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Peru 2011 26-Nov-2011 At 10:42:08 PM vwills

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A very belated trip report (Quiet at work today!)

It’s getting close to ancient history now- our Peru trip in June/July, but it has taken me months to regain weight, normalise gut function, regain climbing strength, catch up at work and lodge my tax returns (more than a few years). Before we left I had been training extra hard: running, cycling, climbing and walking up steep hills with a heavy pack to make sure I would keep up with the crazy people I was going with. Unfortunately it was to no avail as midway through the trip, when acclimatisation usually kicks in, my body started to unravel. I don’t think I ever felt as weak or needed to take so many drugs just to get up in the morning. Still we did get some stuff done, despite infirmities and some fairly unsettled weather. Sorry about sounding like a hypochondriac!

The June long weekend saw us muster at Point Perpendicular for a bit of a get together before our departure, 2 weeks later. People seemed to be outdoing themselves with tales of decrepitude. Neil was complaining about his back, Marty about his knees and sinuses, I had vestibular neuritis after the yellow fever vaccination and kept falling to the left, but Jono trumped us all by getting his shoulder operated on a few months before departure. Unfortunately this meant he spent all his time training his legs, and he wasn’t climbing too badly either on the days we headed out. The weather was suitably foul with the one day at Point Perp that wasn’t raining more suitable to kite flying. Good alpine training no doubt.

We were to fly Sydney to Buenos Aires and then to Lima. The one problem with this plan was the huge ash cloud that closed Buenos Aires Airport for a week. A stroke of luck saw that airport open the day before we left, and Sydney close the day after. We were on our way. A late arrival in Lima saw the four of us with 2 large bags each trying to squeeze into a small car, the front passenger seat already occupied by a woman going to the same hostel. It was good experience for all further transport in Peru, except for our bus trip the next day to Huaraz which was very luxurious.

After 3 days of nonstop travel and poor sleep we arrived in Huaraz and stumbled into the Caroline Lodge. So far all the internet planning was going well. We had arranged a pretty tight schedule as Neil was only in Peru for 3 weeks so I was hoping to get us high as quickly (but safely ) as possible to give us a chance of doing a 6000m peak and a 20 pitch route on a granite peak called the Sphinx before he left. Did I actually think this was likely- no, but it was possible.

Day 1 saw us head out of town to the pre-Incan ruins at Wilkawain. It was the 3rd time I had visited these and they are slowly becoming more "touristy" though certainly not overrun with visitors. We were meant to go via the bouldering at Huanchac but somehow I missed it and we spent a long day walking up narrow dusty roads. Jono couldn’t see why we didn’t climb Rima Rima that day as it seemed close enough. I explained it was at 5200m and we were only at 3800m and I at least was already feeling the altitude.

It was great to see that village life remains vibrant and traditional practices have not been too sanitised by the ubiquitous TVs and mobile phones. The mudbrick houses, farming, washing in aqueducts, colourful clothes and political slogans on every second house seemed much the same as 6 years ago. Its political graffiti encapsulated history- the disgraced Fujimora, Toledo and now slogans for Fujimoras daughter, Keiko. Huaraz is a little prettier and more prosperous, but it is definitely still a third world town. While street litter was less the roads were still crowded with hundreds of dogs that lazily slept away the day, only to morph into the hounds of hell that yapped until the sun came up. Neil and Jono seemed to sleep through this commotion whereas Marty and I tossed and turned and sighed and swore and were very pleased after 2 nights of this fracas to leave Huaraz for the ironically named Lazy Dog Inn. This establishment is one of 2 at 3800m (the other, the Way Inn was closed) and is a great place to acclimatise away from the bustle of town. We spent 2 nights in comparative luxury with one day bouldering on the many house sized granite blocks rattled out of the hills in previous earthquakes. The second day we walked to Laguna Churup and up under the glacier of the mountain of the same name. Compared to pictures from 10 years ago this outlying peak is looking barren for snow and ice, though still climbable. We turned around about 4800m and both Neil and I had altitude headaches, something that was making me very grumpy.

As comfortable as we were, it became time to head to the Llaca valley so a taxi took us up numerous hairpins to 4400m. We set up camp a stones throw from a refugio which was undergoing extensive renovation. The Peruvian army, possibly all 100 of them, were on training exercises in the valley. The jump in altitude left us feeling a little dizzy. We spent some time trying to make a stockade around our tents to deter the cows which chew most things they can get their cuds on. Red construction tape stating “peligroso” (danger) was in good supply, but unfortunately the cows couldn’t read. They continued an onslaught throughout our stay, and succeeded in chewing my towel into a slobbery mass, and attacking Martys trekking pole as well as enjoying our rubbish.

The first afternoon was spent walking to the head of the valley, only to find the moraine had dropped away from the cliffs making access to Ocshalpalca via rock slabs impossible. The lake in the valley is growing rapidly as the glaciers recede. It is estimated that all glaciers below 5000m will disappear in the next 10 years.

The next day was our first bit of proper rock climbing with Neil, Marty and I climbing a 6 pitch sports route, Mission Lunatica. This was put up by the Hot Rock team in about 2004, and I had climbed the route in 2005 but enjoyed it second time around as well. I somehow managed to sandbag myself into the crux pitch again, and didn’t realise until Neil pointed out that 6c+ written next to the 6a was the true free grade. I thought it felt a bit tricky. The route gets early sun and the views over the glacier are stunning. The cliffs on this sunny side of the valley could have a many more routes. We did a few of the slabby single pitch routes later in the afternoon after rappelling back to the valley floor. Jono, filling in time and resting his shoulder climbed up and down several mountains during the day and did admit to feeling slightly breathless.

Next day we moved to a higher camp at 5000m ready to climb Vallanraju. Although you can easily climb this peak (5680m) from the refugio the purpose was to sleep higher to acclimatise so we bivvied on a rock platform with the odd snow shower engulfing us. Neil seemed to be suffering altitude the most with nausea and headaches, but a supply of metoclopramide saw him become quite hyperactive and I had to get my tablets back before he consumed them all as a sports enhancing supplement. I was just feeling leaden, but we made good time the next day despite my need for a rest every 30 metres close to the summit. It is a very easy climb, but very scenic and we did well with the weather, being above the clouds which were filling the valleys below. We were back for our taxi ride at the refugio at midday.

Originally we were to get picked up the next day and head to base camp for Artesonraju, but sanity prevailed and we had a rest day in Huaraz. It actually wasn’t that restful as buying provisions, sorting out permits and doing laundry took time and the yapping dog situation only got worse.

We headed off to Caraz at 5am where I had arranged for Ponys expeditions to arrange porters and a car for transport to the Paron valley. Ponys seems to be rather understaffed and was closed more often than not during our several sta