Soraypampa to Collpapampa
The alarm was set for 4:45 am. We had a long day ahead and a 6 am hike departure in this weather, with breaks, was likely to see us arrive around 5:30 pm at our next campsite. I had slept really well actually. Drugs help with altitude, my new down bag lived up to it’s reputation and with thermal underwear, I had been as snug as a bug in a rug! (I will review the bag in another post.) Teresa had a lighter bag and was a little colder, but we subsidized it with some extra clothes and she made it through the night.
Perhaps the silver lining to not camping at 14,000’ yesterday was the night could have, would have, been colder up there.
Coca tea served by Mario in our tent at 4:50 am was the hint that it was time to wake, organize and get ready for breakfast @ 5:20 am. Delicious porridge, bread with butter and jam etc. Strong Peruvian coffee, more coca tea.
We were hiking by 6 am.
The hike was 23km today. From 12,500’ at Soraypampa to the Salkantay Pass at 15,200’, then down to just over 9,000 feet to the campsite at Collpapampa. Perhaps the hardest and definitely the highest hike I have ever done.
There was rain on an off and snow the last 1km to the Pass. Mud all the way kinda sums it up, but that kind of simplicity does a disservice to the hike, the geography and to us.
The final push to the top. A little stop for selfies, promotional pics for Scenic Peru and … you guessed it… another layer. Without the mega uphill to warm our bodies, we were quick to begin to cool. Under my rain jacket, I added a down jacket with hood. 850 fill power. Ooh baby... Lofty! I was now wearing everything, including my alpaca hat and down gloves, merino wool Buff.
Part of my research for trips like this is spending hours glued to YouTube. It was there I watched a video of a very pretty gal who swore she changed clothes every 10 minutes on the Salkantay Trail. At the time, my judgmental mind labeled her “high maintenance”. She was right though… and I was wrong.
What goes up, must come down. And so down we began. We still had 18km to hike yet. It was a rocky, muddy, watery event by all accounts. We were another 90 minutes from lunch. (The mules and cooks had passed us on the trail some time ago and we were looking forward to another spectacular 2 course, hot lunch at Huayracmachay.
By now Kelli was fairly damp through all layers, Teresa had some foot tendon pain developing and we were all really tired. There was about 10km to go to camp. We trod a careful path down a very muddy trail. Stopping as the rain permitted, to take pics of the flowers, mosses, lichens… general area. How Alex maintains his smile, pulls all sorts of knowledge out of his brain at short notice and keeps us going to schedule is beyond me. It’s not like he does this every week either. He guides all sorts of trips by bus, rail and van as well as other hiking vacations for tourists. The last time he was here, on the Salkantay Trail was a year ago. And last week, he was hiking the Classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
An hour from camp, the decision was made to hurry us along a bit. Kelli and I picked up the pace and walked ahead while the horse was summoned for Teresa. If were were going to get there before 6 pm, before darkness fell in the jungle (cloud forest) we needed to be a bit more intentional.
Ask me how Kelli and I, now ahead of the horse, Francesco (horseman), Alex and Teresa, found camp?! We were proud to say that we used our immense powers of logic and deduction to walk in the general direction given, then take the fork in the path that seemed most likely to get us there - or make us easy to find in the event we were actually lost!
I would say the only really dicey part was the decision to walk across a mud and stick bridge that spanned the raging river, 50 feet up in the air. This part of the trail featured no footprints or hoof-prints of those that had gone before us… Something that we both noticed but neither mentioned until after said bridge had been safely traversed.
We reached camp at 5:45 pm. About 5 minutes before the others caught up to us.
The promise of a hot shower had me part with 3 Soles lickity-split. (About a US $1) Alas, hot was a word that might have been used a little loosely and I soon found myself in the shower equivalent of an outhouse, fighting off an Amazon sized insect, indulging in lukewarm water and dressing kinda outside with only the use of my headlamp. Hahaha. Still felt better than no shower after 2 solid days of hiking!
Camping here was warmer. We fell asleep to the sound of the river. Exhausted and increasingly grateful the cooks, horsemen and of course, Alex!
P.S. Today was definitive proof that Dallice is “viable” at 15,200’ (with Diamox every 6 hours since getting to 11,000’ and Dexamethasone 2x/day starting the day before the hike began). Mark Mantei… get ready for Nepal, 2020!
The alarm was set for 4:45 am. We had a long day ahead and a 6 am hike departure in this weather, with breaks, was likely to see us arrive around 5:30 pm at our next campsite. I had slept really well actually. Drugs help with altitude, my new down bag lived up to it’s reputation and with thermal underwear, I had been as snug as a bug in a rug! (I will review the bag in another post.) Teresa had a lighter bag and was a little colder, but we subsidized it with some extra clothes and she made it through the night.
Perhaps the silver lining to not camping at 14,000’ yesterday was the night could have, would have, been colder up there.
Coca tea served by Mario in our tent at 4:50 am was the hint that it was time to wake, organize and get ready for breakfast @ 5:20 am. Delicious porridge, bread with butter and jam etc. Strong Peruvian coffee, more coca tea.
We were hiking by 6 am.
The hike was 23km today. From 12,500’ at Soraypampa to the Salkantay Pass at 15,200’, then down to just over 9,000 feet to the campsite at Collpapampa. Perhaps the hardest and definitely the highest hike I have ever done.
There was rain on an off and snow the last 1km to the Pass. Mud all the way kinda sums it up, but that kind of simplicity does a disservice to the hike, the geography and to us.
Yes, one wrong step, one hypoxic brain misjudgment and the best case scenario is being muddy and cold… the worst is getting injured. Injury = the loss of joy, a much longer and more painful day and likely negative impacts for the coming days too. Must. Avoid. Injury.
The hike to Salkantay Pass: It took about 3-4 hours to get up there. The path was busy… many groups large and small at the beginning, shared our trail. We had been advised by Alex that mules and horses would be passing us on the trail all day long. In many places the trail is narrow and the drop on one side is dire so when we hear, see or smell the horses coming, move to the high side of the path. Their load is WIDE and they have little regard for “bumping” the occasional tourist into a ravine!
At Suyrococha, about a kilometer from the top, we stopped for a break and to layer up. Up until now, I had been wearing a long sleeved midweight merino wool layer part of the way, then added a hoodie on and off. Now came the rain/wind proof layer as sleet began. It was blowing and COLD!
The hike to Salkantay Pass: It took about 3-4 hours to get up there. The path was busy… many groups large and small at the beginning, shared our trail. We had been advised by Alex that mules and horses would be passing us on the trail all day long. In many places the trail is narrow and the drop on one side is dire so when we hear, see or smell the horses coming, move to the high side of the path. Their load is WIDE and they have little regard for “bumping” the occasional tourist into a ravine!
At Suyrococha, about a kilometer from the top, we stopped for a break and to layer up. Up until now, I had been wearing a long sleeved midweight merino wool layer part of the way, then added a hoodie on and off. Now came the rain/wind proof layer as sleet began. It was blowing and COLD!
The final push to the top. A little stop for selfies, promotional pics for Scenic Peru and … you guessed it… another layer. Without the mega uphill to warm our bodies, we were quick to begin to cool. Under my rain jacket, I added a down jacket with hood. 850 fill power. Ooh baby... Lofty! I was now wearing everything, including my alpaca hat and down gloves, merino wool Buff.
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| 15,200+ feet above sea level |
Part of my research for trips like this is spending hours glued to YouTube. It was there I watched a video of a very pretty gal who swore she changed clothes every 10 minutes on the Salkantay Trail. At the time, my judgmental mind labeled her “high maintenance”. She was right though… and I was wrong.
What goes up, must come down. And so down we began. We still had 18km to hike yet. It was a rocky, muddy, watery event by all accounts. We were another 90 minutes from lunch. (The mules and cooks had passed us on the trail some time ago and we were looking forward to another spectacular 2 course, hot lunch at Huayracmachay.
By now Kelli was fairly damp through all layers, Teresa had some foot tendon pain developing and we were all really tired. There was about 10km to go to camp. We trod a careful path down a very muddy trail. Stopping as the rain permitted, to take pics of the flowers, mosses, lichens… general area. How Alex maintains his smile, pulls all sorts of knowledge out of his brain at short notice and keeps us going to schedule is beyond me. It’s not like he does this every week either. He guides all sorts of trips by bus, rail and van as well as other hiking vacations for tourists. The last time he was here, on the Salkantay Trail was a year ago. And last week, he was hiking the Classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
An hour from camp, the decision was made to hurry us along a bit. Kelli and I picked up the pace and walked ahead while the horse was summoned for Teresa. If were were going to get there before 6 pm, before darkness fell in the jungle (cloud forest) we needed to be a bit more intentional.
Ask me how Kelli and I, now ahead of the horse, Francesco (horseman), Alex and Teresa, found camp?! We were proud to say that we used our immense powers of logic and deduction to walk in the general direction given, then take the fork in the path that seemed most likely to get us there - or make us easy to find in the event we were actually lost!
I would say the only really dicey part was the decision to walk across a mud and stick bridge that spanned the raging river, 50 feet up in the air. This part of the trail featured no footprints or hoof-prints of those that had gone before us… Something that we both noticed but neither mentioned until after said bridge had been safely traversed.
We reached camp at 5:45 pm. About 5 minutes before the others caught up to us.
The promise of a hot shower had me part with 3 Soles lickity-split. (About a US $1) Alas, hot was a word that might have been used a little loosely and I soon found myself in the shower equivalent of an outhouse, fighting off an Amazon sized insect, indulging in lukewarm water and dressing kinda outside with only the use of my headlamp. Hahaha. Still felt better than no shower after 2 solid days of hiking!
Camping here was warmer. We fell asleep to the sound of the river. Exhausted and increasingly grateful the cooks, horsemen and of course, Alex!
P.S. Today was definitive proof that Dallice is “viable” at 15,200’ (with Diamox every 6 hours since getting to 11,000’ and Dexamethasone 2x/day starting the day before the hike began). Mark Mantei… get ready for Nepal, 2020!
1 comment:
Geeze, Dallice, well done!!!! Can't imagine....all the best!!
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