J: Jirishanca (Photo page)

For the letter J, we bring you Jirishanca, or the Hummingbird's Bill (20,098'), the heart of the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes. Severely carved by glaciers on all sides, what is left is a horn that is extremely difficult to climb (not catching me anywhere near there!). For what it's worth, the area on the east side of the mountain is also considered the source of the Amazon, though of course a river that vast has many, many sources in reality.

We trekked around the Huayhuash summer 2014, two days after completing the Alpamayo trek. That actually worked well--we really leveraged the fitness and altitude acclimatization we gained on the first trek! So here is...the Hummingbird's Beak.

Lake Carhaucocha, on the east side of the Cordillera. Jirishanca on the far right.

Lake Jahuacocha, looking up at Jirishanca.



From  Jahuacocha. Another glacial lake is behind the large moraine in the background.

Wave clouds forming on the peak. Check out the fluting on the faces, too!

Viscacha--a relative of the chinchilla, rather like a rabbit with a long tail.

Totally gratuitous newborn lamb. The woolies were everywhere in those mountains!

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2015

A is for Alpamayo...and the A to Z Challenge!

It's here--the Blogging from A to Z Challenge kicks off today! Want to know more? Click on the badge. Then enjoy rooting around in hundreds of participating blogs.

I am blogging this year on mountains and valleys. Look for book reviews (adult and children's books), photo essays, and flash fiction, all relating, however tangentially, to mountains and valleys. Or canyons. Maybe depressions and lumps. It's all good, and there will be photos wherever possible.

And now for our first mountain--Alpamayo, in the Peruvian Cordillera Blanca. We visited this area last summer, trekking for 10 days around the Cordillera. Our guide insisted, not implausibly, that Alpamayo is the most beautiful mountain in the world. Or at least Peru. Certainly, it showed us great beauty, despite the harsh conditions at altitude.

Our first glimpse of the mountain for which the trek was named. Flirting with the clouds, as is only right at over 19,500'.

Evening brought beautiful light.

And morning another kind of beautiful light--and clear skies. People do climb this, but you won't find me up there!

Clouds move back in as the day progresses, but the scenery is no less interesting. The glacial lake formed behind the moraine is turquoise with glacial silt.

The clouds--or blowing snow? whipping around the edges of the summit pyramid tell me that the wind is fierce. The cornices and fluting tell me that it is relentless, never still at that elevation. Nights are in the 20s (F) at our camp at some 14,0000'. I hate to imagine what it would be like up there. Great natural beauty is often indifferent to our rather puny human existence.

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Peruvian Antiquities--Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley

I'm a little late with this. . . so sue me. I was out hiking again (coming soon: photos from California's Sierra Nevada).

One last Peruvian photo essay.  After all our trekking, we opted against walking to Machu Picchu, instead taking the planes, trains and automobiles approach.

At the end of the Huayhaush trek we rode our bus straight back to Lima, where the party split--two to fly home, the other 6 of us to leave the next morning on a flight to Cuzco. The bus ride was long, but had its own scenic interest, from the agricultural to the dismaying.

Orange peppers drying on a hillside.

The road runs along the coast for a very long way, with huge chicken farms here and there. The workers lived in scattered shacks on the completely bare sand dunes. It really doesn't seem possible to live there, where nothing grows and all water must be imported.

Shanties along the coast.

The flight to Cuzco next day was fairly short. Cuzco is an ancient city which has made itself over very firmly as a tourist mecca. The central market, though, was loud, colorful, and smelly, and clearly more patronized by the locals than tourists, probably with good reason.

Corn and other grains for sale.

 Many streets were narrow, and ancient Inca walls might show up anywhere.

The Inglesia de Santo Domingo was built right atop the Incan temple of Qoricancha (after looting, of course).  The lower walls are the work of the Inca, with the Spanish church above.

Many of the old bits were left in place, and the Spanish made good use of the superior Inca stonework.

Before heading to the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, we spent a day visiting the local sites and sights, including the ruins at Saqsayhuaman, a huge complex and the site of one of the most devastating losses the Inca suffered at the hands of the Conquistadors. From that defeat the Inca began the retreat to their hideout at Machu Picchu.

Imagine the field before the walls covered, not with tourists, but the dead defenders of Manco Inca.

We took a private bus and driver to Ollantaytambo, in order to visit other key sites, notably the salt pans at Salinas, above Urubamba, which have been in use since Incan times. Many pans have been in the same family for generations if not centuries.

Tourists and workers alike wander the narrow dams between ponds.

Logistics for getting to Machu Picchu are not trivial. After our day in the van, we were deposited in Ollantaytambo, where we spent the night, leaving before breakfast to catch the train to Aguas Calientes. I could only admire the cafe, as there wasn't time to get anything.

Nothing like borrowing from TWO major US companies at once!

The train brought us to Aguas Calientes (at the base of the mountain bearing the ruins) mid-morning. Once checked in to our hotel, we had lunch, and headed for the mountain. The area is apparently famous for hairless dogs--this one was wearing a shirt, though frankly I thought it was plenty warm out!

Can you say 'ugly dog'?

 Most of a mile from town, we began the climb, roughly 1400' (and as many stair-steps) up from the town. After our time in the high mountains, the altitude (about 8000' at the start of the ruins) was nothing, but the heat and humidity took a serious toll.

Hotter 'n snot and we still had to carry rain jackets, because the weather can change fast!

There is also a museum at the base of the climb, worth the visit, as we did (though we'd have done better to climb first and do the museum after, as the ruins close at 4:30!)

When you reach the ruins, the climb isn't over--the Incas built on slopes!

We trotted out to the Inca bridge, where they deliberately built a gap into one of the approaches, forming a drawbridge, as they needed only remove the boards across the gap to make it nearly impossible to approach.

The nephew (who unlike me is not afraid of heights) contemplates the trail, which is closed to hikers now).

We then headed up to the Sun Gate, where the Inca Trail enters the ruins. You can get off the train a few miles from Aguas Calientes and hike the last bit of the trail to enter this way, which seems like a worthwhile idea.

Shortly before closing the sun broke through and gave us a look at the city and Huayna Picchu, the classic photo. The second day, our sons climbed the trail to the top of that peak, though due to a mix-up the adults in the group were unable to get tickets.

More beautiful light as the clouds blew away.

I like the contrast in styles of construction. Religious and royal buildings got the carefully dressed stone.

Since we couldn't do the standard climb, the adults in our group chose on Day 2 to do the much longer climb to Montana Machu Picchu, at over 10,000'.  This made a LOT of climbing for most of the group, who walked up from town. I rode the bus to the base of the ruins that day, as I'd spent part of the night throwing up (remember the comment about the heat and humidity? Dehydration is no fun). The bus ride was less effort, but extremely terrifying, and those with weak hearts might do better walking.

Amazing views from the mountain top, and a limited number of people make the climb, admittedly with good reason--2000' of stairs is no joke.

A VERY long way back down to the town, just at the bend in the river!

Back down in the ruins, I was charmed by the animals! Lawn care is provided by a herd of llamas.

Beautiful white llama baby!

The herd is increasing. Double feeding time!

The llamas are domesticated animals, but the biscachas (or viscachas) are "wild"--habituated, but not domesticated. Relatives of the chinchilla, they look a lot like rabbits but have long furry tails. They live all through the ruins, which make a great habitat for animals that naturally live in rock piles.

Lots of miles of hiking, and all over now. . . my husband's boots didn't quite stand the gaff, and he took great pleasure in depositing them in the trash before boarding the train to begin the long trip home!

Back down from the ruins by early afternoon, we boarded the train at 3:30. Our driver picked us up in Ollantaytambo at 6, and we bused back to Cuzco that night, arriving for a very late dinner. After a night spent, in the case of some of us, in much digestive distress (you really don't want to know more), we flew to Lima, spent another night, and finally flew home, with an 8-hour layover in Mexico City. Home has seldom looked so good! (Pity my brother-in-law, who had to get up next morning and drive 3 hours before he was home, making for four days on the road from Machu Picchu to his own bed).

The Sun Temple

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Copyright Rebecca M. Douglass 2014

To see the rest of the story, follow the links from my Photos and Travel page!

Trekking the Huayhuash, Part III

When last seen (here), we were settling in to what I believe was our highest camp. The next night, we would be at our lowest camp. The whole way between was downhill, so naturally we had to throw in a gratuitous visit to the highest pass yet! Yes, that's the kind of people we are. But it was worth it. We were up at the crack of dawn, extra early because various members of the party were doing various routes. Most of us headed out in the frosty early morning to climb San Antonio Pass, the highest point on our route (well, the highest was a bit off to the side of the pass where we found more things to climb. It was amazing to realize that we were up at nearly 16,600' and still able to do extra exploring!).

From Punta San Antonio looking back toward camp in the low meadow. Nev. Cuyoc dominates the horizon.

 What we saw from the pass--the setting for the documentary Touching the Void. We had hoped to spend a night up in there, but health limits kept our party on a little easier track. The husband and his nephew, however, opted to descend that side of the pass (with a guide, of course--they don't let you out of their sight!) and hike down the next valley to our camp. The rest of us skidded back down the side we'd come up.

Looking up the Sarapococha valley with Yerupaja straight ahead, Nev. Sarapococho and Siula Grande behind it.

Once we were down to the Huancapatay valley again, the walking was easy and pleasant, with frequent stops to look back and admire the mountain behind us. As usual, the area also featured many stone walls, of varying ages.

Looking back at Nev. Cuyoc as we descended the long Huanacpatay Valley.

After lunch the walk got less pleasant, as we had to make the second big descent. My knees were totally unhappy with me, but as usual, I survived. Down in the bottom of the valley active fields were terraced and marked off by stone walls. Unfortunately, we got to climb some of those walls, as the locals were using the trail for an aquaduct. After the steep climb down to the river, the hike down the valley to Camp 7,in the town, went on far too long; this was our longest day and latest arrival in camp.

We go down there, to Huayllapa just around the corner of the valley.

From our highest camp we went to the lowest, in Huayllapa at about 11,500'. It's weird to think of elevations like that as "low," but it felt it--lots of oxygen, so that I started out in the morning at a brisk pace despite the steep climb back up out of town. It was also weird to camp in the middle of town. We were on the schoolyard, I believe, and shared our space for a time with some kids playing football (soccer).

The climb from Huayllapa to Tapush Punta the next morning was never steep, but it went on a long time, and lower down grew hot (to me) in a hurry. At a stream crossing I finally couldn't stand it any longer, and my husband snapped me wringing out my braids after a head-dunk in the creek.

Climbing 3000' or more up from Huayllapa to Tapush Punta was hot work. Sometimes you just have to go soak your head.

Once we were out of the deep Quebrada (valley) Milo and up into the Q. Huatiaq, the views improved and the air grew more comfortably cool.

There was an easier way up.  Nev. Raju Collota dominates the end of the valley; we cross a pass out of sight to the left.

This might have been anywhere on our treks. We saw lots of sheep, though this was the only flock with such tiny newborns. An adorable fuzz-ball with wobbly legs!

Sheep. There's an ever-renewing supply. I'm guessing this guy was only a day or so old.

By the time we reached the broad, flat Tapush Punta, it was not only very alpine, but the cooling breeze had become the sort of wind that prevents lingering. Good thing we'd had lunch a little lower down (another proof our guides knew what they were doing)!

Approaching Tapush Punta.

Leaving Camp 8 the next morning (and it was farther along than I'd wished, making another long day with a long climb and some uncomfortable descending), we climbed immediately--and fairly painlessly--to our last pass, Llaucha Punta. Our guide led us to a viewpoint a bit above the pass, where we could see the entire heart of the Huayhuash.

All our favorite peaks, from Llaucha Punta, or a little above.

We weren't the first to be there, and maybe not the first to think we could use a little divine help to finish the trip!

Cairns and prayer flags? Llaucha Punta.

As usual, the pass was windy, so we dropped to a nice lunch counter for our snacks. It was a short day, though a substantial descent, so we were in no hurry, with lots of resting and reclining going on.

Snack spot below Llaucha Punta. The boys, reading and resting. They read pretty much the entire Game of Thrones series on this trip. Thank goodness for e-readers!

We stopped for lunch within sight of Camp 9, but why hurry, when the views are like this?

Lago Jahuacocha and Nevadas Rondoy and Jirishanca.  Camp is just visible in the valley at the far left of the photo.

The late afternoon light down in camp was some of the best we'd gotten, and the still creek meandering out of the lake and across the meadow reflected the peaks. We had time for plenty of photography as the sun faded.

Evening reflections.

Our final morning, some of us rose early to add a 4 or 5 mile dayhike to the day's mileage. We went up the valley to the glacial lake below the peaks, climbed the moraine (not too high, but always steep!) and watched the sun rise behind the mountain. All that before breakfast (a true miracle for those who know me; I did eat a couple of food-like bars). The color of the water is due to glacial silt.

The author and our guides at Solteracocha just before sunrise.

After a late breakfast (I think it just about killed the boys to wait) we had a 10-mile hike to the end of the trail. The first several miles were easy, following a pipeline trail, until we had to descend in the usual painful fashion about 2400' to the town of Llamac. We could distract ourselves by watching the vegetation change from alpine to agrarian and semi-desert (saw lots of cacti and then agave on the descent).

Century plant (agave).

Our final night was spent in Llamac, which had the advantage of giving us access to showers of a sort and an early start the next day on the road to Lima (about 9 hours from there). Once again I had to suck it up, hold on tight, and just try not to freak out as we wound back down, then up, then down the narrow and winding roads.

Totally worth it.

Traversing the pipeline trail to Llamac--a last look at the mountains.

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Next: Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley.

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2014