Laguna 69

We spent a couple of days in Huaraz, hanging out in cafes and using the internet to get ourselves sorted for returning to Australia. When we got moving, we headed for Huascarán, and the national park named for it in the Cordillera Blanca.



We set up camp deep in the valley, where the sun set early, leaving a heavy chill in the air. Next day we wandered, hung out, took the sun, and stuff like that. That's the way to stretch out a holiday!



For our second night up there, at around 3900m, we made sure of getting into tent and sleeping bags warm after an hour's brisk walk. No idea of the temperature, but there was a heavy frost on the tent both nights and the warm-up-before-bed made a big difference.

We were up about five, tucked into porridge and tea and set off for a hike. Suffice to say there was much puffing and panting too; we climbed from our campsite at 3900m to 5000m before coming down. A walk of about 16km; it's a while since we have had that kind of exercise!

(as I rounded this corner and saw the path was still going up, I wanted to lie down and sleep for a week. For the rest of the climb I counted 100 steps between each rest ... and still had trouble making it that far - e)

I think the photos will speak for themselves, vis-a-vis the views. The Lake - Laguna 69 - was absolutely spectacular, saphire blue, and nestled underneath the snowy Chacarraju summit.

Exhilarated but exhausted- so much so that we gave away the beers we had stashed in the river, preferring water and softdrink - we dragged our feet a bit as we struck camp and headed off the mountain to Caraz.