“Wow, I was so much warmer last night!” said Katina as she opened the zipper to the tent and watched the frost flake away. I guess the investment in the hat, scarf and gloves really paid off!
Our second night’s sleep had been quite restful and we were certainly warmer. After a nice hot cup of cocoa leaf tea and a filling breakfast, it was time to strike camp and head for the hills.
Elvis gave us a pep-talk that went something like this:
“Chicos…today we are going to do some more climbing for the first part of the hike. It is going to be more challenging than yesterday.”
Um…what?! I thought yesterday was challenging!
“That will be for about 3 hours. Almost straight up. Then we will be going downhill all the way to the end.”
Hmmm…
“But chicos…I know you can do this. You have done great so far. I need all of your positive energy so you can finish the trek strong today.”
On that note, we headed out and found the path that started a long, steady climb up above the village where we had spent the night. Before long our camp was well below us and just a pleasant memory!
The way grew steep quickly. Our months of walking tours, as well as the time we spent in Cusco getting used to the altitude was really paying off for us. While the way was difficult, our girls continued to lead the pack. Elvis and Rony were excellent – gauging the group and resting whenever it was necessary.
Not sure what kind of skull that was…but clearly that animal didn’t fare too well on this hike!
This area was much more populated than others we had encountered thus far. We saw lots of llamas, alpacas and sheep out grazing.
Seemingly in the middle of nowhere, we would come across small one-room cottages like this one, cooking fires burning within.
I don’t think this man was intentionally smoking out his house!
Soon afterwards we came to a very interesting sign…
Let’s say you lived in a city near an unprotected, natural area with trees, flowers and excellent habitat for animals. What would happen if a land developer wanted to destroy this area and put in houses or apartment buildings and you decided to put up a sign saying that the land was a private conservation area?! Surely the builder would acknowledge the sign and stop building, right?
In Peru, we were told that communities are trying to protect the land, particularly from mining companies. The fear is that once resources are found, money outweighs the good of the people in the area since the area is so sparsely populated. Ground water gets polluted, animals and crops cannot survive on the dirty water so the villages need to move, disrupting the way of life of the people who have lived here for generations.
All I can say is that they are doing a great job conserving the land…
That’s my current computer desktop picture by the way! LOVE this picture!
Onward, ever onward, we hiked until the lake was behind us.
Soon, Elvis told us that just ahead was our highest point for our hike today. Zoe had to be the first one to crest the hill…so off she went, racing to the top.
Zoe was the first one to see the truly awe inspiring view on the other side…
Eventually the rest of us caught up with her…and we took a short rest.
Ok, Zoe needed to rest, too..
Here’s what the pass looked like from a 360 degree view…
It was all downhill from here!
Again, I saw the connection between homes…
and running water…
Soon we began to see the outskirts of the village at the Lares Pass. These boys were collecting money for something. I thought maybe this was a toll path…
And then it was confirmed…
Pay the toll to get past the alpacas! 🙂
Rony was very good with the animals…he was able to calm this baby alpaca so we could all pet it…
Here was something I’d never seen before…this llama had what appeared to be red wool on its ears. These tags are put on the llamas’ ears in order to identify which family owns the animals.
This village was bigger than most…and they had electricity.
I’m not sure that this would pass inspection in Canada!
We were almost there. Just have to go down this small hill to where the buildings are…
This village was quite large…they even had quite a large school.
We had arrived! We had a few minutes to wait for our bus to pick us up…and out of nowhere (it seemed) a “convenience store” appeared right there in the parking area!
WE DID IT! After 3 days and 32 km, we made it to the end of the Lares Pass! As you can see from the photo below, the whole team was feeling pretty happy with our accomplishment! Kudos to everyone for completing the trek!
Next stop…?
You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see what Zoe has to say!
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