Yungay Redemption

Well lets start by saying that we are glad to be alive. The bus driver/nascar wannabee took those pin hair turns with out the slightest concerns of the ragging river running 50 feet below. the 9 hour bus ride started out smooth but quickly turned into an off road adventure. Unexpectedly, it continued this way for 7 out of 9 hours of the trip. Although it was bumpy and dust filled the views definitely made it all worth it. (picture 1)

Saturday was a great day even though we had our first taste of defeat in Peru. Jill and I greatly underestimated the mighty Andes trying to trek up to 14,600 feet. We had to turn around due to lack of daylight, possibility of rain, our lack of adjustment to the altitude and 100 more excuses but none of them good enough. The only way I could jusify not making it was that even my marathon running partner was stuggling with the steep incline. (picture 2) Although we failed we vowed to makeup for it the next day...

With an extra day of being adjusted to the altitude and a great nightssleep in a new record low $2.50 hotel room we woke up early with a plan. We set out at 7:00am with abou 5 different taxi drivers arguing over who would take us to our 12,000 feet starting point. After the1.5 hour taxi ride up mountains we set off to start trekking toward our 14,400 feet goal. The whole trek had amazing views. Absolutely Amazing! (picture 3)

We walked a round trip 10 mile hike through valleys, up past countless waterfalls, through a marshy plateau and up and up some more and upeven more until we reached Laguna 69 at 14,400 feet. The lake was a breathtaking bright, clear, turquoise-blue fed by a melting glacier no more than 300 feet above it. Of course, hiking this trek with Jill, we had to swim in this just above freezing water. (picture 4)

After having a bread and cracker lunch, we started our trek back down knowing we had some extra time for exploring. From our altitude, we saw a way to get to the top of one of the waterfalls. After some careful treking, I tried to get a picture to give the steep dropjustice but was quickly forced away by Jill´s shrieks to get away from the edge. I could go on forever about the amazing sites of the day but I hope the pictures will prove to be more interesting and give the views some degree of justice.

We got bus ticket that left at 8 that was supposed to get us home ¨5 hours later¨. We actually got on the bus at 9 and got home at 5 in the morning.