Day 5 - Llaca Valley

Today we packed up all of our gear and headed out. We carried our day packs for another acclimatization hike as our big packs were driven up to the campsite we were headed to. We met our guide for the day, Willie, and loaded up in the van. The van took us to the trailhead and dropped us off at about 12,000 ft. We were soon hiking up to enter Llaca Valley.

It was an extraordinary hike with water falls in a high alpine meadow, huge rock faces on both sides of the valley, and amazing boulders littering the lower stream bed.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch that Willie prepared. We saw many cows and even a herd of horses. The local farmers bring them up into the valley to graze on the lush vegetation.

We eventually made it to our campsite and were greeted by our cook and his assistant and the sight of all of our tents already set up! We rested for a bit and made ourselves at home then enjoyed hot chocolate, Nescafé, and tea along with garlic toast.

After a good rest break we hiked a short way out of camp to take in the lake and glacier above. It was a gorgeous emerald framed by imposing peaks. I couldn't take my eyes off of it.  I even spotted a viscacha, a small alpine rodent.

Shortly after returning from our excursion we sat down to dinner in the dining tent.  Our cooks presented us with a hot bowl of a type of chicken noodle soup. We stirred in the local pepper sauce and it was so delicious we all had at least a bowl and a half. Then much to our surprise the cook brought out the main dish of chicken corn potatoes and rice. A traditional Quechua meal usually baked under hot stones.

Again it was wonderful and we all ate as much as we could.  Afterwards we sat around the dining tent drinking more hot drinks and chatting before we finally drifted off to our tents.  Tomorrow we move to 16,000 feet!