been action packed.
The three of us met back up around 6 pm, all recharged in our respective ways, at which point, we decided to sign up for an overnight trek which would involve some hiking through snow and ice to summit Mount Pisco (18,000 feet of elevation) - one of the Cordillera Blanca´s many impressive and beautiful peaks. Not sure if it was the fact that Paul and Jordan´s time in Peru was running out or the need to accomplish something that none of us had done before (probably a combination of both), but we all agreed that this adventure would be the perfect way for three best friends to properly catch up and for the two of them to end their Peruvian voyage. So after consulting and pricing out a few different tour agencies, we rented the needed gear, got all set up and were scheduled to get picked up the following day around 8 am to start our Andean adventure...Fueled by adrenaline and a slight yet palpable feeling of trepidation, we stuffed our faces at the local Pizzeria, held back on any adult beverages and embraced the overwhelming notion that we had NO
IDEA what we actually signed up for!
On our walk back to the hostel, we felt compelled to stop by the street food vendors to indugle in some of the local delicacies - as we tend to do everwhere we go! In this case, the gastronomic delight consisted of some strange tea-like concoction made up of hot water, lemon, honey, alfafa, and many other unknown ingredients which looked bright green but somehow tasted delcious. Evidently, as the locals told us, this ¨tonic¨was full of vitamins, antioxidants and other organic minerals which would ultimately enhance vitality and help the digestive system - also a great way to ease the acclamation to the altitutde. Perfect.
8 am rolls around, and, after a massive breakfast consisting of a ¨mega burrito,¨ banana pancakes, and delicously pressed roasted coffee, our guide, Raul picks us up, loads up the van, and off we go on a 3 our drive to the start of the trek. Zig zagging through pristine local villages and incredibly scenic lakes, mountains and vistas, the anticipation was building! Raul, as it turns out, is 26 years old, an aspiring Moutaineering guide (a few months away from being certified) who has
summitted a number of peaks all around la Cordillera Blanca - a really guy whom we chatted with in our best Spanish-French-English-Italian combination possible. We knew we were in good hands when he humbly told us about the number of alpine exploits he had accomplished.
We finally get to the entrance of the national park, encountering our first slight set back as we found out that the entry fee (around 20 bucks each) was not included in the package. Yet, miracurously, we somehow managed to scrunge up whatever was left in our pockets and came up with the exact change... It was a sign - or so we thought! We then packed up the burros (donkeys), which, might I add, are incredibly strong, docile and as I´ve always said, highly under appreciated and overshadowed by horses! Random thought, I know...but these beasts of nature are so impressive in their ability to hold so much weight and climb up the mountains. Around noon, we were on our way to base camp, where we were hoping to get to by 4 or 5 pm, with plenty of time to set up camp, get more acclamated and make dinner all in time
to get to bed early for a 2:30 am wake up call to summit Pisco.
The hike up was strenous, as expected, yet we all felt pretty good and shared stories and anectodes, making the climb up to base camp easier. The many ¨snack poses¨along the way also faciliated the trek! Overall, we felt strong, yet definitely started to appreciate the altitutde! We finally got to base camp, at 15,000 feet, as planned, around 4:30 pm, at which point, our heads started pounding! I had never truly felt the effects of altitude sickness before, but as each new symptom crept in, I was trying to focus on the natural beauty around our camp to combat this increasingly debilitating headache! Jordan and I lied down for a while, heads spinning, trying to muster up the occasional courage to boil some water and hydrate...
By 6 pm, as Raul was whipping up a spaghetti and tuna feast, newer symptoms popped up, or popped out I should say. I´ll leave out the anatomical details, but let's just say that I don´t think I´ve ever vommitted this much in my entire life. I felt like hell! Here we were, as the sun
was blissfully setting over the Cordillera Blanca, my two best friends and Raul, dubbed ¨the Ox¨feasting away, while my head was throbbing and I was throwing up uncontrollably! To give you some perspective, this felt like the most awful hangover amplified by a 100! I tried everything, from lying down to walking around to standing still and yet nothing seemed to make the pain subside. Eventually, by 8 pm, we tried to go to our respective tents (Jordan and I in one, and Paul and Raul in the other). Tossing and turning, head continuously spinning, not able to get a wink of sleep, by the time 2:30 am, our wake up call, came around, it felt like an eternity!
It didn´t take long for me to realize that going any higher would be the stupidest thing ever and that I should hang around base camp, pound some aspirin, water and try to rest and acclimate more. Jordan felt awful as well, though not as bad as I did, or maybe he just hid it better! So, while Paul and Raul were setting up their gear, ready to head off to summit Pisco, Jordan and I decided to stay back
and wait for them to return, around 9 or 10 am. It was the best decision - not what I had hoped, but an exercise in prudence and certainly a lesson learned! Thankfully, I started feeling better and this also gave Jordan and I an opportunity to catch up - the perfect place to do it at 15,000 feet, overlooking the sunrise over the Andes - a truly capitvating setting.
Paul and Raul eventually came back, as we met them a few hundred feet up. Evidently, Paul came 200 meters short of the summit - SO CLOSE! Hats off to Pedro for getting so close and even more props for respecting his body´s limit and accepting the reality....He is human afterall! By this point, Jordan and I felt much better, so we broke down camp and decided to take a detour to laguna 69, a beautiful lake, which would take a bit more climbing to get to, but from what we had heard and seen, a worthwhile experience. The hike up was actually very strenous - much worse than the day before... I should have seen this coming, but I guess I felt like I had failed somehow in
my alpine conquests before and pushed through every bit of short breahs, reoccuring throbbing headaches and other physical set backs (some familiar, others unkown). But as we set our eyes on Laguna 69, we instanteneously regained energy. It is aboslutely stunning. The tuquoise color of the water contrasted by the granite faces of the Andes is remarkable and a sight I will never forget - the pictures, naturally, don´t do it justice.
From laguna 69, it was a relatively easy 2 hour hike back down to the car... a time we all appreciated as the gradient of the climb was easy and the setting was becoming more and more familiar. WE FINALLY MADE IT BACK TO THE CAR! I couldn´t believe we had actually managed to make it back, relatively unscathed and more importantly, ALIVE! For most of the car ride back, we were quiet, reflective, trying to sleep, though the bumpy ride did not make it very easy to do... But, as we were getting closer to Huaraz, we regained energy. It was time to say goodbye to Raul, pack up our gear and check out of the hostel. Thankfully, for an extra 10 soles (about 3 USD),
the staff let us use their shower - something we desperately needed after this trek and before our night bus back to Lima! We then hit up a regional Peruvian restaurant, drank a few coca beers (a local speciality, which tasted great, then again, anything would have tasted good at this point). I even managed to finally try ¨Guinea Pig¨, which apparently is a regional speciality - not the greatest, but again, anything tasted good at that point!
Next thing you know, we were zonked out in our 180 degree VIP bus seats on our way back to Lima - woke up around 7 am, as we arrived in the capital, refreshed and still bewildered by what had just happened over the past 3 days!
Once we got to Lima, Jordan headed straight to the airport to make his flight back to San Francisco, while Paul and I met up with Ines and Aldo, two great friends from Pine Crest that I had not seen in over 15 years! Meeting up and catching up with these two over a seafood feast was an incredible experience. Aldo and Ines are both integral people in my life. Aldo was my
first real friend in the United States, as we both struggled to learn English in South Florida and Ines was my first girlfriend in Fort Lauderdale... I guess I've always had a natural appreciation for Peru and its people! Anyway, we spent the next couple hours recounting Pine Crest stories, feasting on fresh ceviche and toasting pisco sours right on the water... a lunch I will never forget.
So here I am, now, in Lima, under the care, guidance and hospitality of Ines and her family who have been so gracious and have been the best hosts anyone can ask for! It will be hard to leave this comfort behind to hop back on an overnight bus and get back to the hostels, but there is still so much to do and see!
Some parting thoughts on Mountaineering (thanks to Paul):
"Mountains are unconcerned with the processes of man. Every step and every storm gives us immediate and impartial feedback on the consequences of our actions. The simple and pure experience cannot but result in faith that the actions of our everyday life also make sense and have meaning. Time spent in the mountains represents a smaller portion of life, but the clarity an attentive visit can provide casts a reassuring light on the larger but fragmented life we otherwise live. We should approach the mountains fully responsible for ourselves and fully accepting of the consequences of our actions. If we succeed, we grow and become part of their slow and permanent glory. If we fail, we retreat into a smaller portion of a more diffuse life."
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becca
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What an adventure, guys! These pictures are great!