Heaving as I reached the top of the pass, I was glad the hard part was over.   At 4750m (about 15,500 feet) doing anything can be a challenge, let alone hiking uphill.

Resting at Punto Union pass early Friday morning I could hardly believe my eyes.  What had taken us less than 24 hours to climb, despite the altitude, had given us the most spectacular views of the Cordillera Blanca.  Surounding mountain peaks covered with snow, blue lagoons too icy to even put a toe in, the surrounding wilderness was incredible and well worth the effort of the climb.

But how did I find myself on the top of a very cold (I wore every piece of warm clothing I have with me!), very high mountain Friday morning? After obtaining our very necessary, but only slightly pain in the butt Bolivian visas, we left Lima for a “vacation” from our travel.  Busing to the mountain city of Huaraz on Wednesday night, I expected to be mountain biking all weekend.  Unfortunately the only place in town that would arrange a decent mountain bike tour wanted $300 per person for three days and well, that was not happening.  Since we could not bike the mountains we decided to do the next best thing, and booked a group trek through the moutains.  There I was at 4750m Friday before lunch…

Early Thursday morning we piled into a van on a dark street corning in Huaraz.  Not yet dawn, we shook hands with the rest of the group and stared out the window.  As the van climbed the valley into the mountains, the clay hut villages became fewer and fewer until finally we reached the park entrance.  A steep 65 sole ($22) entrance fee later, we were all awake, with our eras popping, as the van climbed slowly up and over the mountains.  Arriving at the trail head, we scarfed down a packed lunch and headed down the path with the mules in quick pursuit.  Thats right, this was no ordinary backpacking trip- we had the luxury of mules to carry our things, a helper to cook for us, and arrived at camp every night to tents already set up!  Now I know some of you are jealous…

Although it sounds plush, and granted not having to actually “backpack” was a luxury, the trek was anything but a walk in the park.  Crossing through valleys and small villages on the first day, we saw the snow covered mountains in the distance.  Not yet used to my humor, the group stared at me in shock when I jokingly pointed to the highest mountain in sight and proclaimed it to be the pass we would climb through the following day.  If only we knew…

Arriving at our first campsite just before dark we were greeted with hot tea, mate (cocoa leaves), instant coffee and cookies.  This was really my kind of camping!  After dinner of rice and chicken we proclaimed it bedtime and scurried out of the dining tent.  Before us however, looming in the dark, were enormous snow covered mountains, which in the moonlight appeared to float in the sky.  With the temperature dropping (supposedly it was -5 degrees Celsius), we admired the illusion as long as we could before hopping into our down sleeping bags.  (Seriously, the alpaca hat was necessary, don’t laugh!)  I slept with four layers on my top, two pairs of pants, the alpaca hat, an alpaca scarf, a pair of hiking socks and a pair of knee high alpaca socks.   Trust me, it was cold.

Waking up the next morning, we exchanged cold night miseries and hit the trail.  Although the first day was relatively easy, the second day was much more of a challenge.   I felt like the Von Trap family, climbing through the Alps to escape the Nazi’s.  Ok so no one was chasing us, but believe me it felt like we were going to “climb every mountain.” Hiking 1000m in altitude the first five hours, we summited Punto Union pass around lunch time, collapsing in a heaving pile at the top.  As we caught our breath (some of us taking longer than others) we took in the scenery around us.  Undoubtably it was what brought all of us on the trek, and as we admired in silence our guide Eric began to play his flute.  Like the Andean music sold around the world on busy street corners, the native tunes Eric played symbolized the time and place.  Before we could get too sentimental though, he changed to a medly of Beatles tunes and we were off down the mountain.

Settling into our somewhat warmer dinner tent that night, I felt lucky that we had climbed the mountain without serious incident.  Cases of altitude sickness are very common on these treks, in fact almost everyone we passed offered cocoa leaves to anyone looking slightly ill. One group of British teens we passed on the way down had two girls suffering from altitude sickness, one of whom our guide thought had high altitude pulmonary edema, a life threatening condition where your lungs fill with fluid.  Lacking serious altitude aliments, just a few minor headaches solved with a little tylenol, our group thawed over hot tea, mate and instant coffee before dinner.

With the hard part over, the next morning we took it easy and left camp around 9am.  Splintering in three directions, part of our group climbed to a viewpoint overlooking Alpamayo glaciar, while others, either because of the cold or a flight home, headed for a long hike to end the trek early.  With no where to be, Danny and I lounged in the sun waiting for the others to come down from Alpamayo.  Spotting them at the top of the mountain, at the beginning of their decent, the guide sent us ahead with his nephew.   With only one snow capped mountain in site, we easily followed a stream through the valley to our third campsite.  On the edge of a small river, the spot was incredible, and again over hot tea and instant coffee we marveled at the landscape with the rest of the group.

Managing our way out of the valley the next day I was sad that the trek was over.  Easily feasible in fewer days,  I enjoyed our slow pace which for once allowed me to really enjoy the landscape around me.  Although Llanganuco to Santa Cruz is the most popular trek from Huaraz the trail was not overly crowded and we were able to really stop, enjoy and soak in the mountains around us.   It was freezing at night and the second day it was tough to breathe, but the trek was enjoyable and even shall we say relaxing. Well, for some of us.  Wait until you hear Danny’s side of the story…