Santa Cruz and Beyond

Oh man, do I have a lot to update you on! Where to begin?!

Matt, Rob, and I began the Santa Cruz trek in the Cordillera Blanca at 6am on Friday. We hooked up

Santa Cruz trek, Day 1

with a guiding company, Galaxia, to provide us with a guide and gear that we needed for the trek. After many misadventures in spanish, we were somehow able to get our bags into safe storage and gather everything we needed for the trek. We took a 5 hour bus ride to Colcabamba, which was our last drop of civilization for the next few days. Paid the entrance fee to the Huascaran National Park. Check! Hiking boots. Check! Sunscreen. Check! My Sanity...eh, overrated.

And then we were off! According to some of the seasoned trekkers in Huaraz, the first day of the Santa Cruz is really flat. Of course it was. That was only after the first 850m of strenuous elevation gain in the direct sun that we reached the so called ‘flat’ part. I was starting to feel a little bit tired so I struck up conversation with our guide, Ricardo, to distract myself from the trek on hand. Ricardo knew quite a bit of English, so our walk turned into a 2 hour long spanish lesson where I could actually ask deeper

View from our tent on Night 2!

questions than the typical ‘taxi driver’ conversation. What is proper ettiquite at the restaurants in Peru? What are your opinions about the poverty in Peru? How does it compare between Lima and Huaraz? What are your thoughts on the Peruvian government? Do you have any interest in traveling in other parts of the world? What made you change your mind about moving to Lima?

Before long, we strolled into the location of our first camp. Our tent was pitched next to the same crystal blue stream that we spent the day trekking next to. We were essentially in a valley, surrounded by the interestingly texutred bases of the mountains that surrounded us. We accepted the chill into our bones as the sun fell behind the peaks and prepared ourselves for dinner.

I cuddled a hot cup of coca tea and watched everyone disappearing into thier tents for the night. Yeah right was this girl going to bed! The stars were absoultely incredible! Matt, Rob, and I layered on every article of clothing we had and waited next to the river for the moon rise. We watched in awe as the full moon crept above one of the mountain peaks at a speed that seemed faster than normal. Wow. Just wow! The moon lit up the entire valley for the most surreal and humbling of moments. I felt as though I were smiling from the inside out.

Rob, Matt, and I next to a laguna! 

I was in such a wonderous place with such beautiful people - definitely the luckiest girl in the world! I could get used to this Andean magic, eh? A thick wall of clouds rolled in that not only covered the moon, but also brought peaceful closure to the night.

The 5:30am wake up came all to soon. Ricardo came to our tent with hot coca tea “buenos dias! buenos dias!”. Allright, time to prepare for another day of climbing! We scarfed down some breakfast, packed our bags, filled our water bottles, and set out for yet another day on the Santa Cruz trek. We followed the path for a few hours, but (as I quickly learned) this is not Ricardo’s preferred route. Let’s just say he thinks the trail is more of a ‘suggestion’. It was very typical of him to suggest 1-3 hour detours from the trail that lead to glorious views and beautiful lakes. So there I was, exhausted, with the option of climbing up further to see Alpamayo (supposedly the most beautiful

moutain in the world). Of course I really had no choice, because at the start of the day Matt told me that we were going no matter what. He even volunteered (rather willingly actually)  to whip me with stinging nettle if I needed some encouragement through the really steep parts. In other news, I have an amazing trekking tip for you ladies who strive to maintain some sort feminitiy in the wilderness. I probably didn’t start off on a good foot when I let out a huge satisfying belch to the moutains first this in the morning, probably grossing Rob and Matt out a little bit. So, *drumroll* save your farts for stream crossing where the water is too loud for anyone to hear. Proceed as a whimsical laday of the outdoors. Simple as that :)

With an even more complicated love/hate relationship with swithbacks than ever before,

I found myself staring Alpamayo in the face. Every single direction there was a glorious snowy peak! This came at a point in my trek where I started getting used to seeing so many mountains. At first I was like, “meh, cool. Another mountain.” And then the beauty of where I was and what I was surrounded by sunk in. YES. Straight up chiling in the ‘llera Blanca, yo! I felt a little flutter in my chest - yes indeed I am falling in love with the Andes.

That night I set up our tent so the window faced the most epic peak of all, in my opinion. The stars were equally radical - with views of the milky way (southern hemisphere style!). I only recognized 3 constellations and Matt (an Australian who should be much more familiarized with the Southern Hemisphere night sky) claimed there were too many stars for him to recognize any more constellations. Yes, the night sky was that brilliant!  I wished upon every star I saw and felt as though I ended the night as magically as it was the night before. Gah, the Andes!

It’s funny how easy it is to get into a routine no matter what you’re doing or where you are in the world. 5:30am was the same “buenos dias! buenos dias!” and hot coca tea. It’s a good thing I was completely ignorant about what Day 3 had in store because I probably would have psyched myself out. We started the day by summitting Punta Union Pass at 4750m. For those of you who know me well - you can only imagine the relief I felt when I concluded that we had no more uphill. Lies. I’m getting ahead of myself though.

The hike up to the pass was really challenging for me, and became a rather spiritual endeavor. For the last 250m of elevation, my mind was swimming with ways to keep my exhausted body moving. This was for my health and doing what I love to do. This was for my family, who have made unprecidented sacrfices for me. This was for my awesome coworkers over the years who were so generous and made work fun. This was for people I have had in my life that are no longer here (At one point I could have sworn I heard Mamala laughing). This was for love, broken hearts, and new beginnings. This was for feeling impermanent. This was for the UU church, which helped me ground and grow my spirituality. This was for all of the beautiful, amazing friends I have in my life that I am so so so grateful for. Anyway you look at, you can’t summit anything without something motivating you nor a bad attitude. Climbing mountains argueably requires more mental strength than physical strength. So there I was, trying to catch my breath in the thin air of 4750m, with a fatty grin on my face.

The Punta Union Pass sits on the backbone of Andes, meaning that any water flowing to the west of

Matt and I at the Punta Union Pass!

the pass flows to the Pacific Ocean, and any water flowing to the east of the pass flows to the Atlantic Ocean. Love it! Matt had zoomed up to the pass like a friggin’ gazelle in probably half the time it took me to do it. He is a mental warrior for sure. Rob was close behind me, and probably equally as stoked to have reached the pass. The 3 of us eventually gathered together at the top, ate a snack, and jammed about the magic of this place.

So here comes Ricardo, interjecting with another suggestion for a detour. More lakes and views of Huascaran (the tallest mountain in Peru) - sure! Usually the reward for spending 3 days summitting something is the downhill, but not for this trek. I think the best was to describe the descent was a very strategic fall for about 1500m of elevelation down the side of the mountain. We bush whacked

Matt, Rob, and I at the end of the Santa Cruz Trek

through spiky grass that came up to our waists, crossed over a rather terrifying waterfall, and took mere guesses as to where exactly our next steps would land. I’m glad the group found humor in how ridiculous this trek had become because I think everyone had at least one almost injury pass before their eyes. But we made it to the bottom - all in one piece! We took a break on a cliff overlooking a lake of an indescribable blue. Again, there were goregeous snowy peaks in every direction. Simple reminders of how small we really are.

Alright. Summit -check. Desecent - check. Exhausted with jello legs - check. 4 more hours to go?!

WHAT?! This is where one goes into auto pilot mode. The trail was realitvely flat, and sliced through the valley to the opposite side of Huascaran Natonal Park from where we entered. I actually really enjoyed this part of the trek because it was some of the best thinking time and an out of body experience in some ways. The valley was littered with meandering streams, smells of wild flowers, and cow pastures. The shadows started to grow long and the scenary became so surreal. I stopped to fill up my water bottles again (I interject with an advertisement for Steripen here - it friggin’ rocks!) and fullly take in the last kms of the Huascaran wilderness.

5 litres of water, 4 applications of sunscreen, and 10 hours of trekking later, I could not have been more happy to settle down with the crew for the evening. I sat back and enjoyed a hot cup of coca tea while basking in a sense of achievement, euphoria, and exhaustion. I splashed away all of the sweat, dirt, and sunscreen with ice cold water. What a day. Mission accomplished, team.

Day 4 was rather anitclimatic. We walked for just about an hour (still uphill, mind you) and waited by the road for 2 hours to catch a bus back to Huaraz. This was the best quality bonding time we had with the other folks on the trek too - a few Israeli’s fresh out of the army, a couple from NY, and a couple from Brazil. The bus ride back was on a ridiciously bumpy rocky road and hair raising switchbacks. Classic. In related news, I  have a newfound appreciation for paved roads. 4 or 5 hours later, there we were, back in the land of wandering dogs, trash covered streets, the never ending car alarm, and hot showers. Matt, Rob, and I stayed in the same hostel that we were in before we left for the trek. We attempted

The road we bussed down..Yes, it was as terrifying as it looks

some laundry, showered, and ate an amazing dinner. I was practically running around the streets of Huaraz, “Can a girl get a friggin’ vegetable over here stat?!?!” Let’s be honest for a second:  backpacking food in no way can subside cellulose cravings. I had a huge salad complete with tomato, avocado, mushrooms, carrot, onion, olives - yes, I was in pure bliss.

Matt and I bussed back to Lima so we could catch a flight in the morning to Iquitos. I guess this is a better time than ever to mention that my plans have changed a bit. Yes,

I´ve been in Iquitos for 2 day now! Hello to the hot and humid amazon! Matt and I explored the floating markets of Belen this morning and took a boat ride around the amazon for a few hours. We grabbed fruit from the trees above and watched us iguanas swam past us.

Made it to the Amazon!

We´re staying at possibly the most disgusting hostel ever but I love it! Mad Mick´s Bunkhouse for 10 soles per night. I´ve heard legends of this place and Mick is definitely a character! Very helpful with navigating Iquitos and the jungle, I must say.

The internet here is slow and expensive so I´m going to finish this up all too briefly. I´m headed into the jungle for 5 days and 4 nights starting at 6;45am tomorrow! So don´t expect to hear from me for a couple days. Again.

Tomorrow is also goodbye to Matt, who has been an incredible backpacking buddy. We have navigated all day every day together and had our fair share of adventures. He´s off to work in a temple in the jungle for 3 months! I have a good feeling our paths will cross again, so it´s with a big smile I say "see ya later, mate! I love you!"

Farewell to Matt! Best travel companion yet :)