Home Sweet Home (30 Mar 2007)

After an absolutely amazing adventure, I have finally arrived home. Although I would like nothing more than to have continued endlessly on that journey, I have to admit that it's great to be back. It's just like Little Miss Traditional American Values said: "There's no place like home." Here's the wrap-up of my trip:

The High Points: (Literally and Figuratively) Summitting two 6,000+ meter peaks in two different countries in less than a week - Huayna Potosi, Bolivia (6,088 m - 19,974 ft) and Nevado Chachani, Peru (6,057 m - 19,872 ft).

The Low Points: (Literally) Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon in the world (3269 m deep - 10,725 ft). (Figuratively) Losing all of my photos from Machu Picchu and Days 3 and 4 of the Inca Trail due to a corrupted memory card.

Fastest Pace: Mountain biking down the World's Most Dangerous Road in Bolivia.

Slowest Pace: Floating down the Rio Huallaga from Yurimaguas to Iquitos.

Best Wildlife: (Terrestrial) Amazon Basin jungle outside of Iquitos. (Marine) Scuba diving in the Galapagos Islands. (Wild life?) Montanita during Carnaval.

Most Exotic Foods: Crocodile, Tortoise liver, Grubs, Stingray, Alpaca, Cuy (Guinea Pig).

Buen Provecho! - Best Tasting Food: Chef Jose's culinary delights on the Yolita.

Salud! - Best Beer: Gotta be honest here - 'Best' is not an adjective I can associate with any of the beer down there.

Best Market: Belen, Iquitos.

Best Digs: Loki Hostel, Cusco.

Best Ruins: Machu Picchu, of course.

Best Reason to Return: Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia - I am still very disappointed that I was unable to see it.

Nevado Chachani, Peru (27 Mar 2007 - 28 Mar 2007)

Before my trip ended, I was lucky enough to find an opportunity to climb another 6,000 meter peak - Nevado Chachani (6,057 metres - 19,872 ft), an extinct stratovolcano outside of Arequipa. Chachani is widely regarded as one of the easiest 6,000 meter peaks to summit, but it's obviously misleading to call any 6,000 meter peak easy. Although physically challenging, Chachani is easy to access given its close proximity to Arequipa, and the climb itself is non-technical - we brought crampons, but never actually needed them.

Day 1: The group was small - just myself, a Canadian guy named Shawn, and our guide Ivan. We also happened to be the only group climbing Chachani at the time, which was great. The first day, like Huayna Potosi, was a very leisurely hike up to high camp, Camp Sulfur. We went to bed early and, once again, I developed a splitting headache and did not sleep much.

Breakfast of Champions!

Me and Ivan, the guide.

Ivan and Shawn at our base camp. Yes, it is snowing.

Day 2: We woke early and hiked for about 4 hours+ 20 minutes before reaching the summit - Ivan said that it typically takes 7 hours! Nevado Chachani has four peaks - Trigo, Angel, Fatima, and Chachani. Before summitting the highest, Chachani, it was necessary to weave and contour up and around the other three peaks.

The summit - there were 3 crosses in memorial of past climbers who have died on Chachani.

Me and Ivan at the first pass, between Trigo and Angel.

Cañon de Colca, Peru (25 Mar 2007 - 26 Mar 2007)

I had really wanted to do a multiple day trek down into the canyon (and another trek in Cotahuasi Canyon), but, due to time constraints, I was forced into a (very touristy) 2-day tour. The only saving grace was the fact that I was the only English speaker in the tour group. It was all Peruvians except for two Italians, both of whom were named Paolo.

Vicunas grazing, overshadowed by El Misti.

Alpacas grazing.

Bosque de Piedras - Stone Forest.

The rock formation on the left resembles a giant frog.

Spectacular mountains 360 degrees around.

Spent the night in the quaint little town of Chivay.

We were treated to an Andean folk music show and traditional Andean dancing over a delicious meal of alpaca steak. I was so impressed with the music that I even purchased the group's CD - the first CD I've bought since high school!

Sun rising on the Andes above Chivay.

El Mismi, the source of the Amazon.

Colca Canyon - I have to admit that it was quite unimpressive. Although it is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, it is less than half as breathtaking.

The most spectacular parts of the trip were the soaring Andean condors at the Cruz del Condor.

Paolo, Carla (our guide), Me, Paolo, Nanett, and Omar - My favorite people in the tour group.

Arequipa, Peru (24 Mar 2007 - 29 Mar 2007)

Arequipa was definitely one of my favorite cities of the trip. The town is defined by a bustling, youthful population and magnificent colonial architecture. It's nicknamed the Ciudad Blanca (White City) because of the proliferation of construction using sillar, beautiful white tuffa from the surrounding volcanoes. The surrounding horizon is dominated by spectacular volcanoes such as El Misti and Chachani. The town is a great base camp for expeditions to these volcanoes as well as nearby Colca and Cotahuasi Canyons and the Valley of the Volcanoes. Unfortunately, I only had time for Colca and Chachani.

Andes in Bolivia enroute to Arequipa.

El Misti and Chachani tower over the Arequipan horizon.

La Catedral in the beautiful Plaza de Armas.

La Catedral at night.

La Compania features beautiful and intricate carvings on its white, volcanic sillar facade.

Mirador de Arequipa in Sachaca. Halfway up the tower is the Cristo Blanco de Marmol. The view from the top could be fantastic, but at the time a smoky haze obscured most of the city and the surrounding volcanoes.

Huayna Potosí, Bolivia (21 Mar 2007 - 23 Mar 2007)

Huayna Potosi (19,974 ft)

As we were driving into La Paz, the towering mountains of the Andes captivated my thoughts. I remember writing in my diary that I wanted to climb them; to conquer them. If I have a chance to climb Huayna Potosi, I'm going to take it. At that time, we were planning on blowing through La Paz to make time for the Salar de Uyuni. A peasant-farmer blockade of the only road south to Uyuni, however, put Huayna Potosi back on the agenda. Sam and I decided to stay in La Paz, while Phil and Rogers raced south to Chile.

The front side.

The back side.

Night shot.

Day 1: We could not have wished for better weather. After setting up our camp, we hiked a short distance up the mountain to a glacier for Ice Climbing 101.

Going up.

Coming down.

Sam bringing the '80s back to Huayna Potosi.

One particularly tricky ascent.

Day 2: We had a leisurely morning in camp, followed by a very leisurely hike up to Campo Alta Roca. We went to bed early, but I slept for only an hour due to a splitting headache. My heart was also beating so hard it felt as if it was going to pound out of my chest.

Me, Gervasio (our guide), Sam, and Edgar (our porter, who in retrospect was entirely unnecessary).

Would you rather fall into a stream of freezing glacial water or over ten feet into jagged rocks?

Tikimane and Telata mountains in the background.

The refuge at Campo Alto Roca, with Telata in the background.

The next day's route.

Day 3: Woke at 12:30 am. The sky was so clear that I could see every possible star in the night sky. Started hiking at 2:00 and reached the summit before sunrise. Then it was a rapid descent and return to La Paz.

The summit, 6,088 meters above sea level (19,974 feet).

It was a grueling final push to the summit - a nearly vertical, 250 mice climb.