Near Huaraz is the Cordillera Blanca Range of Mountains. It is famous for being the range second in height to the Himalayas. The mountains themselves are some of the tallest in the Americas and absolutely astounding to look at. I loaded up my camping gear and caught a bus at 6am in the morning.
One of the astounding views on the bus ride there. You don't even need to go hiking to have your breath taken away.
Me with mountains in the background. Reminding me of the good old time working on the Finca in Ecuador.
Sheer faces of some of the walls still on the way up.
The crystal blue of the water reminds me of my time in the Caribbean.
Alright, time to start the hike. In the first few steps I coud have sworn I was in a scene from Lord of the Rings.
My best impression of Big Yellow Riding Hood. Even though its not the warmest the sun will still catch you with some good burns if you are not careful.
Further down the road a scene that reminds me of the movie Big Fish.
This is where it started to get difficult. Lots of uphil climbing, plus I had a tent to carry in my backpack. The rest of my group stormed on as I was left behind. They had no gear because they were taking the bus home that night.
Almost near the top, another beheamoth mountain in the background.
Finally I made it, to another crystalline blue Glacier Fed Lake. This one called Laguna 69 is a popular one for tourists staying in Huaraz.
Time for a Polar bear swim seeing as its near New Years Eve.
The Water was cold but crisply refreshing.
Koreans and Peruvians wondering why the Canadian was crazy enough to go into the water. These guys were the stragglers at the back of the pack going very slow that I joined up with. At times we were very close to giving up, but in the end we made it.
This mountain clearly visible all day is apparently the symbol for Paramount Pictures. Did they make Big Fish and Lord of the Rings near here?
My house for the night. The only other people camping up here were one Italian and one German and a handful of cows.
