Salkantay - Day 2: The Ascent

Last night was interesting. It became frigidly cold, even with sleeping and a full set of clothing on. To catch any more than an hour or two of consecutive sleep without waking up shivering or uncofortable was an accomplishment. I think I ended up taking a series of 5 power naps throughout the night, which would have to be sufficient.

5am wake up - to coca tea served at our tent. Very nice. We braved the cold and wind and made our way to the breakfast tent. After a nice breakfast of eggs and toast we set off for the most difficult part of our trek - the ascent to Salkantay pass. For the next 3-4hrs the hike was basically all uphill, but the scenery was still gorgeous.

Before the Ascent

Our group consists of 8 people - a group of 4 Brits and a couple from Canada - everyone in their 20s. Our guide taught us how to chew Coca leaves to help with altitude sickness and give us energy. We were hiking through a rocky valley, and on our way up we passed a lake. Finally we reached Salkantay pass - at 4700m (over 15,000ft).

From the Top

This is as far up as we'd go. Our guide said noone had ever reached the summit of Salkantay - one Japanese man had tried years ago and died. The views were breathtaking and we took some group photos.

The View from Salkantay Pass

View from Salkantay pass

Then we continued on - the next part of the treak would be all flat or downhill. We started descending through a rocky canyon between large mountains, and after a lunch, we continued down into the tropical cloud forest.

At Salkantay Pass

The change in climate, from snowcap mountains, to rocky grassland, to lush tropical forest was amazing - and the transition occurred within only an hour or two.

Descent into cloud forest

Descending

From the Top

We continued on until reaching our campsite for the night. We are at lower altitudes now here in the forest - so thankfully the temperatures are much milder. This should hopefully make for a better night of sleep. Also I've never seen such an amazing look at the stars in the night sky - literally thousands crystal clear. That's all for now. Goodnight.

Descent into cloud forest

Note about pictures: I´m still trying to find a fast internet connection that will let me upload pictures to the blog without taking forrrrrever. Hopefully I´ll find one by tomorrow. Until then, I´ll just be posting text...

Salkantay - Day 2: The Ascent

Mollepata, Peru