A short stay here but a welcome return to climbing after a week of touristy stuff. The landscape was stunning with green rolling forested hills and very friendly locals. It took us three drive days to get here from the Argentine border and as this region is very urbanised we found bush camping rather difficult. One night we found a football pitch to camp our tents but the following we just camped in a car park of a truck stop. As you can imagine trucks were coming and going all night so did not get much sleep. There were 19 people on the truck for this drive which meant a serious reduction in drive day sleeping space, people were strewn everywhere trying to catch up on their 40 winks.
In Bau we stayed in a mountain refuge clearly designed for climbers. This had a kitchen so was a great place for my next cook duty which id been partnered with Kirsty for so could show her the ropes. Better still there was a huge artificial bouldering cave adjoining the refuge which meant compulsory training before dinner!
We climbed at two venues from the refuge. The first day we climbed at a single pitch granite venue with very hard for the grade climbs. Was pleasant enough for an afternoon but the sharp granite crystals seriously hurt the finger tips. The next day we went on a bit of an adventure with the aim of climbing a long seven pitch on Ana Chata. Finding the bottom of the route was the first challenge. The mist had descended over night and we couldnt see the rock. After losing the path we went on a great jungle bashing mission to get to the rock with me practicing the skills id learnt in the Indonesian jungle to try and avoid getting bitten by nasties.
We eventually found the base of the route and were rewarded with a wonderful route with lots of trad climbing and lots of run out pitches (Brazilians seem to like sportingly bolted climbs) with plenty of exposure on the last pitches 120 metres or so up. From the summit we had a great view of Pedra de Bau which looked a bit like the sugar loaf in Rio. The descent involved scrambling down through caves and across exposed terraces and was lots of fun before reaching the jungle just as it got dark and a little but spooky. Jon had a close encounter with a large snake hiding in a brick wall on his way back down, Im still waiting with baited breath to see my first snake.
It was with some reluctance that we left the Bau refugio, however it wasnt all bad as we were heading for surely on of the highlights of the trip - Rio de Janeiro
For photos please see below
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150390875373780&set=a.10150371029028780.357348.501123779&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.10150371002108780.357341.501123779&type=1
Monday, 28 November 2011
Iguassu Falls
So after a 20 hour bus ride across the cattle grazing land of North East Argentina I made it to Brazil and the famous Iguassu falls which I remember wanting to visit since having it as a desktop background at university! After 3 months apart it was lovely to see Kirsty again who had booked us an awesome room in a hostel with pool and the most friendly helpful staff I have ever come across. We had four days to kill to wait for Ernie to catch up with us.
The first day we went to the Brazilian side of the falls which gave a stunning overall view of the falls. The handrails were also littered with beautiful butterflies who landed on the handrails to feast on the sweat of many western tourists! Most impressive was the Gargantua del Diablo (Devils throat) where the noise and sheer volume of water take your breath away. The second day I got another stamp in my passport as I crossed back into Argentina and visited that side of the falls which took you on top of the falls for a close up view of all the different separate cascades. We had torrential rain this day and having been able to count on one hand all the rainy days of the trip so far this was actually quite welcome.We also saw coatis which I guess were quite attractive animals but having become accustomed to so many tourists were now just scavengers and could get quite aggressive. I kept my distance, (just in case they had rabies!).
That night the hostel were doing a traditional Brazilian BBQ with a great spread of salad, sausage, chicken and of course beef with some ground manioc (root from the jungle) to dip the meat in. This combined with many lime caprinhas and summer beers made for an awesome evening!
Our third day was another downpour interrupted by having to move hostel. It was a Brazilian bank holiday so reluctantly we left the awesome bambu hostel and moved round the corner to the inferior supernova hostel. We spent this day at a fantastic bird park seeing many macaws, flamingoes and the beautiful toucan. Colours were amazing. Unfortunately perhaps due to the rain the birds were all pretty subdued and just sat under their shelters looking glum. The biggest disappointment was something I had majorly bigged up. I was so excited about seeing the mighty Anaconda but when I got to its enclosure I saw something more resembling a coiled up garden hose, I was so distraught it was tiny! Perhaps I was expecting to witness the snake swallowing whole a small deer, never mind.
The next day I found very interesting. We visited one of the largest hydro electrical projects in the world, the Itaipu dam. Built on the Parana river the dam is one of the modern wonders of the world but attracted a lot of criticism when it was built. The company are doing a good job of persuading the tourists of all the good work they do to promote sustainable development. For example they have built a spawning channel so as not to interrupt with breeding patterns and also a wildlife corridor so as not to interrupt the migration of wildlife. They also claim it provides Paraguay with 80% of their energy and Brazil with 20%. Bizarrely the local town Foz de Iguazu got no energy from the town. The video we were shown was very propaganderish (is that a word?), I would like to know the other side of the story.
That night we crossed the border again back into Argentina (passport getting rather full now!) to meet up with the others. We were staying in a very plush campsite with a pool and bordering onto the junlge so the night was filled with the sounds of wonderful wildlife. It was here that I finally cracked and bought myself a football. It was worth it, that night on the local footbal pitch some Argentinian college students staying in the same camp came and we had an awesome game with my team winning 15-9 and not a hand of god in sight! After two weeks of carting all my gear round with me it was awesome to be re united with the big red truck. Kirsty and I settled in and were soon ready to get to our next climbing destination.
For photos see below
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150390875373780&set=a.10150371029028780.357348.501123779&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.10150371029028780.357348.501123779&type=3
The first day we went to the Brazilian side of the falls which gave a stunning overall view of the falls. The handrails were also littered with beautiful butterflies who landed on the handrails to feast on the sweat of many western tourists! Most impressive was the Gargantua del Diablo (Devils throat) where the noise and sheer volume of water take your breath away. The second day I got another stamp in my passport as I crossed back into Argentina and visited that side of the falls which took you on top of the falls for a close up view of all the different separate cascades. We had torrential rain this day and having been able to count on one hand all the rainy days of the trip so far this was actually quite welcome.We also saw coatis which I guess were quite attractive animals but having become accustomed to so many tourists were now just scavengers and could get quite aggressive. I kept my distance, (just in case they had rabies!).
That night the hostel were doing a traditional Brazilian BBQ with a great spread of salad, sausage, chicken and of course beef with some ground manioc (root from the jungle) to dip the meat in. This combined with many lime caprinhas and summer beers made for an awesome evening!
Our third day was another downpour interrupted by having to move hostel. It was a Brazilian bank holiday so reluctantly we left the awesome bambu hostel and moved round the corner to the inferior supernova hostel. We spent this day at a fantastic bird park seeing many macaws, flamingoes and the beautiful toucan. Colours were amazing. Unfortunately perhaps due to the rain the birds were all pretty subdued and just sat under their shelters looking glum. The biggest disappointment was something I had majorly bigged up. I was so excited about seeing the mighty Anaconda but when I got to its enclosure I saw something more resembling a coiled up garden hose, I was so distraught it was tiny! Perhaps I was expecting to witness the snake swallowing whole a small deer, never mind.
The next day I found very interesting. We visited one of the largest hydro electrical projects in the world, the Itaipu dam. Built on the Parana river the dam is one of the modern wonders of the world but attracted a lot of criticism when it was built. The company are doing a good job of persuading the tourists of all the good work they do to promote sustainable development. For example they have built a spawning channel so as not to interrupt with breeding patterns and also a wildlife corridor so as not to interrupt the migration of wildlife. They also claim it provides Paraguay with 80% of their energy and Brazil with 20%. Bizarrely the local town Foz de Iguazu got no energy from the town. The video we were shown was very propaganderish (is that a word?), I would like to know the other side of the story.
That night we crossed the border again back into Argentina (passport getting rather full now!) to meet up with the others. We were staying in a very plush campsite with a pool and bordering onto the junlge so the night was filled with the sounds of wonderful wildlife. It was here that I finally cracked and bought myself a football. It was worth it, that night on the local footbal pitch some Argentinian college students staying in the same camp came and we had an awesome game with my team winning 15-9 and not a hand of god in sight! After two weeks of carting all my gear round with me it was awesome to be re united with the big red truck. Kirsty and I settled in and were soon ready to get to our next climbing destination.
For photos see below
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150390875373780&set=a.10150371029028780.357348.501123779&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.10150371029028780.357348.501123779&type=3
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Truck disaster and Los Gigantes
Leaving the wonderful Socaire we were bound for Tuzgle, the highest climbing in the atacama for us and according to he Petzl Roc trip the best bouldering in Argentina. So we were all excited. We crossed into Argentina with no problems and even got a game of table tennis in the border control. Then halfway into across a lonely strip of desert disaster struck as the truck ground to a halt. Collectively we push started the truck twice but the engine kept cutting out. Stuck we popped up our tents again in the middle of the desert and off went Seb and Tom again to find help. The net day was filled with lonely walks, movie watching and lots of eating before Seb returned in a big truck destined to tow us to the nearest town some 100 km away. It was a slow tow and at 10pm the truck abandoned us after Ernie collided into the back of the truck. They would come back at 2am with a longer tow bar but this was after I had settled into a deep sleep outside in my bivvi bag. Everyone else had squeezed into a corner of the truck. The only space left for me was to sit in the communal shoe box for the remaining 16km journey which remarkably took 6 hours arriving in the charming town of San Antonio de las Cobres at 8am. The town was a hell hole, an old mining town with no charm or character.
As the truck was clearly severely in need of TLC as a group we decided to abandon the truck and make our own way to Cordoba and then onto Los Gigantes in the Sierra de Cordoba range. This involved a 5 hour bus ride to Salta and then a 12 hour overnight coach to Cordoba which was most pleasant apart from the man refusing to let me get my sleeping bag out of my pack before getting on, I was outraged as the coach was freezing.
Highlight of Cordoba was the ice cream and steak night. We quickly moved onto the climbing. Beautiful granite hills stretching for miles.We stayed in our tents by a beautiful alpine stream which was great for bathing. It was actually nice to be away from the truck for a while, with no duties or routines it made for a very relaxed stay. The walk ins were over an hour so we worked hard for our climbs but once we found out where the non slab climbs were they were well worth it (hate slab climbing!) After 8days the truck had still not caught up with us and we had all ran out of money and food. So beating a hasty retreat from the angry refuge owner (whom I couldnt pay) we hitched a ride back down to Villa Carlos Paz where I left the rest of the group in order t catch up with Kirsty who was due to fly in to Iguassu!
To see photos from this leg please click below!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150390875373780&set=a.10150371029028780.357348.501123779&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.10150359854238780.355692.501123779&type=3
As the truck was clearly severely in need of TLC as a group we decided to abandon the truck and make our own way to Cordoba and then onto Los Gigantes in the Sierra de Cordoba range. This involved a 5 hour bus ride to Salta and then a 12 hour overnight coach to Cordoba which was most pleasant apart from the man refusing to let me get my sleeping bag out of my pack before getting on, I was outraged as the coach was freezing.
Highlight of Cordoba was the ice cream and steak night. We quickly moved onto the climbing. Beautiful granite hills stretching for miles.We stayed in our tents by a beautiful alpine stream which was great for bathing. It was actually nice to be away from the truck for a while, with no duties or routines it made for a very relaxed stay. The walk ins were over an hour so we worked hard for our climbs but once we found out where the non slab climbs were they were well worth it (hate slab climbing!) After 8days the truck had still not caught up with us and we had all ran out of money and food. So beating a hasty retreat from the angry refuge owner (whom I couldnt pay) we hitched a ride back down to Villa Carlos Paz where I left the rest of the group in order t catch up with Kirsty who was due to fly in to Iguassu!
To see photos from this leg please click below!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150390875373780&set=a.10150371029028780.357348.501123779&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.10150359854238780.355692.501123779&type=3
Saturday, 26 November 2011
The Atacama Desert
After our short stay in Bolivia we crossed the border into Chile. This was a real faf. They have very tight rules on what you bring into the country, i.e. no fresh produce. Before we got to the border we all frantically stuffed apples under the floorboards and yoghurt drinks into the depths of our climbing sacks to avoid getting in big trouble with the SAG dudes who came on to search the truck. Turns out you can bribe in Chile too and a few bits of cheese and a bar of chocolate and the guard let us on our way. Into Chile and one of the driest regions on earth, the atacama.
We had three crags lined up for this section of the trip all on beautiful hard igneous rock set in deep gorges carved into the desert. After a lovely overnight stay in San Pedro de Atacama where we actually enjoyed a fine meal out and some drinks for woody birthday the first crag was Tocanau. After completing two easy trad pitches I got on a 6c+ route which followed a beautful line of pockets up a near vertical sheet of rock, it looked perfect. The first 3 bolts went fine before I discovered the 3rd bolt was missing. Instead i place a small cam inside a pocket, it looked bombproof so I pressed on. Unfortunately I made a complete hubbub of the moves and fell going up to the next bolt. I didnt think id fall very far but the rock holding the cam exploded and the cam ripped out, so i kept falling. I landed reasonably hard on the ledge next to Woody who had expertly jumped off the ledge to take in some of the slack rope. Without this I might have hurt myself very badly, so thanks Woody- top work! Unfortunately my bottom which had almost recovered from the sandboarding pain was now pretty sore again, boo! On the walk back to the truck it seemed most people in the valley had heard my plummeting screams as they came up to check I was ok. On returning to the truck we were told we were unable to stay in the area as it was an indigenous village and they did not allow camping, I wasnt too fussed about leaving!
The next crag was socaire, similar climbing in a gorge with a beautiful little stream running down it and surrounded by volcanoes. We had four days here and I loved the climbing and the whole situation. Managed to complete a 7a+ which I was very happy with, it was fairly hard for the grade and we were still at 4000m of altitude. On one of the days Simon, Danny and myself climbed for a half day before venturing off with light packs to climb one of the nearby volcanoes. They were further away than we thought. We got to a disappointing summit after endless false ones at 5100m and then descended in the dark getting back to the truck at 130am for dinner! A highlight of the climb was seeing the weird pentinites that appear in very dry high areas. Weird sharp fins of snow or ice free standing from the ground, they were nice to look at but a pain to walk across.
All left Socaire in high spirits after some awesome climbing and with the prospect of more of the same at Tuzgle in Argentina we were very excited. My only low point of Socaire was when a party of French climbers turned up and although they had the whole gorge to choose from they plonked their little tent right within spitting distance of mine. To make it worse they then lit a huge fire as I was trying to sleep IN BETWEEN THE TENTS! Have they not done D of E? Very dangerous. Luckily Sarah the scary Welsh doctor had a go at them and made them put out the fire, they moved the next day!!
To see photos click below
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150343317473780.351901.501123779&type=3&saved#!/media/set/?set=a.10150343317473780.351901.501123779&type=1
We had three crags lined up for this section of the trip all on beautiful hard igneous rock set in deep gorges carved into the desert. After a lovely overnight stay in San Pedro de Atacama where we actually enjoyed a fine meal out and some drinks for woody birthday the first crag was Tocanau. After completing two easy trad pitches I got on a 6c+ route which followed a beautful line of pockets up a near vertical sheet of rock, it looked perfect. The first 3 bolts went fine before I discovered the 3rd bolt was missing. Instead i place a small cam inside a pocket, it looked bombproof so I pressed on. Unfortunately I made a complete hubbub of the moves and fell going up to the next bolt. I didnt think id fall very far but the rock holding the cam exploded and the cam ripped out, so i kept falling. I landed reasonably hard on the ledge next to Woody who had expertly jumped off the ledge to take in some of the slack rope. Without this I might have hurt myself very badly, so thanks Woody- top work! Unfortunately my bottom which had almost recovered from the sandboarding pain was now pretty sore again, boo! On the walk back to the truck it seemed most people in the valley had heard my plummeting screams as they came up to check I was ok. On returning to the truck we were told we were unable to stay in the area as it was an indigenous village and they did not allow camping, I wasnt too fussed about leaving!
The next crag was socaire, similar climbing in a gorge with a beautiful little stream running down it and surrounded by volcanoes. We had four days here and I loved the climbing and the whole situation. Managed to complete a 7a+ which I was very happy with, it was fairly hard for the grade and we were still at 4000m of altitude. On one of the days Simon, Danny and myself climbed for a half day before venturing off with light packs to climb one of the nearby volcanoes. They were further away than we thought. We got to a disappointing summit after endless false ones at 5100m and then descended in the dark getting back to the truck at 130am for dinner! A highlight of the climb was seeing the weird pentinites that appear in very dry high areas. Weird sharp fins of snow or ice free standing from the ground, they were nice to look at but a pain to walk across.
All left Socaire in high spirits after some awesome climbing and with the prospect of more of the same at Tuzgle in Argentina we were very excited. My only low point of Socaire was when a party of French climbers turned up and although they had the whole gorge to choose from they plonked their little tent right within spitting distance of mine. To make it worse they then lit a huge fire as I was trying to sleep IN BETWEEN THE TENTS! Have they not done D of E? Very dangerous. Luckily Sarah the scary Welsh doctor had a go at them and made them put out the fire, they moved the next day!!
To see photos click below
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150343317473780.351901.501123779&type=3&saved#!/media/set/?set=a.10150343317473780.351901.501123779&type=1
Oruro climbing and the salt flats of doom!
Our next destination was the town of Oruro where we found some excellent climbing on GRANITE. Seb disagrees but I insist its granite! The bush camp was not ideal as we were right in the middle of a strange urban area. It meant going for a wild poo was most difficult. The area was exposed to the strongest winds which blew sand everywhere and tents were soon filled. It was also full of stray dogs which the locals told us to throw stones at if they got too close, the dogs knew it too as they backed off as soon as you bent down to grab one, nasty rabid things!
It was here that I had my next bout of illness getting up 4 times in the night either for vomiting or runny poo. Still feeling rubbish the next day I missed the whole day of climbing and just sat in the Doctors tent and boiled in the sun. Fortunately for me the Dr came home and insisted I moved to the truck where it would be cooler. It was a good job too because 5 minutes later a huge gust of wind toppled the large heavy kitchen tent onto the doctors tent crushing it to the floor! That could have been painful!
The next day I felt far better and went to climb, I was on a mission and felt extremely light having eaten nothing the previous day. Did 10 lovely routes including a 7a which is seemingly so good it appears in the lonely planet guidebook, which is most unusual.
During the day two Bolivian children came to check us out. They seemed to want to have a go so armed with some quickdraws and helmets (just in case) they set about running all over the rock. We were more interested in making sure they didnt run off with our gear so kept a close eye on them. Great kids though, full of laughter and happiness even though they clearly have nothing. They said thank you a lot after, better than my spanish.
We left Oruro and travelled to the salt flats with the intention of getting across them the same day. Somewhere along the way we took the wrong road and ended up on the wrong salt flats on the wrong road. It was with one of those juddering swerves that we plummeted throught the thin crust of salt and into the gooey mud underneath, and there we stayed.... for three days. We tried all the usual tricks, SEb and Tom went off to get a tractor, which refused to come out for risk of getting stuck (apparantly we were very silly for going across this part of flats). Huw Seb n I walked off in the opposite direction for several hours to find another town before getting a text (thank you mobile phones) to say a tractor had now agreed to help. Tractor man said pulling wouldnt work and set about jacking up the truck building up the hole underneath the tyres and then laying boards underneath the tyres. It was a painfully slow process but got us free in the end. All that time all there was to do was eat, sleep or shovel mud underneath the tyres. It was a beautifully desolate place but after 3 days the view and getting blasted in the face by salt got a bit monotonous. We found great amusement in one of the cook duty carrots which was shaped rather like the bottom half of a man!
Once free we found the correct road and made our way to the correct salt flats. After one of the best runs ill ever do aloing the flats at sunrise watching flamingos we crossed the flats with a guide. We had a lot of fun stopping at an island and using the endless horizon to make funny photos. ALso visited the salt hotel and picked up a bolivian hitchhiker who must have thought we were all mad after Woodys Pricilla queen of the desert routine on the roof of Ernie, happy days!
To see photos please click below!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150356903420059&set=at.10150356896330059.347030.643815058.501123779&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.10150343293753780.351896.501123779&type=1
It was here that I had my next bout of illness getting up 4 times in the night either for vomiting or runny poo. Still feeling rubbish the next day I missed the whole day of climbing and just sat in the Doctors tent and boiled in the sun. Fortunately for me the Dr came home and insisted I moved to the truck where it would be cooler. It was a good job too because 5 minutes later a huge gust of wind toppled the large heavy kitchen tent onto the doctors tent crushing it to the floor! That could have been painful!
The next day I felt far better and went to climb, I was on a mission and felt extremely light having eaten nothing the previous day. Did 10 lovely routes including a 7a which is seemingly so good it appears in the lonely planet guidebook, which is most unusual.
During the day two Bolivian children came to check us out. They seemed to want to have a go so armed with some quickdraws and helmets (just in case) they set about running all over the rock. We were more interested in making sure they didnt run off with our gear so kept a close eye on them. Great kids though, full of laughter and happiness even though they clearly have nothing. They said thank you a lot after, better than my spanish.
We left Oruro and travelled to the salt flats with the intention of getting across them the same day. Somewhere along the way we took the wrong road and ended up on the wrong salt flats on the wrong road. It was with one of those juddering swerves that we plummeted throught the thin crust of salt and into the gooey mud underneath, and there we stayed.... for three days. We tried all the usual tricks, SEb and Tom went off to get a tractor, which refused to come out for risk of getting stuck (apparantly we were very silly for going across this part of flats). Huw Seb n I walked off in the opposite direction for several hours to find another town before getting a text (thank you mobile phones) to say a tractor had now agreed to help. Tractor man said pulling wouldnt work and set about jacking up the truck building up the hole underneath the tyres and then laying boards underneath the tyres. It was a painfully slow process but got us free in the end. All that time all there was to do was eat, sleep or shovel mud underneath the tyres. It was a beautifully desolate place but after 3 days the view and getting blasted in the face by salt got a bit monotonous. We found great amusement in one of the cook duty carrots which was shaped rather like the bottom half of a man!
Once free we found the correct road and made our way to the correct salt flats. After one of the best runs ill ever do aloing the flats at sunrise watching flamingos we crossed the flats with a guide. We had a lot of fun stopping at an island and using the endless horizon to make funny photos. ALso visited the salt hotel and picked up a bolivian hitchhiker who must have thought we were all mad after Woodys Pricilla queen of the desert routine on the roof of Ernie, happy days!
To see photos please click below!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150356903420059&set=at.10150356896330059.347030.643815058.501123779&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.10150343293753780.351896.501123779&type=1
La Paz and climbing Huayni Potosi
Apart from smashing a traffic light we arrived in La Paz safetly and settled into a nice hotel near the valley of the moon in the posh part of the city. Though their idea of a camping ground was not ideal as they showed us to their stone courtyard out the back.
Spent one day climbing here on weird conglomerate rock (large pebbles stuck in some muddy mudstone) but it gave fantastically fun and pumpy climbing just 3km from the city centre. We then felt the need to sort stuff out for climbing the 6088m Huayni Potosi which seemed the best objective in the time frame we had. Illimani will have to wait. Everyone in the town seemed to want to give us tours up the mountain when all we wanted was some white gas and a map. Having sorted these and snubbed the idea of paying 70 quid to cycle down a gravel road that is supposed to be the road of death we returned for a cook duty in the mother of all storms. Huw and I got soaked cookin up our pasta meal before some kind souls set up the kitchen tent around us. By then however my wonderful meal was ruined with rain water!!
Next day all I remember is buying a huge chicken, driving for a long time (all the time wanting to eat the chicken) arriving in the cordillera occidental and walking into the rock refuge through the mist. The refuge was at 5000m and though we had dragged tents up with us we thought the refuge would give us a better chance of a good nights kip and therefore a better chance of summiting. We spent most of the night melting snow for drinking water and to cook noodles which took ages and the MSR filled the hut with noise.
Woke up next morning at 1am and started marching up the snow slope following in the footsteps of the Germans who had left an hour or two before us. It was ages since I had had such an alpine start and I really loved walking by headtorch. We weaved through countless crevasses and saw dangerous seracs (ice cliffs) overhanging snow slopes we had to ascend. Saw La Paz in the distance all lit up. At about 5600 m we started to suffer, Simon turned around and headed down feeling sick, Tom spent a lot of time with his head in his hands and I adapted a strategy of walking 10 yards and then stopping for about 5 minutes. Alys was a trooper and marched on seemingly unaffected by the altitude. We got on to the steep north ridge at 930 am and then the summit at 10am. Was a bit too knackered to show any emotion but enjoyed my summit chocolate none the less! Descended down and rested in the hut before bribing a taxi man to take us back to La Paz instead of the Germans he had come to collect (we werent organised enough to arrange transport). Got back in time to have one more lovely afternoon of climbing on the beautfiul conglomerate rock. It was Calums last night that night so had a few drinks to say goodbye to him and welcomed two newcomers on to the truck, one from France one from the states.
Photos are below
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150356903420059&set=at.10150356896330059.347030.643815058.501123779&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.10150343327168780.351905.501123779&type=1
Spent one day climbing here on weird conglomerate rock (large pebbles stuck in some muddy mudstone) but it gave fantastically fun and pumpy climbing just 3km from the city centre. We then felt the need to sort stuff out for climbing the 6088m Huayni Potosi which seemed the best objective in the time frame we had. Illimani will have to wait. Everyone in the town seemed to want to give us tours up the mountain when all we wanted was some white gas and a map. Having sorted these and snubbed the idea of paying 70 quid to cycle down a gravel road that is supposed to be the road of death we returned for a cook duty in the mother of all storms. Huw and I got soaked cookin up our pasta meal before some kind souls set up the kitchen tent around us. By then however my wonderful meal was ruined with rain water!!
Next day all I remember is buying a huge chicken, driving for a long time (all the time wanting to eat the chicken) arriving in the cordillera occidental and walking into the rock refuge through the mist. The refuge was at 5000m and though we had dragged tents up with us we thought the refuge would give us a better chance of a good nights kip and therefore a better chance of summiting. We spent most of the night melting snow for drinking water and to cook noodles which took ages and the MSR filled the hut with noise.
Woke up next morning at 1am and started marching up the snow slope following in the footsteps of the Germans who had left an hour or two before us. It was ages since I had had such an alpine start and I really loved walking by headtorch. We weaved through countless crevasses and saw dangerous seracs (ice cliffs) overhanging snow slopes we had to ascend. Saw La Paz in the distance all lit up. At about 5600 m we started to suffer, Simon turned around and headed down feeling sick, Tom spent a lot of time with his head in his hands and I adapted a strategy of walking 10 yards and then stopping for about 5 minutes. Alys was a trooper and marched on seemingly unaffected by the altitude. We got on to the steep north ridge at 930 am and then the summit at 10am. Was a bit too knackered to show any emotion but enjoyed my summit chocolate none the less! Descended down and rested in the hut before bribing a taxi man to take us back to La Paz instead of the Germans he had come to collect (we werent organised enough to arrange transport). Got back in time to have one more lovely afternoon of climbing on the beautfiul conglomerate rock. It was Calums last night that night so had a few drinks to say goodbye to him and welcomed two newcomers on to the truck, one from France one from the states.
Photos are below
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150356903420059&set=at.10150356896330059.347030.643815058.501123779&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.10150343327168780.351905.501123779&type=1
Yana Cuchilla and crossing into Bolivia
A short leg this one. Having left Cusco and the truck behind four of us went to climb little known Yana Cuchill in the Cordillera real, on the Peruvian Bolivian border. We would soon be in La Paz where I had my eyes on a 6000m peak. At 5450m high this would be the perfect acclimitisation. Having got a disapointing 5 hour bus ride (we were promised video and toilets!) to a random village we trekked up the hill and into a lovely valley which would be base camp for the next two nights. We had tactfully decided to save weight and just take my 2 and a half man tent between the four of us. I had my doubts though and had secretly packed my bivi bag. Although we attempted to find a way of fitting four in the tent I gave up and slept top half in the porch legs outside the tent, good giggles!
Were away by 7am and walked up endless screes onto the north ridge of the mountain before getting hideously lost in the mist. I only knew we were going wrong when the altimeter had dropped significantly. Checking the compass we back tracked and thankfully th mist cleared enough for us to see our way to the top. At about 5000m we got to the snow line and I started feeling very wobbly. Got up to main ridge which was much steeper, only two of us had crampons n axes so whilst two stayed behind myself and ALys marched on to the top with a short icy scramble to finish - nice!
Unfortunately at this point my camera had ran out of battery so got not photos of the summit, most upsetting as the ridge was lovely. Descended very quickly to camp after a 14 hour day and loved running down the scree and snow slopes accidentaly setting off a small avalanche. It was most bizarre to be sat on top of it!
We had arranged to meet the truck the following day at 12 so after a relaxed breakfast sauntered down to the pass. We waited and waited but it never cam. We gave up about 5 assuming there was a problem and caught a taxi to Puno, right on the border and on the famous Lake Titicaca. The highest navigable lake and home of the Uros Indians. Here we spent our time waiting for Ernie by visiting the bizarre floating reed islands which were now very touristy but still intersting to visit. Got dumped on an island no bigger than my lounge for an hour but resisted the temptation to buy a model boat made of reeds and resisted the temptation to send my postcards from the only floating post box. Instead i sat in the sun and sulked at having no clothes to wear other than my mountaineering garb, it was so hot. To worsen my mood that night I ate Guinea pig which was the worst 8 pounds I have ever spent, there was literally no meat on it, luckily I had a doctor with me who enjoyed picking it apart and feeding me the small scraps of meat.
We finally met up with the truck and after a few cheeky bribes were able to get into Bolivia and on our way to La Paz with no other difficulty. That night we bivvied on top of a hill after not making it to LA Paz, I thought it would be an excellent idea to sleep in my bivi. It was till the eggs I had for dinner gave me the worst bottom runs in the world which in turn made me vomit out of my bag. To make things worse at 4 in the morning it started snowing and I woke wwith my bivi bag full of snow as it had drifted in through the mozzy net. Not the best start to Bolivia. I spent the next morning on the truck a shivery vomity mess!!
My mood was improved by the crossing of Lake Titicaca. I heard screams of ´´no, surely not´´ as we approached the ``ferry´´. Turns out it was a barge made of sticks which we were all sure would not support Ernies 14 ton bulk. Undeterred the little Bolivian man pushed us away from the shore with his stick and motored us across with the smallest motor ever, about the same size as the one on my dads little Bounty!
Jon and calum leaped to dry ground and pulled us to safety and we went on our way to La Paz.
Photos click link below
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150356903420059&set=at.10150356896330059.347030.643815058.501123779&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.10150337883618780.350711.501123779&type=1
Were away by 7am and walked up endless screes onto the north ridge of the mountain before getting hideously lost in the mist. I only knew we were going wrong when the altimeter had dropped significantly. Checking the compass we back tracked and thankfully th mist cleared enough for us to see our way to the top. At about 5000m we got to the snow line and I started feeling very wobbly. Got up to main ridge which was much steeper, only two of us had crampons n axes so whilst two stayed behind myself and ALys marched on to the top with a short icy scramble to finish - nice!
Unfortunately at this point my camera had ran out of battery so got not photos of the summit, most upsetting as the ridge was lovely. Descended very quickly to camp after a 14 hour day and loved running down the scree and snow slopes accidentaly setting off a small avalanche. It was most bizarre to be sat on top of it!
We had arranged to meet the truck the following day at 12 so after a relaxed breakfast sauntered down to the pass. We waited and waited but it never cam. We gave up about 5 assuming there was a problem and caught a taxi to Puno, right on the border and on the famous Lake Titicaca. The highest navigable lake and home of the Uros Indians. Here we spent our time waiting for Ernie by visiting the bizarre floating reed islands which were now very touristy but still intersting to visit. Got dumped on an island no bigger than my lounge for an hour but resisted the temptation to buy a model boat made of reeds and resisted the temptation to send my postcards from the only floating post box. Instead i sat in the sun and sulked at having no clothes to wear other than my mountaineering garb, it was so hot. To worsen my mood that night I ate Guinea pig which was the worst 8 pounds I have ever spent, there was literally no meat on it, luckily I had a doctor with me who enjoyed picking it apart and feeding me the small scraps of meat.
We finally met up with the truck and after a few cheeky bribes were able to get into Bolivia and on our way to La Paz with no other difficulty. That night we bivvied on top of a hill after not making it to LA Paz, I thought it would be an excellent idea to sleep in my bivi. It was till the eggs I had for dinner gave me the worst bottom runs in the world which in turn made me vomit out of my bag. To make things worse at 4 in the morning it started snowing and I woke wwith my bivi bag full of snow as it had drifted in through the mozzy net. Not the best start to Bolivia. I spent the next morning on the truck a shivery vomity mess!!
My mood was improved by the crossing of Lake Titicaca. I heard screams of ´´no, surely not´´ as we approached the ``ferry´´. Turns out it was a barge made of sticks which we were all sure would not support Ernies 14 ton bulk. Undeterred the little Bolivian man pushed us away from the shore with his stick and motored us across with the smallest motor ever, about the same size as the one on my dads little Bounty!
Jon and calum leaped to dry ground and pulled us to safety and we went on our way to La Paz.
Photos click link below
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150356903420059&set=at.10150356896330059.347030.643815058.501123779&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.10150337883618780.350711.501123779&type=1
Arequipa, colca canyon and cuzco to Machu Picchu
Ok if you read this please bear in mind im writing this retrospectively as this part of the journey happened back at the start of October! Hey ho its a rainy day today in Brazil so might as well update this.
We left the beautiful beach of Atiquipa and drove with the intention of getting to Arequipa. I was pretty sickly after the tatoo party so was more useless than normal in trying to fix the tyre which busted smack bang in the middle of the desert. Thankfully a Peruvian truck driver stopped without being asked and more or less took over the fixing, such friendly people. As a result of the tyre we didnt make it to Arequipa instead we camped in the desert amisdt beautiful cactus one of which I stood on whilst trying to relieve myself in the middle of the night, most painful but more painful to remove the barbs which have reversed hooks on, ouch!
When we arrived at the hostel we were most surprsied to find ourselves in such plush accomodation, apparantly the most expensive of the trip, we all felt extremely grubby turning up having been in the desert for so long and promptly went for showers and an exploration of the town. Still not too fussed about cities but Seb Calum an I sat on a terrace overlooking the main square and enjoyed a cold beer (banana split in my case) and watched the world go by. Arequipa was surrounded by beautiful mountains and I was getting itchy feet having not got up anything big yet, Volcan Misti was an impressive cone 5500 m high I would have loved to of climbed, just not enough time.
Next stop after driving round various garages getting spare tyres and fixing brakes for the morning was the infamous colca canyon where we would see condors. Did see plenty of condors which were mightily impressive but I was disappointed with the canyon. My vision of a canyon is vertical sides down into a big drop, this was more like a steep sided valley, very deep its true but not quite what i expected.
At this point having not climbed for weeks everyone was a bit ratty. We scouted out a small crag called Huayaye using the wonders of the web. On arrival mid afternoon I got my mountain head on and ran up a 4500m mountain in prep for the larger stuff. On reaching the summit it was dark and got thoroughly lost on the descent. Soon saw lights in the valley so thought id just head for the nearest town and ask for directions. When asking where Huayaye was it just sounded very Geordie and the poor Peruvian had no idea where or what I was talking about.Luckily I found my on way back to the truck. The next day was super excited about climbing but on arrival were told we were not allowed to climb there as its on farmers land. Not wanting to risk an encounter with the Peruvian police we leave and settle for a training session on the truck. This was much to the disappointment of the local climber who had bolted the whole crag and was probably delighted to see some people visit his rock, he went off to remonstrate with the farmer.
Feeling dispondent Jon and I attempt Cinnamon challenge which involves eating a spoonful of cinnamon without throwing up. I decide to snort mine which earns me a cool 40 soles. We both fail as Jon spits and mine slowly trickles back out of my nose.
Drive to Cusco the ancient Ican capital and the stopping off point for a trip to Machu Picchu. Stayed in a beautiful eco campsite and explored the ruins of sacsayhuaman from the outside trying to avoid paying the fee. Was fun getting chased away by Peruvian guards with whistles. The Incan stonework is as impressive as they say, merely the size of the blocks used and the precision with which they are put together with no cement. Spend an age getting various tickets for Machu Picchu and the train which might be the most expensive train in the world.
The next day we went to the town of Ollantaytambo in the sacred valley. We entered the ruins (actually paid the fee this time) and quickly realised we had no idea of the significance of anything so hired a guide which was most interesting as we learnt about how solstices were important in the building design and many settlements were built in the shape of animals such as the alpacca and the puma. Train ride along sacred valley is awesome as we have views of 6000m andean peaks and the beautiful Urubamba river. We arrive in Aguas Calientes which in the nicest possible way is a hole purely built for those visiting Machu Picchu.
The next morning we rise at 5am and snub the tourist buses to take a walk up through the cloud forest to Machu Picchu. From my mountain training im feeling pretty fit so run to the top and meet the others in a pool of sweat! The view of the place was stunning and we were all very excited. It was a very intense day exploring the whole site before we had to get the train back to Cusco. Didnt really learn much apart from when I latched onto a tour group of middle aged Americans, but just enjoyed exploring all the nooks and crannies. Spectacular site. As your not allowed to take food into the site was stupidly hungry by the end, but it was totally worth it. Got the train back to Cusco in time to prepare for our next mountain adventure in the Cordillera Real.
Photos of this leg below
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150356903420059&set=at.10150356896330059.347030.643815058.501123779&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.10150337761343780.350687.501123779&type=1
We left the beautiful beach of Atiquipa and drove with the intention of getting to Arequipa. I was pretty sickly after the tatoo party so was more useless than normal in trying to fix the tyre which busted smack bang in the middle of the desert. Thankfully a Peruvian truck driver stopped without being asked and more or less took over the fixing, such friendly people. As a result of the tyre we didnt make it to Arequipa instead we camped in the desert amisdt beautiful cactus one of which I stood on whilst trying to relieve myself in the middle of the night, most painful but more painful to remove the barbs which have reversed hooks on, ouch!
When we arrived at the hostel we were most surprsied to find ourselves in such plush accomodation, apparantly the most expensive of the trip, we all felt extremely grubby turning up having been in the desert for so long and promptly went for showers and an exploration of the town. Still not too fussed about cities but Seb Calum an I sat on a terrace overlooking the main square and enjoyed a cold beer (banana split in my case) and watched the world go by. Arequipa was surrounded by beautiful mountains and I was getting itchy feet having not got up anything big yet, Volcan Misti was an impressive cone 5500 m high I would have loved to of climbed, just not enough time.
Next stop after driving round various garages getting spare tyres and fixing brakes for the morning was the infamous colca canyon where we would see condors. Did see plenty of condors which were mightily impressive but I was disappointed with the canyon. My vision of a canyon is vertical sides down into a big drop, this was more like a steep sided valley, very deep its true but not quite what i expected.
At this point having not climbed for weeks everyone was a bit ratty. We scouted out a small crag called Huayaye using the wonders of the web. On arrival mid afternoon I got my mountain head on and ran up a 4500m mountain in prep for the larger stuff. On reaching the summit it was dark and got thoroughly lost on the descent. Soon saw lights in the valley so thought id just head for the nearest town and ask for directions. When asking where Huayaye was it just sounded very Geordie and the poor Peruvian had no idea where or what I was talking about.Luckily I found my on way back to the truck. The next day was super excited about climbing but on arrival were told we were not allowed to climb there as its on farmers land. Not wanting to risk an encounter with the Peruvian police we leave and settle for a training session on the truck. This was much to the disappointment of the local climber who had bolted the whole crag and was probably delighted to see some people visit his rock, he went off to remonstrate with the farmer.
Feeling dispondent Jon and I attempt Cinnamon challenge which involves eating a spoonful of cinnamon without throwing up. I decide to snort mine which earns me a cool 40 soles. We both fail as Jon spits and mine slowly trickles back out of my nose.
Drive to Cusco the ancient Ican capital and the stopping off point for a trip to Machu Picchu. Stayed in a beautiful eco campsite and explored the ruins of sacsayhuaman from the outside trying to avoid paying the fee. Was fun getting chased away by Peruvian guards with whistles. The Incan stonework is as impressive as they say, merely the size of the blocks used and the precision with which they are put together with no cement. Spend an age getting various tickets for Machu Picchu and the train which might be the most expensive train in the world.
The next day we went to the town of Ollantaytambo in the sacred valley. We entered the ruins (actually paid the fee this time) and quickly realised we had no idea of the significance of anything so hired a guide which was most interesting as we learnt about how solstices were important in the building design and many settlements were built in the shape of animals such as the alpacca and the puma. Train ride along sacred valley is awesome as we have views of 6000m andean peaks and the beautiful Urubamba river. We arrive in Aguas Calientes which in the nicest possible way is a hole purely built for those visiting Machu Picchu.
The next morning we rise at 5am and snub the tourist buses to take a walk up through the cloud forest to Machu Picchu. From my mountain training im feeling pretty fit so run to the top and meet the others in a pool of sweat! The view of the place was stunning and we were all very excited. It was a very intense day exploring the whole site before we had to get the train back to Cusco. Didnt really learn much apart from when I latched onto a tour group of middle aged Americans, but just enjoyed exploring all the nooks and crannies. Spectacular site. As your not allowed to take food into the site was stupidly hungry by the end, but it was totally worth it. Got the train back to Cusco in time to prepare for our next mountain adventure in the Cordillera Real.
Photos of this leg below
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150356903420059&set=at.10150356896330059.347030.643815058.501123779&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.10150337761343780.350687.501123779&type=1
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