Huaraz, Peru

After a 8 hour ride on the night bus from Lima, I arrived in the city of Huaraz, which is nestled in the mountain range Cordillera Blanca.  These mountains have permanent white snowcaps and glaciers, which includes Huascaran, the highest mountain in Peru (22,200 feet)..

Huaraz, Peru... No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to say this name correctly in Spanish. That doesn't matter. Huaraz, it is one of those places that just seems to suck you in.  People come for a week, and end up staying for a month. I may very well be one of those people.

the pet monkey, Harriet, at the hostel, Monkey Wasi

 My first few days here I spent trying to figure out where to even start. I'm surrounded by beautiful mountains, with endless options for hiking and climbing. But, where does one begin?  I received a note (not really sure how it got passed on to me, other then by miracle), that my friend (a British guy I met in Pucon, Chile), told me to come to Hatun Matchay (a climbing area about 2 hours away from Huaraz). I rented all my climbing gear and went out the next day. We met an American couple there, and all had a great day climbing. We did about 6 pitches, but was pretty exhausted by the end of the day (partly due to the high altitude). I forgot how much I LOVE climbing

climbing at Hatun Matchay

the start of our Santa Cruz trek

A few days after that I started the Santa Cruz trek, which is a 4 day trek through the Huascaran National Park. I was torn whether or not to go through an agency, but by the end of it I'm glad I did.  The donkeys carried all of our stuff. We had 2 guides who cooked all our food. And the best part, I went with 11 other wonderful people from different parts of the world (Canada, England, Israel, South Korea, Austria, and USA). It was nice getting to know each of these 11 people, and sharing stories about our lives and our cultures.

Over the 4 days, we walked 45 kilometers (28 miles). We started our days around 730, stopping for lunch at lakes around noon to eat our "box lunch" (basically an avocado or cheese sandwich, crackers, fruit, and cookies). We stopped each day around 4 with hot tea/coffee and popcorn.  Dinner was at 7, and we were all in bed shortly thereafter.

almost at 15,000 feet. higher then any point in the continental US

The first night was the worst for me due to my sleeping bag (or lack there of).  The feathers in this down sleeping bag served no purpose, as they were all bunched together, and I essentially slept with just a sheet in 25 degree weather. I changed sleeping bags for the next 2 nights and it was much better.

does this mountain look familiar? Paramount pictures perhaps?

a group of friends on the trek

the donkeys hard at work

our dinner tent

It was a beautiful hike, but I'm glad to be back in civilization and to take a hot shower and sleep in a bed.

NEXT STOP: Beach!  Err, that's if I can get out of these beautiful mountains.