What is that looking at me?
M-
So there I am sitting on a bench in an adobe tienda (store) with a dirt floor as a chicken runs under my leg. But I am distracted by the plates sitting in front of us. On Angela´s, there sitting on top of the pile of rice and fried potatoes is a piece of flesh that looks oddly like a quartz crystal cluster, but is instead a nice piece of intestinal villi. Beside that is a gristley looking tube coming from some part of the GI tract of, I am guessing, a sheep. But this culinary adventure was not what we had in mind when 7 days earlier we began a section of the Cordillera Huayhuash Trek. The Huayhaush is remote range best known from the story by Joe Simpson, ¨Touching the Void¨. Regardless it is a very remote range in the center of Peru with peaks around 22,000 ft. One of the reasons that we went there was the majestic beauty of the peaks and a way to get better acclimatized before climbing the high peaks of the Cordillera Blanca.
We started in a small village called Llamac and began with a steep 1000m (3,300ft) climb to a pass. Well, that´s one way to acclimatize. We came down into an amazing glacial valley with a large lake called Jahuacocha and a cirque filled with beautiful peaks. This range, like all of the Andes has been pushed up by the tectonic collision of the Nasca and South American plates. In many parts of the Andes this has resulted in melting of the rock to form either granite rocks or volcanoes. In the Huayhuash the sedimentary layers are preserved but folded and contorted in ways I have never seen. At the head of this valley is a beautiful peak, Jirishinca, that is striped from the various rock strata. We spent two days at this camp and walked to a beautiful lake obscured by a high moraine. Beyond the moraine was Lago Soltercocha which is a neon turquoise blue.
We moved camp for 5 of the 6 nights in the area and each day we crossed a high pass. On the 3rd day we crossed one of our higher passes just shy of 16,000 ft and then the weather came. We donned our jackets and pack covers and as the thunder roared I was reminded of the Pecos Wilderness area because we were crossing green valleys with lots of cows. (The number of cows and trekkers (with a long burro train), who don´t seem to have much mountain experience or ethic, does distract from the isolated feel of the range.) The next day we crossed over a limestone ridge that would make the french envious. If you have the desire to put up some sport climbs between 13,000 ft and 15,000 ft, I have the place for you. The next few days we had afternoon thundershowers, snow, sleet and hail. But the lifting fog in the morning made every view all that more valuable as we had to piece together an idea of the whole mountain.
Eventually, we arrived at what I believe is the most beautiful part of the Huayhuash and got away from the other trekkers and cows. We camped at a lake beside a huge limestone wall that is topped by small tongues of a larger glacier above. Above that glacier sits the highest peak in the Huayhuash, Yerupaja. We were treated to a beautiful sunrise from a viewpoint in this valley that overlooks three lakes. Each lake is different color because of its glacier activity. The first is bright turquoise from the glacial flour on its floor, the second is not fed by a glacier and is a normal blue and the third is green as it sits above a huge limestone wall where seracs constantly fall and disturb the water and its sediments. Throughout the day and night we were treated to the roar of cascading ice and a view of temporary ice/snow falls.
Finally we emerged from the range and arrived at a small town called Queropalca on the northeast of the Huayhuash. The minute we arrive I felt like a total outsider as the entire village gave us strange stares. We were told immediately by someone who supposedly owns a hostel and restaurant that there are only buses on Wed and Saturday. It was a Thursday. We disregarded this information and asked around to find out that there is a camion ( i.e. minibus, dolmas in Turkish, which is the best name as it means stuffed and they always are) leaving every morning at 5:00. We found another bed for the night and began to walk the 3 streets of town. This was entertaining for about 10 minutes and so we looked for a restaurant. There are supposedly 2 and we guessed that we have already dismissed one. So we found an adobe house that has a restaurant sign and knocked. Soon a plump woman in a apron appeared around the house from the courtyard. When I say courtyard I mean a dirt back yard filled with chickens, old tires and eventually sheep and cows that have been grazing outside of town. The woman with dirty hands and apron asked us what we wanted. She mentioned the things she can cook and I gave a shrug to Angela as if to say ¨you chose¨ and we both agreed meat is not something we were interested in. The woman said Cow-cow(sp) and carne so we go with cow-cow. She opened the door to her tienda and there is a handful of picnic tables covered in tarps, a sign of a classy place. We took a seat as she left for the back courtyard, or whatever, and the chickens begin to come in pecking at the floor.
We start our meal with a soup that contained potatoes, onion and a large bone of pig or sheep. I nibble on it and eat the soup. With the soup came a plate of boiled potatoes and then the cow-cow, which as you have guessed is rice, potatoes, and the GI tract from some animal. Did I mention that we had plain potatoes, potatoes in our soup and now more potatoes? Well, I was brought up to eat what was in front of me and I have a apetite for culinary adventure so I began to eat. It was difficult as that villi and microvillli seemed to stare at me throughout the entire meal. We both ate a good share and now wonder what new life is growing in our stomachs.
So there I am sitting on a bench in an adobe tienda (store) with a dirt floor as a chicken runs under my leg. But I am distracted by the plates sitting in front of us. On Angela´s, there sitting on top of the pile of rice and fried potatoes is a piece of flesh that looks oddly like a quartz crystal cluster, but is instead a nice piece of intestinal villi. Beside that is a gristley looking tube coming from some part of the GI tract of, I am guessing, a sheep. But this culinary adventure was not what we had in mind when 7 days earlier we began a section of the Cordillera Huayhuash Trek. The Huayhaush is remote range best known from the story by Joe Simpson, ¨Touching the Void¨. Regardless it is a very remote range in the center of Peru with peaks around 22,000 ft. One of the reasons that we went there was the majestic beauty of the peaks and a way to get better acclimatized before climbing the high peaks of the Cordillera Blanca.
We started in a small village called Llamac and began with a steep 1000m (3,300ft) climb to a pass. Well, that´s one way to acclimatize. We came down into an amazing glacial valley with a large lake called Jahuacocha and a cirque filled with beautiful peaks. This range, like all of the Andes has been pushed up by the tectonic collision of the Nasca and South American plates. In many parts of the Andes this has resulted in melting of the rock to form either granite rocks or volcanoes. In the Huayhuash the sedimentary layers are preserved but folded and contorted in ways I have never seen. At the head of this valley is a beautiful peak, Jirishinca, that is striped from the various rock strata. We spent two days at this camp and walked to a beautiful lake obscured by a high moraine. Beyond the moraine was Lago Soltercocha which is a neon turquoise blue.
We moved camp for 5 of the 6 nights in the area and each day we crossed a high pass. On the 3rd day we crossed one of our higher passes just shy of 16,000 ft and then the weather came. We donned our jackets and pack covers and as the thunder roared I was reminded of the Pecos Wilderness area because we were crossing green valleys with lots of cows. (The number of cows and trekkers (with a long burro train), who don´t seem to have much mountain experience or ethic, does distract from the isolated feel of the range.) The next day we crossed over a limestone ridge that would make the french envious. If you have the desire to put up some sport climbs between 13,000 ft and 15,000 ft, I have the place for you. The next few days we had afternoon thundershowers, snow, sleet and hail. But the lifting fog in the morning made every view all that more valuable as we had to piece together an idea of the whole mountain.
Eventually, we arrived at what I believe is the most beautiful part of the Huayhuash and got away from the other trekkers and cows. We camped at a lake beside a huge limestone wall that is topped by small tongues of a larger glacier above. Above that glacier sits the highest peak in the Huayhuash, Yerupaja. We were treated to a beautiful sunrise from a viewpoint in this valley that overlooks three lakes. Each lake is different color because of its glacier activity. The first is bright turquoise from the glacial flour on its floor, the second is not fed by a glacier and is a normal blue and the third is green as it sits above a huge limestone wall where seracs constantly fall and disturb the water and its sediments. Throughout the day and night we were treated to the roar of cascading ice and a view of temporary ice/snow falls.
Finally we emerged from the range and arrived at a small town called Queropalca on the northeast of the Huayhuash. The minute we arrive I felt like a total outsider as the entire village gave us strange stares. We were told immediately by someone who supposedly owns a hostel and restaurant that there are only buses on Wed and Saturday. It was a Thursday. We disregarded this information and asked around to find out that there is a camion ( i.e. minibus, dolmas in Turkish, which is the best name as it means stuffed and they always are) leaving every morning at 5:00. We found another bed for the night and began to walk the 3 streets of town. This was entertaining for about 10 minutes and so we looked for a restaurant. There are supposedly 2 and we guessed that we have already dismissed one. So we found an adobe house that has a restaurant sign and knocked. Soon a plump woman in a apron appeared around the house from the courtyard. When I say courtyard I mean a dirt back yard filled with chickens, old tires and eventually sheep and cows that have been grazing outside of town. The woman with dirty hands and apron asked us what we wanted. She mentioned the things she can cook and I gave a shrug to Angela as if to say ¨you chose¨ and we both agreed meat is not something we were interested in. The woman said Cow-cow(sp) and carne so we go with cow-cow. She opened the door to her tienda and there is a handful of picnic tables covered in tarps, a sign of a classy place. We took a seat as she left for the back courtyard, or whatever, and the chickens begin to come in pecking at the floor.
We start our meal with a soup that contained potatoes, onion and a large bone of pig or sheep. I nibble on it and eat the soup. With the soup came a plate of boiled potatoes and then the cow-cow, which as you have guessed is rice, potatoes, and the GI tract from some animal. Did I mention that we had plain potatoes, potatoes in our soup and now more potatoes? Well, I was brought up to eat what was in front of me and I have a apetite for culinary adventure so I began to eat. It was difficult as that villi and microvillli seemed to stare at me throughout the entire meal. We both ate a good share and now wonder what new life is growing in our stomachs.
