Peruvian Highlands

Jenn and I spent 2 weeks in Peru in May 2012. After flying through Lima, we spent a couple days in Cusco and Aguas Calientes. We really enjoyed Cusco. It's a modern mountain town with a great vibe, good food, and cool sights. Aguas Calientes is pretty much the opposite. However, it has a monopoly on access to Machu Picchu--an obligatory stop if in Peru. The town is surrounded by lush, thick cloud forest. If you have any extra time in the area, make sure you do some hiking. Three planes, two trains and a bus later, we headed north to the Ancash region. Our destination was the fabled, Cordillera Huayhuash. After a pretty miserable bus ride through the night, we arrived in Huaraz and were picked up by Selio Villon, founder of the Peru Mountain Guide Association and owner of Montanero Tours ( http://www.trekkingperu.com). This was probably the best choice we could have made. He has a beautiful hotel (San Sebastian) that makes a nice stop pre and post hike. After meeting with our guide, Angel, we were off to Huayhuash (pronounced why-wash). The place is flat out beautiful, but if you are particular about your hikes and don't want to see livestock or other signs of man--maybe this (or anywhere else in Peru) isn't for you. Like most ranges where 20,000ft peaks are present, schizophrenic shifts in weather make for amazing lighting scenarios if you're patient enough to wait out the bad weather. Don't be surprised if you're sequestered to your tent for hours praying the "leak proof" claims on the REI customer reviews were right. It was a great experience made even better by our guide Angel and donkey driver Britano. The rest can be said by the pictures below...

Young men celebrate in a costumed parade in downtown Aguas Calientes
IMG 4709a Peru aguas calientes macchu picchu festival
Cloud Forests as seen from Macchu Picchu
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Lost City Panorama
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Macchu Picchu as the heavy fog breaks
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La Plaza de Armas, Cusco Peru,

Fortunately this plaza has retained much of its historic beauty despite modern additions such as Mc Donald's and KFC. Cusco is a great city, my favorite of our brief visit. All the good things (mainly art and food) you'd want in any city, you can find in good quality and quantity here.
IMG 2134 cusco peru plaza de armas
Mitucocha Stream at Sunset

Cordillera Huayhuash Campsite day 1
May 2012 013 Cordillera Huayhuash mituconcha
Lake Carhuacocha Sunrise

After a brutal 9 hour hike (up and down two 15,000+ft passes, we finally made it to Lake Carhuacocha. Exhausted, I drug myself out of the warmth of my tent out into the freezing predawn temps eager to catch the early morning light on the majestic granite towers.
Lake carhuacocha May 2012 0130
Starry Night over Huayhuash
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Our guide Angel surveys the path ahead as we day hike up to glacier lakes
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Carhuacocha Waterfall
carhuaccocha waterfall May 2012 0102
Snowstorm Rolls into Huayhuash

Shortly after this shot was taken I found myself running back to our tent for shelter
Lake carhuacocha river storm IMG 5562
Quecha woman and dogs
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Mataconcha Stream at Sunset

We were lucky enough to have 4 hours of rain and hail break just at sunset...
Mataconcha stream north May 2012 0076
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Evergreen Highlands
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Many people we spoke to mentioned that the glaciers were disappearing. One local farmer told me that he expected them to be gone in ten years. The evidence was everywhere. You can see the remnant of a massive old glacier on the left side of the photo. Even more concerning, is that this is the headwaters to the Amazon River.
IMG 5825 amazon headwaters
Feeling good here after the final pass of the trip (15, 500ft). Many thanks to our great guide Angel, and of course to Jenn for another great trip.
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"Mountains Might"

Huahuash Mountains, Peru
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Chad Anderson Photography

Peruvian Highlands