We have to leave the comfy confines of Salkantay Lodge for our big trek today which will end at the next lodge, Wayra. The gang sends us off at the door with packs of snacks and plenty of water at 7am. This is the short story:
We depart at 3880 meters altitude and hike for 5 hours to get to the Salkantayccasa, the pass of Salkantay and Humantay Glaciers, sitting at 4655 meters. I can’t believe I made it!!! There are many cairns up here – piles of rocks- and we build one ourselves. Peter pulls out a plastic coke bottle with some scotch in it and we pass it around in a ritualized way making sure to pour drops onto the ground in honor of the mountain before slugging back a few drops for ourselves. At this point (on Diamox) I am huffing and puffing pretty well. The fog is rolling in so we head off for about another hour’s trek down the mountain to our lunch stop – Oh yes, Augusto, the chef, comes with us on this trek and will make us lunch during the day as well as dinners and breakfasts in the lodges. We arrive at our lunch stop, complete with a dining tent and even a toilet tent!! Hot soup and something else I can’t quite remember but it was delicious and too much as is the Peruvian way (and of course I have no self control to limit my intake).
Then on to the lodge – we see caracaras (mountain birds) and Andean flickers (like woodpeckers but there is no wood for them to peck) and even a pair of Andean geese. There is a long lous sound of a distant avalanche. We peer down at the Rio Blanco. We trek through landscape that makes me think of Scottish moors – lush, with rocks and boulders covered with a lichen that makes them look painted. Finally, Wayra Lodge where all materials were brought in by horse, donkey, or man. This is the lodge where 5,000 adobe bricks were destroyed in a storm and so building plans were changed to stone and mortar. It is 4P and we are mighty tired and ready for the Jacuzzi which feels fantastic. We are at 3960 meters altitude. Unfortunately Larry and I both get slammed tonight with the intestinal thing; we make the decision to go right to the Cipro since we have many hours ahead of us on the trail..........
We depart at 3880 meters altitude and hike for 5 hours to get to the Salkantayccasa, the pass of Salkantay and Humantay Glaciers, sitting at 4655 meters. I can’t believe I made it!!! There are many cairns up here – piles of rocks- and we build one ourselves. Peter pulls out a plastic coke bottle with some scotch in it and we pass it around in a ritualized way making sure to pour drops onto the ground in honor of the mountain before slugging back a few drops for ourselves. At this point (on Diamox) I am huffing and puffing pretty well. The fog is rolling in so we head off for about another hour’s trek down the mountain to our lunch stop – Oh yes, Augusto, the chef, comes with us on this trek and will make us lunch during the day as well as dinners and breakfasts in the lodges. We arrive at our lunch stop, complete with a dining tent and even a toilet tent!! Hot soup and something else I can’t quite remember but it was delicious and too much as is the Peruvian way (and of course I have no self control to limit my intake).
Then on to the lodge – we see caracaras (mountain birds) and Andean flickers (like woodpeckers but there is no wood for them to peck) and even a pair of Andean geese. There is a long lous sound of a distant avalanche. We peer down at the Rio Blanco. We trek through landscape that makes me think of Scottish moors – lush, with rocks and boulders covered with a lichen that makes them look painted. Finally, Wayra Lodge where all materials were brought in by horse, donkey, or man. This is the lodge where 5,000 adobe bricks were destroyed in a storm and so building plans were changed to stone and mortar. It is 4P and we are mighty tired and ready for the Jacuzzi which feels fantastic. We are at 3960 meters altitude. Unfortunately Larry and I both get slammed tonight with the intestinal thing; we make the decision to go right to the Cipro since we have many hours ahead of us on the trail..........
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