soraypampa to huayracpunko
this was the day we climbed the high pass, which was well over 15,000 feet. the first picture is of me in the shadow of mount salcantay, where we were headed. this was shortly after climbing siete culebras, or ¨seven serpents¨, which is an extremely steep zigzag path up the side of a mountain. it was probably the single most difficult feat of the entire trek. it took us about an hour to get to the top and it covered a horizontal distance of no more than 15 meters (which should give an idea of the vertical distance). before we reached the pass there was a beautiful pond and many streams that were partially frozen over. it was a scene that is not easily forgotten. at the pass there were several apachetas, or rock piles, which are offerings to the apus, or mountain gods. it was windy and cloudy at the pass, which is visible in the picture here of salcantay. it felt absolutely wonderful to finally reach the pass... a feeling one feels only after accomplishing something monumental. just being there was a reward well worth the difficulty of the day´s climbing. the descent was not too steep but was incredibly rocky, which greatly increased the probability of twisting an ankle. fortunately, neither of us broke or hurt anything even though our legs were tired from climbing the pass. by the time we reached our campsite, my legs were shaking with fatigue and were so happy to rest for the night. we camped near a beautiful little stream in a wide open vallley with views of several snow-capped peaks all around. a peaceful end to a hard day´s work.
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