Day 10 - Descent

We were up early for our final day. It was the last breakfast, pack up and break camp. By the time our packs were loaded the porters had arrived to take the   dining tent, kitchen, and group gear down.

We were only 20 minutes into our hike when the porters passed us quickly on their way down. As we hiked down the steep terrain it seemed impossible that we had hiked up it only days before.

I enjoyed the last glimpses of Ranrapalca which had dominated the view from our campsite and kept us entertained and in awe with its frequent avalanches of snow and ice from the massive cornice near the summit ridge.

We made our way slowly down the ice and snow covered trail. Stopping at times  to pass our packs down steep rocky slabs before we down climbed them.

Before we reached the end of the trail the porters were on there way back up to meet us and help out if needed. But most of us elected to finish with our packs on our backs.

We reached the road and the waiting truck, loaded our packs, the porters, and ourselves into the back for the bumpy 2 hour ride back to Huaraz. We headed into town and went straight to the Sky-line basecamp to unload. For Jamey and Jamey it was and immediate repack as they would be heading to Chopicalquithe same day. We said our goodbyes to them and the guides and wished them luck. The rest of us loaded up on cabs for a ride back to Olaza's, much needed showers, and a reunion with Matthew. We found him happily ensconced at Olaza's and he let us know that our smell was quite repugnant! But after a little clean up and some rest, we were off for shopping and a celebratory dinner at Trivio's. A great end to a long trip, and now only 24 hours of travel separates us from home.

Day 9 - Summit day

11:45 pm the day begins. We are up getting dressed and have a quick breakfast. Gear is sorted, bags are packed. The sky is clear and the winds are very light. Soon we are on the glacier. The squeaky crunch of snow under my crampons tells me that conditions are perfect for climbing.

We move silently through the dark seeing only a circle in front of us illuminated by our head lamps and the circles of light cast by other climbers.

Occasionally a "zero" is heard, the sign for us to stop while the route is being examined or something is being adjusted. The call of "clear" and we continue or slow upward progress winding through a maze of crevasses. Slogging up ridges unsure of how deep the crevasse is to one side or the drop off on the other. Then climbing very steep slopes of snow and ice, gasping for breath and trying to keep moving. Slowly the skies begin to lighten and the headlamps are no longer necessary. We can see the summit it looks so close but it's still so far away. We've crossed snow bridges, jumped crevasses and climbed steep angles when we finally reach the saddle between the twin peaks of Vallunaraju.
It feels like we've done it although we're not quite to the summit. We wait for another party to descend the steep corniced ridge before all go up together the last 100 feet. We crowd together on the small summit, barely room for all of us to stand. 7 climbers and three instructors, most of whom were strangers a week ago. Now friends standing on top.

The descent goes well. The sun is up and we are no longer cold. Water bottles have thawed out and soon we are baking in the heat of the glacier.

As we wind our way down we are now able to fully see the dangers that we had passed in the dark. Gaping crevasses with cold blue ice and bottomless depths. 

Soon we are back to the safety of the rock. A much needed break is taken and we all relax and bask in the sunshine.

Day 8 - Anchors & Prep

Another gorgeous day in Peru! We spent most of the day on the mountain, practicing working in rope teams and building anchors with ice screws, snow pickets and deadmen. (Not actual dead people just a term for a buried anchor.)

It was great fun as the guides took the second place on the rope teams and allowed us to assess the terrain and make our own judgements about where to go.

I really enjoyed working on rope team with Ian, Oscar, and Alejo. Oscar is so full of energy you practically have to tie him down. Alejo is always happy to crack a smile or a joke. Ian is very focused on learning and seems to want to be sure he understands everything in great detail. The Brits were roped up with Sam today, and the original Jamie seemed less than enthusiastic about his teaching style, to put it mildly.

Angela and Dylan were roped up with Mitcher. Dylan looked right at home at the head of the rope team.  Angela on the other hand was not as excited about it. She has been struggling a bit in the rougher terrain probably due to her lack of experience. But the guides are extremely helpful and make sure that everyone is safe. We headed back to camp a little early today to rest up and check gear.

We had a nice pasta dinner to fuel us for the summit attempt. We should be leaving camp around 1:00 am tonight. So now it's lights out and get a few hours of rest.

Day 7 - Glacier travel

Today was an interesting day. We woke at 6:30 for breakfast as 7. Ian and I spent a little time organizing our gear before breakfast and even got a little water filtered. We sat down to baked bread and were served warm pancakes, again with a compliment jams, dulce de leche, and honey.

Unfortunately Matthew wasn't able to keep any food down again. After breakfast we geared up and loaded our day packs for a day on the glacier learning and practicing skills. Matthew still wasn't feeling well and elected to stay in camp and rest for the day. The rest of us headed out of camp for a trip to the glacier. We arrived at 16500 feet and left our packs for the morning as we journeyed onto the ice to begin crampon work.

Front pointing, duck walk, and French technique were the three we learned. We practiced going up and down and across all types of terrain. Next up was the use of the ice axe.  And then we combined that for team travel.  The cook brought up a delicious lunch of stuffed local peppers and a roasted dried corn.

After lunch we headed back onto the ice and higher up into a nice snow bowl where we could practice self arrest. Feet first head first and face first, we went down hill any way possible and then stopped ourselves with our ice axes.

Next up was the team self arrest, where a rope team of two would climb up and the without warning the lower person on the rope would begin running backwards to simulate a fall. This was a tough one. We finished our lessons with using ice screws and rappelling. Then it was a short trip back to camp and a little rest before dinner. Dinner started again with a spicy soup that warned me from the inside out. The main dish was grilled Peruvian trout with rice potatoes and style of slaw. We finished with a Peruvian desert of warm spiced fruit in a sauce. Mucho gusto! Then a cup of tea and of to bed to recover.

Day 6 - Campo Morrena

Our guide Willie woke me up early today to let me know that Matthew hadn't been feeling well. He was showing classic symptoms of altitude sickness and was feeling pretty poorly. So we gave him a little diamox and let him rest for a bit. Juan was also not feeling very well. The rest of us had another great breakfast of fresh fruit and yogurt prepared by our cooks. Afterwards we loaded our packs and waited for guides and the porters to arrive.

They eventually rolled up in a huge truck and began loading all of the food and equipment and heading up hill. Sam the guide joined us again and we met Mitcher and Alejo our other two guides along with Jamie Monks, another Brit joining us for the course. We had our introductions and went over how to prepare your pack for mountaineering. Eventually we said goodbye to Willie and head up the trail.

And what a trail it was, extremely rough, muddy and steep. But slowly we wound our way up and out of the Llaca valley. Over the course of the hike we slowly split into two groups. I was in the first group with Oscar the Danish Dynamo, the two British Jamies and Dylan. The others were lagging a bit behind.

We finally made it to the Campo Morrena at over 16,000 ft. We shed our packs and rested for a bit while Mitcher went back to check on the other group. He soon returned and let us know that Juan was not doing well and would be heading down with Alejo. Mitcher then went a little higher to contact the basecamp and set the evacuation in motion.  Alejo soon arrived, had a little tea and a bite to eat then headed back down to walk Juan out.

After some time the rest of the team members arrived and we had a hot drink and a snack then launched into setting up our tents. Once the tents were set we began the first lesson covering gear and knots that we would be using. This ran all the way until dinner, which started with another round of spicy soup (only one bowl this time) and some cooked beef,plantains, popas fritas, rice and a fried egg.  The beef was a little overcooked for me but the rest of the dinner was delicious. We finished with jello and hot tea before bed.  Matthew was having trouble keeping food down, so he skipped dinner tonight. I hope he feels better tomorrow. Tomorrow we head up to the glacier!

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!

Day 4 - Laguna Churup

Day 4 started off fairly interesting. Ian and I left early in search of the bus station and his bags. A taxi driver was dropping off the the fresh rolls for breakfast so we grabbed some and headed out to look for the cab that was scheduled to take us to the bus station. By 7:15 no other cab had showed up so we asked the driver who dropped off the rolls to take us to the bus company we rode in with. After a google translate conversation we learned that the bags were not with that company, then it was off to the next company down the street. We were in the process of trying to communicate what we were looking for when I received word from Jenn at Skyline Adventures that the bag would be delivered later that day. So we hopped another taxi back to Olaza's just in time to grab some breakfast before we departed. It was definitely a lesson in how little Spanish we really understood.

After an hour long ride we arrived at the trailhead with our guides Sam and Ruben to begin our trek.  The trail was step and tough but beautiful. I will let these pictures speak for themselves.

We made it to the lake in about 3 hours, and were treated to a beautiful site and another great lunch.

Dylan and Oscar even went for a swim in the lake!

It only took us an hour to hike back down and another hour to return to the hotel. Ian was quickly whisked away to fetch his bags and was ecstatic when he finally had all of his equipment.

Another great dinner in town, and tomorrow we head into the mountains for a week.