Gente de Cusco

Hatun Machay

Our final outing in the Huaraz area, we go 1.5 hours south to Hatun Machay to do some sport climbing.  This place is amazing and we had it all to ourselves, no one around but the refuge keeper, Coco and the owner Andres.

Sheep doggy

Rock Forest, this time of the year the fog roles in around 1 or 2 and shuts us down

The Refugio

Good weather greets us in the am when the fog burns off

Julia cruzing a small nubbin hold route (5.10b)

At the bottom

Warm in the sun, perfect climbing temps, and looking good

Said to be pre-Inca, but undetermined nomadic tribe heiroglyphics in one of the many caves in the area

Last meal in Huaraz before heading to Cusco, Sex burger.  I had been looking for this joint since we got here, a standard place for people to go after a long day (or days)  playing hard in the mountains.  Here the Royal Burger comes with egg, cheese, and french fries all in one package.  The grand comes with an additional chicken patty and hotdog.  What!

El Refugio - The Rock Forest

Coco, Aymara (the pup), me and Chris at the Refugio

Giant rocks simply dropped from the sky and plopped onto this piece of sacred land outside of Huaraz. It is called Hatun Machay (meaning ¨Big Cave¨ in Quechua). The natives here believe that these huge mute giants are their protectors and the energy here is very powerful. You can find caves everywhere with ancient carvings and heiroglyphics. The earth below you feels hollow and there is believed to be an elaborate underground tunnel system with ancient tombs. There have been ongoing debates for years about a possible excavation of the site but the locals fight to leave it intact. Many also believe that the carvings came even before the Inca, and belong to nomadic tribes who used this place as a pilgrimage site so the different cultures from the region could congregate. So much unknown, I believe this rock forest has many secrets...

Cave carvings and a little meditation

The locals do however have a deal with an Argentinian guy named Andres who runs a little Refuge near the rocks. Climbers are allowed to come for a small fee that goes to the community, and as long as we respect the site, we can continue climbing. The climbing is unbelievable! The mornings are perfection and you can see no other structures (besides the Refuge) for miles. The Refuge is very simple, made of wood and stone, no electricity. There are bunk rooms up top and a fireplace and kitchen below. Perfect opportunity for catching up on journaling, reading, and finding your peace. Without fail, around 1 or 2pm a thick blanket of fog rolls in over the hills. You can lose your way very easily, you can´t see much further than your hands in front of you! We always kept a dog with us because they never fail to find their way home.

Aymara soaking up the sun

Waihra would never lose sight of the Refugio

There is a Refuge keeper that is always changing. A few months back it was our friend Xavi from Spain who we spent Christmas with in Colombia (that´s how we learned of this place). Now the keeper is a young climber named Coco who was so excited to have guests! He climbed with us everyday because it is the low season and he said if you stay out there long enough alone, you can go a little crazy. I believe it, there is seriously nothing for miles but the giant rocks that seem to adopt different forms with the light of the moon and the fog. HOWEVER, the owner told us that if we ever want to come back and take care of the Refuge, he would even pay us! Chris could do some guiding and chopping wood for the fire, and I would handle the cleaning and communication! When nobody is around we could just climb all day! There are so many sport routes and bouldering as well. Ahhhh the simple life. We told him we´d keep it in mind for a possibility down the road. There are no showers or even a refrigerator, but a crystal clear little creak that runs right by the Refuge!

Chris climbing hard

Of course there is no telephone out there, so you can´t exactly call a cab. We walked over an hour and a half with all of our climbing gear and packs to get to the main road to catch a ride back to Huaraz. Talk about a desolate highway, I thought we would be there all day! Fortunately we accidentally hitchiked. In our defense, we thought the white van was a collectivo (a shared ride van taxi) so I was jumping up and down flagging it down. Turns out it was just a nice peruvian family who welcomed us into their already jam-packed car for smooth cruising and some good tunes back to town. Buena gente.



Chris at the top of a seashell! (5.10d)

Man, it was so peaceful out there, it is hard to jump back into the city life. We finally left Huaraz last night and are currently in limbo in Lima for a few more hours. It´s so crazy and chaotic here! Taxi drivers are very aggressive and will follow you for blocks, you have to clutch your bags tight; a very different vibe than in the mountains. We hop on another bus to Cusco this afternoon and by the time we get there tomorrow afternoon, we will have spent almost 40 hours in transit... ayayay. Looking forward to Machu Picchu! May the journey continue...

Chris flew up this route! (5.10b)



Coco climbing, Chris on the belay. (5.10b)





Getting High

Nevada Vallunaraju, that's the one

Through the Cravasse field

A pause before another Ice bridge crossing

On the summit ridge

On it! The locals call the one on the left K2, crazy no-name knife ridge peak to the right

Stoked!

Looking down at Llaca Valley

Descent, muy rapido!

Huascaran, the highest peak in Peru (22,205 ft)

Vallunaraju on the left, view from the hotel in Huaraz

High above Huaraz in the Cordillera Blanca we climb Vallunaraju (18,963 ft).  It snows 4 inches at base camp early in the night and our summit dreams become a little unsure.  We awake at 2am to clear weather which sparks hope and we carefully climb our way up the granite slabs coated with a sheet of ice to the bottom of the glacier.  We dash for the summit, run down before 9am, and get some Lucho's homebrew at Cafe Andino to end the day.  Amazing.

Breathing Deeply

So many amazing experiences happening so fast. Life feels like it is flying by at incredible speeds. I have to process! I am practicing being in the moment, and it is beautiful here...

¨The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely, AWARE...¨

Vallunaraju Summit

One small step up the mountain often widens your horizon in all directions...

After our incredible 5 day trek on the ¨Santa Cruz¨, we were hungry for more. We allowed ourselves one day rest in Huaraz before we attempted Vallunaraju; an 18,963 ft. mountain about two hours east of Huaraz. This was some crazy mountaineering, and we found a great local guide named Jhony who says he sometimes summits this mountains up to three times in one week during high season! We had some heavy duty gear for this trip including ropes, harnesses, crampons, ski boots, and ice axes. The first day hike up to base-camp nearly killed me!!! Little did I know, we went a really steep route so that our guide could judge our physical capabilities and decide how to approach the summit. HAD I know known this, I would have dragged-ass that first day so he wouldn´t expect so much of us! This was the most challenging thing I have ever done, but the most rewarding.

whoaaaaa altitude from Julia Scheri on Vimeo.

The 2am start was difficult, but our adrenaline and some coca leaf tea got us through. It snowed a lot in the evening which made the hike that much more difficult. With our headlamps we scrambled over icy rocks and over rivers to arrive about a half an hour later at the glacier. We got geared up and immediately started climbing. With our headlamps and the fog, all we could see was a few feet up, and ALWAYS up. We were all attached with a rope and had our ice axes to help us on the really steep sections. My breathing became more shallow the higher we went... man altitude does some funny things to your body. It was like I could feel everything in my body constricting and expanding, re-wiring to function with the little oxygen in the air. My heart felt like it would pound right out of my chest, but we kept going. We passed by some crazy ice caves, crevasses, cornices, ice bridges and about a 70º summit ridge. I mean, I don´t know a whole lot about ice and snow, but one little crack and I think we could find ourselves pretty deep inside that mountain. The movie ¨Touching The Void¨ happened on a mountain in the Andes and it was pretty much all I could think about while passing these sketchy areas. A little after sunrise we reached the summit, THANK GOD, because I was nearing my end. It was breathtaking. I have never seen anything like it in my life. The peaks all around and the ground covered in clouds... it felt so magic! Plus the euphoric feeling of being on top of a mountain, it was one of the best feelings I have ever had in my life, and one of the slightly more physically uncomfortable as well. We could only stay a few minutes up there because as the sun got stronger the condition of the ice and snow could become dangerous on the way down. Besides, I don´t think my circulation was working very well and I couldn´t feel my fingers or toes... maybe I was a little loopy from the lack of oxygen as well but I swear I thought my fingers were going to crack off! We finally got down and I couldn´t take one more step. Chris was making me extremely jelous with the bounce in his step - he was on such a high from getting to the top (I think his body handled the altitude a little better than mine)! Besides some possible pulmonary adeema, a headache, and sore feet, we arrived to the road unscaved. Nothing too bad that wont go away in a few days (hopefully), but we returned with a memory that will last a lifetime. Absolutely incredible.

Huaraz, Peru

These traditional Andean women fill the streets of Huaraz. Wearing vibrant colors, they flash you a golden smile, but shy away from the camera. They work very hard, they are what makes Huaraz so amazing...