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johnnypovolny · 5 years

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Huayhuash

Cast of characters:

Marcelo and Rafael, uncle and nephew from Brasil

Amin: from Qatar, wants to go back to Namibia

Yuri: Mexican woman whose eye swelled up like crazy

Benito: Spaniard with the most Spanish accent ever

Rebecca: Aussie who knows Haley from antartica

Linda: doctor from Canada

Ohn: Israeli military guy with mohawk and drone (I want to visit him, he's cool as hell)

Michael and Amelie: French couple who live in Geneva. They were so laid back and chill that I'm making a rule: no more talking shit about the French

Estrella: badass guide. Always addressed us with "ok, chicos" and had a fun sense of humor

Kelly: other guide, much quieter but still nice

Enoc: chef. Skinny with a big-toothed smile, seems to own every business in Huayllalpa

Elmer and Russell: donkey drivers. Friendly, salt of the earth guys with badass wide brim hats and the ability to run seemingly forever in the high altitude

Day 1:

Met at the office in Huaraz. Long drive up to our start point, through a couple villages where we had to pay an entrance fee and get let through some gates. Spent most of the drive talking to Amin about Namibia. When we got closer to the start, saw HUGE grey granite slabs poking out of the hillsides with steep and slanted but sheer/flat faces. Our campsite was in this green gold valley with one sharp snowcap rising up above the hill next to us (before dinner we climbed up there to see the view on the other side of the full mountain)

-leaving dinner we got staggering views of the milky way in a totally clear sky. Not sure if it was the clear air of the altitude or what but the twinkling of the stars was the strongest I've ever seen it.

Day 2:

-Immediate climb up and to the right out of the valley (about 600 meters climbing to Qaqanan). Could see the whole green valley stretching out away from us as we climbed.

-view from top (4800m): brownish red river cutting into green/gold valley. Descended and then took break, watched the donkeys gallop by with the handlers running after. RUNNING.

-walked along the valley for a while- river wandering along next to and below us with patches of grass next to it glistening in the sunshine.

-came to a turn where there was a road cutting left and our trail cut right to a check point. (Waited for Amin because he dropped his cell). View of huge snowcaps!

-after the gate, the other group who had gone through the checkpoint turned off right and went into the valley to Mitucocha Camp in a big open field below the mountain, while we continued to the left, over a little river bridge and up a steep climb to meet Enoc and the horse and have lunch on a beautiful hillside looking back over the camp and the valley.

-after lunch, continued up the valley, sloping gently up to the second pass of the day- Punta Carhuac, where we got the first view of the three mountains together that dominated the landscape for the rest of our walk.

-down into a brilliantly green valley to the left of a hillside. As we walked the three mountains got bigger and bigger: Yerupajá, the 2nd tallest mtn in Peru in the center with vertical chimneys in the ice of it's sheer center face at the top, to it's right a really triangular one with lots of colors including deep maroon and cream (Rasac), and to the left a more rounded peak with brown and white layered horizontal stripes (Siula). I was laughing with delight like a crazy person and playing aesgir songs to accompany the descent. Ended up in a more tan/green valley that was right below the three mtns with this really mystical feel.

-continued descending along the left side of a hill (I ran for a while because it felt really good) and was first one to come up a small ridge and get a view of our first lake, Laguna Carhuacocha. It's a long strip of brilliantly royal blue that ends in a golden field cut by dark snakes of riverbed and then the 3 mountains (from a slightly different angle) TOWERING up over it. I watched two white birds soar from above us, down to the lake with their shadows on the surface and then land on the bank.

-We hung out on the ridge taking photos and drone videos and then went to our campsite, at the far end of the lake.

-Went to sit at this stone house at the end of the lake and look at the mountains. Same as in the campsite and on the ridge beforehand, the mountains are SO insanely huge it's difficult to comprehend them. People on the ridge above me looked laughable in comparison. And they're so steep- they soar straight up from the meadow, gold and slate grey down below, white above, and dappled in sunlight and cloud. Just insane.

Day 3:

-super sunny morning on the bank of the lake, but quickly turned to cloud

-walked around the far end of the lake then back towards the mountains, then cut left through a scrubby valley to a dark lake.

-hiked up the first mirador to see two of the three famous lakes. The middle (name?)is darker blueish green but the one on the right (name?) is a brilliant, stunning turquoise (a more concentrated version of the bright blue of a swimming pool in direct sunlight) with a ring of ice on the left side, below a sheer face of ice fields/galciers with falling mixed ice and water coming down in rivulets into the lake

-climbed up to the left of the lakes until we got to the famous Siula mirador: you can see a chain of 3 lakes: farthest are the two i just described and then closest to the mirador is another of the same amazing bright color, but reflecting the mountain and the sky so it had a sharp white glare on it like sunglasses. Behind the lakes closer are slate grey icecaps and in the distance (off to the right) are sharp mountains whose knife-like ridges divide a brown side from a mossy-green gold side

-i was a little disappointed to not have a totally clear day to see the lake colors, but the sun did peek through for a few minutes and make the turquoise lakes glow like jewels. And no matter what the weather, it's crazy to be among mountains this dramatically huge, lakes these insane colors, and tramping through high meadows like we're in the sound of music- they're sights that few people have the privilege to enjoy

-put the lakes to our back and went up another two hours to Siula pass (4850 m). View from there down to a big brown hill kind of triangular shaped like rainbow mountain and a small dark colored lake.

-descended to a flatland and then again down a series of sort of bog mounds (terraced green mossy mounds with mud between). On the right side were icy mountains with glaciers and on the left was a set of 3 or 4 slate grey peaks that were all connected and had sheer, flat faces.

-ended the day with a descent into a valley with those grey mtns to the left side, Huayhuash mountain to the right, and some brown craggy peaks in the center, the 3 mountain sets sheltering a wide field of greenish tan filled with sheep circles, stone walls, and dotted by the bright colors of our tents.

-played soccer with the donkey guys- so hard at altitude

Day 4:

-Climbed to Trapesio pass, kind of unremarkable climb because mostly clouded/fogged in. Actually got snowed and hailed on at the top. But 5010m elevation so new highest

-we crossed and the fog started to lift to show lakes on the other side! A string of like 5 small ones (including two that were like bright metallic glacial blue) and then a larger, dark blue one with a giant butte behind it, covered partly by a dramatic ceiling of fog

-stopped for lunch on the way down- donkey had fallen and gotten injured and was left to die. Made me really sad that it's whole life was to serve people and then when it got hurt they didn't do it even the service of putting it down. I wanted to help but had no

-descended to the lakes: super incredible up close because the dark blue lake is surrounded by rows of buttes of columnar brownish orange rock that look like they're made of carved wood, some of them with curved deformities that look exactly like termites have been eating away at them. The contrast of the orange/brown with the color of the water was amazing.

-at the end of the lake is an especially huge one of these that's so tall and cylindrical it looks like a cathedral or a keep (kind if the twin of the one in Torres del Paine), so I nicknamed it The Citadel.

-beyond that was a row if more normal shaped mountains colored in brown, tan, and this odd sort of shiny steel that looked like silver in the sunlight. The whole color palette has changed: before it was greens and gold's and now it's oranges and browns.

-i descended through fields of orange and grey rock, having a ton of fun with my imagination: making up a story in my head involving the citadel and a sort of scout/lookout on another planet

-came to final viewpoint over our camp: this huge green and gold valley that looked surreal in the misty partial rain and fog, with at the far end these protruding rock formations that look like an elephant and a serpent. Looked exactly like a scene out of Lord of the rings, I half expected horses to come galloping out of the gap between the figures. It felt extra cinematic because I was looking out at it from under my hood and through my bangs which was sort of framing the whole scene in a cool first person perspective.

-It started raining harder as I went down and I took my hood off to feel it in my hair. Got to camp as it turned to hail, which fell strongly for like 10 minutes, filling the camp with hail bits, and then abruptly stopped, leaving the camp bathed in sunshine

Day 5:

Perfectly sunny warm day, FINALLY! Left the campsite with the elephant and serpent and climbed sharply out of the valley over ground covered in snow/hail combo. Leapfrogged with a group from Colorado for a while. Passed on the left next to a brown mountain and then approached Santa Rosa Pass on the right side of another snowcap. Steep snowy climb up to the top of the pass, revealed amazing view: huge snowcapped mountains towering over a dark blue lake and with a smaller one above and to the left. Pass is at 5238m, the highest I've climbed as far as I know. Stood at the top shouting to hear the echo and feeling so accomplished, drinking in the view. Descended (listening to "Tierra del Olvidos" and chatting with estrella and a cook from the Colorado group named Cristian) to a ridge next to the lake and we could see another one to the right, more mint colored. Took a really cool widening frame video of Ohn (Israeli guy I really liked).

-Went to the left down the valley- first carpeted with green and big stones like a high meadow in the Alps, then a sort of high walled arid canyon like Arizona- I walked ahead and enjoyed some solitude for a while. Waited for the rest of the group at a gate- path now runs next to a river. Passed through and suddenly the valley narrowed like we were going to get ambushed from above and we came to a large waterfall and a section where the river was running in weird rivulets directly through the grass. The valley got more and more lush, with large skinny trees standing out above it and the river running quickly through it: started to look like the shire or rivendell, this insanely lush green paradise. Further down the valley the town of Huayllalpa was huddled in this tiny ledge in the shadow of the towering mountain. Tiny boy blaring music passed us sprinting down the hill and we descended into the village: ate dinner literally in the bodega where we'd just bought snacks (and ate them right there and some people bought eggs and then asked the bodega owner to boil them- she probably thought we were totally crazy).

Day 6:

Climbed back up the steep stairs that lead into Huayllalpa and then turned up the valley. Hot climb in the sun up the valley, watching Amin struggle to get his horse to keep walking. Crossed over the river and came into a high mountain meadow and then up to Tapush Pass (kind of stoney last ascent)- Amin and his horse and I arrived first: view on the other side was our first look at the black mountains, serving as a backdrop to a lake in a green meadow, divided into two sections by a much shallower pinched section in the middle. Camped down below the lake in a big compound surrounded by stone walls called Quashpapampa. Washed my socks and then lazed in the sun. I got up to pee in the middle of the night after moonset- refreshingly cold on my bare torso and amazing stars in the clear dark sky.

Day 7: Our last real climb: Michael, Ohn and I warmed our feet in the sun and then left the circle of rocks. Up through a valley and then steep climb up a set of switchbacks through big rocks and then grey gravel (sometimes iced over like a frozen river) to Yaucha Pass. At the top (Ohn and I got there first), sat on a big rock and looked at the mountains across from the pass- they seemed really blue because the sun hadn't gotten high enough to shine on their faces yet. And the foothills off to the side somehow seemed to be backlit even though the sun was almost overhead- dark blue with a sort of lighter halo that made them seem like the fake mountains that run along the edges of a planetarium sky. When the rest of the group got there, we cut laterally to 2 miradors. First one showed us the the full view of the mountains: turns out this was the backside of the 3 big mountains I described on day 2 (there were actually 4- get names again from map). Incredible views of these mountains- they just tower over everything with these impossibly steep upper summits of ice and foothills of red and tan dirt in some places and in others then amazing gold-green that's all over in Huayhuash. And all around we could see brown mountains and lush valleys and other cordilleras in the distance. Second mirador was further along and revealed a pair of lakes nestled in the valley below the leftmost mountain: one darker blue with a green sheen close to the edges (turned out to be some sort of huge green pond plant like kelp) and another higher up that was that impossible glacial blue like a piece of polished jade. CRAZY steep descent- stopped on this huge rock that just drops off like a cliff where we were literally looking down on gliding birds, and then sort of half-walked half-skiied down the valley next to it in a series of switchbacks. The little jewels of our tents in the camp were TINY and seemed to not get any bigger for a really long time during the dusty descent of switchbacks. Eventually got down to the valley- seemed like paradise: this green lush slice through brown hills with a lazy river running through it, which comes from a waterfall that spills down the hillside and under a little suspension bridge over rapids and a deep pool. And at the top of the valley is the totally imposing, serene presence of the mountain. Ohn, Michael, and I arrived first and were commenting on how the camp seemed like somewhere fake that got created just for a brochure, but it's real! Russel greeted us by sharing his beer ("para tu sed") and then we took a (very brief) jump into the little pool below the bridge. I read in the sun lying in the pile of sleeping bags and luggage, and then pulled a blanket over me to protect myself from sunburn and sort of half-napped like a cat in a sunbeam, enjoying the view and sound of the waterfall and the sense of absolutely 0 responsibility. Might be the most idyllic campsite I've ever been to!

When sunset came, the mountains turned really orange and then this amazing pale white backed by a sky that was this incredible lavender color I've never seen in a sunset and was an amazing contrast/backdrop for the snowy mountains. To the opposite side of camp the dark hills were backed by the purply halo glow of the setting sun. We watched the stars slowly come out one by one, then played cards and had dinner. After dinner the sky was dark but we could still see the white silhouette of the mountains in the light of the half moon.

Day 8: went down the valley following the river on a sort of twisty path on the scrubby hillside. Nothing special in terms of the walk but because we weren't huffing and puffing from a hard climb, had more of a chance to talk- chatted a lot with Rebecca, Linda, and Ohn about the future of medicine (the girls are both in the field), relationships and physical types, etc. It was a nice discussion, really interesting. Dropped down another steep set of switchbacks to reach our final destination, the village of Llamac (small, clean, and cute but at first really deserted in a way that felt really twilight zone-esque. Especially the old woman with cloudy blind eyes who just didn't respond to anything i said to her..). Bought a beer and some chips and then hung out waiting for the minibus back to Huaraz. All in all a super successful trip- there were times when I would have preferred not to be with a group, if they were complaining or I wasn't feeling social, but sometimes it was nice to have company and it was amazing to not have to carry a full bag, deal with cooking and pitching a tent, etc. And the views were INSANE- Easily comparable to Patagonia, just one after another place that was so beautiful as to not seem possible to be real. Main differences from Patagonia: less glaciers but also way less trees, you're above the treeline so literally nothing obstructs any view. Glacial lakes in Patagonia were more of a slate blue like Gatorade, these are more turquoise like a swimming pool or tropical shallows.

The whole place also kind of reminds me of Ireland on steroids because of the greenish gold lowlands around the mountains, the old stone sheep pens and huts, and the mysterious kind of misty quality to the air on cloudy days but brilliant green glow in the sun.

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