HIKING THE ANDES, the HUAYHUASH TREK: Owen’s Peruvian Adventures, Part 2, Guest Post by Owen Floody at The Intrepid Tourist

Week 8: 52 Places to Go

Glacial Lakes on the Huayhuash Circuit, Peru

In 2017 our friend Owen Floody was in the midst of a series of three treks in Peru--Machu Picchu in May 2015 (Part 1 of Owen's Peruvian Adventures), Huayhuash in July 2015 (Part 2)--and Cordillera Blanca in mid-2017. Owen recently retired from a career of teaching and research at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He has always been an avid photographer and in his retirement has taken numerous trips that allow him to pursue his passion. He is a frequent contributor to The Intrepid Tourist. Here is the report of his Huayhuash trek and a few of his excellent photographs.

One of our camps.

The Huayhuash Range (Cordillera Huayhuash, pronounced “why wash”) is a compact cluster of mountains in the Peruvian Andes, approximately 225 miles from Lima.  It only extends over about 20 miles but contains more than 20 peaks, six of which exceed 6000 meters (19,685 ft) in height.  One of these is Siula Grande, the scene of the adventure described by Joe Simpson in the book and movie “Touching the Void.”

Our pack animals awaiting their day’s assignments.

My trek encircled much of the range, covering roughly 85 miles in 12 days.  As the area is very remote and sparsely populated (e.g., we never did pass through a village), we camped throughout, though the excellent support provided by our tour operator, Peruvian Andes Adventures (PAA), freed us of many of the normal rigors of camping: We were able to hike with just day packs, avoid the hassle of setting up or breaking down camps, and enjoy great meals all due to the efforts of the PAA staff and animals.

On the Huayhuash Track

Though the distance we covered may suggest a rigorous trek, the real challenge was in the altitude.  Most of our time was spent above 13,000 feet and most days saw us crossing at least one pass exceeding 15,000 feet, the highest of these at 16,400 feet.  One can prepare for some aspects of such a trek with an appropriately challenging exercise program, ideally including a healthy dose of actual hiking wherever you can find significant ascents and descents.  But how can most of us prepare for altitudes such as encountered here? 

Day hike from Huaraz

What I did was to arrive in Huaraz (the trek’s starting point and PAA’s base) four days early and then take full advantage of the many half-day and day hikes offered by PAA.  These covered beautiful ground and were graded in difficulty, making it possible to put together a package of pre-trek acclimatization hikes that were manageable and enjoyable, and that very much helped me to prepare for what was to come.

Soaring snow-covered peaks of the Andes and wetlands

The scenery encountered on this trek was spectacular, the most impressive of any of the seven major treks that I’ve done. Many of the types of scenes that we enjoyed are the ones that you would predict, i.e., soaring snow-covered peaks, high mountain passes, pristine valleys and meadows, wetlands.  But the Huayhuash is especially well known for its beautiful glacial lakes.  Some of these treated us to the sights and sounds of repeated avalanches. And many, if not all, presented an array of contrasting and beautiful colors. 

Avalanche

Altogether, then, this trek around the Huayhuash circuit provided an outstanding visual feast.  But this did come at the cost of considerable effort.  Why go to the trouble of trekking, especially when so many outstanding scenes can be seen from roads?  One answer is that the Huayhuash and like destinations are so remote as to be accessible in few ways other than by foot. 

 

All text and photographs copyright by Caroline Arnold at the Intrepid Tourist

A MOUNTAIN TEAHOUSE STAY IN NEPAL Guest Post by Caroline Hatton at The Intrepid Tourist

Nani's Teahouse in Tolka, Nepal

My friend and fellow children’s book author Caroline Hatton went trekking in the Annapurna region of the Nepal Himalaya in November 2018. She took all but one of the photos in this post. For info about her books, visit www.carolinehattonauthor.com.

For the grand finale of a spectacular hiking trek in the Annapurna region of the Himalaya, our Nepali guide, Gyanendra, gave our group the option of staying at a small teahouse instead of a big tourist lodge. My husband and I and the other couple in our group all jumped at the chance.

Our guide, Gyanendra

(Selfie courtesy of Gyanendra)

When we arrived at the teahouse in Tolka, the hostess, Nani, welcomed us warmly. Our duffle bag was already in our room. It contained our night stuff (sleeping bags, towels, toiletries…). Our porter, Vishnu, carried it on his back all day every day, then delivered it to our room every afternoon.

Our hostess, Nani

We dropped our two daypacks in our room. These contained what we needed hiking all day: water, snacks, sunscreen, jacket, first-aid kit… same as when day hiking at home in California. We never carried lunch food, because every day, we ate lunch at a restaurant on the way.

Everything at Nani’s teahouse was basic but impeccably clean: rooms, beds, one shared toilet, and one shared shower. The shower water temperature was exquisitely hot at 42^o C (~108 ^o F).

Room for two

“Would you like to see Nani’s goats and buffalo?” Gyanendra asked, bravely—he knew, after guiding our group for a week, that I love animals and can make him wait forever while I take photos. Two of us followed him up steep stone steps to visit terraced fields where Nani grows different crops (spinach, millet, chilies…). Above the chicken coop level, steps carved in the brown soil led up a slope that felt nearly vertical. I’ll never be able to go down this, I thought. But I didn’t say a word because I really wanted to see the animals.

I made it to the shelter where a baby goat and mama goat were busy sharing a meal of fresh greens with a buffalo. I took tons of photos. I would have taken more, but the buffalo kept giving me concerned stares, so I backed away, afraid I’d give it indigestion.

Nani’s goat and buffalo shelter

The sun was going down. It was time for me to go down too. But how? Slide down on my bottom? Instead, I turned to face the slope and climbed down, as if on a ladder. On the way, Gyanendra picked tree tomatoes and different chilies for dinner.

Front to back: tree tomatoes, balsam apples, chilies, egg

In the cozy kitchen, lit only by the wood fire under the wok and one electric light, Nani offered to teach us how to make momos, the popular, quintessential Himalayan dumplings. Filled with seasoned, minced vegetables or ground meat, they are steamed or deep fried, then served with chutney. One member of our group was thrilled to sink her hands in wheat flour and water to knead dough and roll it out to make momo wrappers. She minced vegetables for the stuffing and made momos, some balls, some crescents.

Gyanendra cut up buffalo meat and used a stone to grind seasonings for his secret curry recipe. As for me, my favorite part of cooking is inventing excuses to avoid doing it, such as the need to take photos. The two husbands peeked in from the open doorway.

Gyanendra cuts buffalo meat. Nani cooks vegetables.

Before dinner, Nani put away her goats to protect them from potential attacks by a tiger (bagh in Nepali) or leopard (chituwa in Nepali). Tolka is within the range of both wild cats, although it would be rare for either one show up. It would be more likely at night when there is no human activity.

When dinner was ready, the four of us guests were invited to sit at the kitchen table. The steamed vegetable momos had the finest stuffing of all those I’ve ever tried between Los Angeles and Kathmandu—tasty, rich with mixed, balanced flavors. And darn, now I’ll never know Nani’s recipe, since I was too lazy to help make dinner. The buffalo stew was delicious with rice, but too spicy for two of us with timid stomachs. Our two hardworking porters gladly helped eat it all up.

Up at 6 o’clock the next morning, we found Nani working quietly in the kitchen. “Go see the mountain,” she said, pointing up the trail, back the way we had arrived the day before. Two minutes away, from the top of the slope, where I’d seen nothing but clouds the day before, rose a snowcap gleaming in the rising sun: Annapurna South.

Sunrise on Annapurna South as seen from Tolka, Nepal

For breakfast, we sat at the outdoor table, facing the trail and the hills beyond. Our porters brought coffee, tea, eggs to order, big fluffy pancakes made by Gyanendra, jam, and honey.

I asked Gyanendra whether Nani grows enough vegetables for her needs. He said yes, and much more to sell. He and the porters bought from her, at prices lower than at home, soy beans, kidney beans, tree tomatoes, dried chilies, and buffalo ghee. They had ample room to carry extra weight back home, because all of us guests had minimized our overnight duffles. Each couple was allowed two duffles weighing a maximum total of 22 kilos (~ 48 pounds), but we had only one 10-kilo duffle for two.

                                                                                                                  

At Nani’s teahouse, we found the differences with larger lodges to be fewer rooms, so our group had the whole place to ourselves. We saw how a local person lives, grows food, and cares for her animals. She welcomed us into her kitchen for a hands-on experience. But everyone ate the same starter and main dish for dinner that night, not like at bigger lodges where we could each order from a menu of a dozen starters and two dozen main dishes.  

We are glad we chose Adventure Treks Nepal, from the list recommended by Lonely Planet, to organize our trip. It included only the guests of our choice, one guide, and one porter/couple of guests. Before the trip, manager Gyan Karki always answered e-mails within minutes. During the trip, everything went smoothly. We had a Plan A, but the itinerary was adjustable day by day, with Gyanendra contacting all the lodging places by phone in advance of our arrival. After coming home two months ago, I still wake up every day eager to relive my adventures, reread my trip notes, review my photos, and share the experience of a lifetime.

For more info

See more photos [https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1643011845799564&type=1&l=13b5328fd3] of Nani’s teahouse.

Caroline recommends her trek organizer, Adventure Treks Nepal, https://www.adventuretreksnepal.com/.

Visiting Nepal: the essential

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/nepal/essential-information

All text and photos copyright Caroline Arnold

TREKKING THE CORDILLERA BLANCA in PERU, Guest Post by Owen Floody

Trekkers in the Cordillera Blanca of the Peruvian Andes

Our friend Owen Floody, an avid trekker, recently hiked the Cordillera Blanca in Peru. Owen recently retired from a career of teaching and research at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He has always been an avid photographer and in his retirement has taken numerous trips that allow him to pursue his passion. He is a frequent contributor to The Intrepid Tourist. Here is the report of his trek and a few of his superb photographs.

 

In the past six years, I’ve done about twelve treks on three continents, curiously not yet including North America.  Of these, my favorite was a trek in the Huayhuash (“why wash”) range of central Peru.  Accordingly, I jumped at the chance to join close friends on a return to the same region in May of 2017 for another famous trek, in the Cordillera Blanca.   

Our trek (in early May) enjoyed the added bonus of amazing wildflowers almost wherever one looked.

Both of my treks began in Huaraz after an overnight bus ride from Lima.  Likewise, both were expertly supported by Peruvian Andes Adventures (PAA), a family-owned trekking company based in Huaraz,.  This is one of those companies that are so good you are tempted to keep them to yourself.  They are pleasant, reliable, well-organized at every phase of the game, and do a great job of supporting camping treks such as those in the Huayhuash and Blanca.  To understand the importance of their services, it’s important to appreciate the main challenge posed by these treks, i.e., the altitude.  For example, the twelve days of the Blanca trek were spent entirely above 13,123 ft.  The high point was 15,945 ft, but this represents just one of eight passes (nearly one per hiking day), each of 14,436 ft or more. 

Laguna Churup

In view of this challenge, I think it imperative for one to arrive in Huaraz several days early and devote 2-3 days to nearby practice hikes.  And one of the nice things that PAA does is provide and support many such day hikes.  These get you up to the right altitudes, help to get you into shape more generally and even expose you to some beautiful scenery.

My Cordillera Blanca trek lasted twelve days, including two devoted to rest or optional hikes. But another nice thing about PAA is that they can tailor treks to the time and energy at your disposal: It’s not required to include rest days if a 12-day trek would be too slow, and it’s not essential to do the entire circuit if that would exceed your limits.

Camp for the night in a beautiful valley.

A typical day’s hike ascended 2,000-3,000 ft to a pass before descending to a camp, usually located in a beautiful valley. Aside from the contents of our daypacks, all of our gear (much of it provided by PAA) was packed, transported and set up for us.  Likewise, all meals were provided. I don’t think that anyone would confuse this with a tour of famous French restaurants. But we (including the one vegetarian in our midst) were impressed and satisfied (in both senses) by the meals provided.

Glacial lake

Not surprisingly, the main attractions on this trek were the often stunning views of mountains and glaciers. The Cordillera Blanca boasts about twenty peaks exceeding 6,000 meters (19,686 ft) and contains one of the world’s largest concentrations of tropical-zone glaciers.  Unfortunately, we did not see everything: The weather was sometimes too overcast, as several of the images will confirm.  But the mountains, glaciers and glacial lakes still were great. 

Looking outward from a point just outside one of our camps toward the peak of Alpamayo.

This last photo shows the mountain Alpamayo in early-morning light. This peak was literally and figuratively central to our trek: The trekking route encircled it and Alpamayo is considered to be one of the most beautiful of peaks, perhaps in the world.

In logistics and other respects, there was much overlap between the Huayhuash and Cordillera Blanca treks. Therefore, you might want to read my columns on both if you are potentially interested in either. Click HERE for Owen's Huayhuash post.

To consider a vacation of this sort you should be attracted to a region that is about as beautiful, pristine and remote (no cell-phone service here!) as you will find.  But it probably doesn’t hurt that such an adventure can be undertaken without breaking the bank: For each of the five of us, the land cost that PAA charged for our 12-day trek was just $1,752.  Tell me where you can better this!

TREKKING EVEREST, Guest Post by Owen Floody

Everest with the famous Khumbu Icefall; view from
Kala Patthar

Our friend Owen Floody has embarked on numerous treks in the past year and a half, including the ambitious "Ultimate Everest" trek in the Himalayas. Owen recently retired from a career of teaching and research at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He has always been an avid photographer and in his retirement has taken numerous trips that allow him to pursue his passion. He is a frequent contributor to The Intrepid Tourist. Here is the report of his Everest trek and a few of his excellent photographs.
 
Since my retirement in mid-2012, I have completed 12 international treks.  Of these, the longest and most demanding was Wilderness Travel’s “Ultimate Everest”, a trek that extended over 25 days in November-December of 2016.  My group of five trekkers assembled in Kathmandu and spent several days exploring this and other sites and royal cities in the Kathmandu Valley.  We then were flown to Lukla, where the trekking began.  The trek’s initial leg took us to the vibrant town of Namche Bazaar.  Beyond this point, our route followed an elongated loop, with the town of Lobuche at its far end.  At Lobuche, we spent several days following a spur out to and back from the Mount Everest base camp before circling back to Namche Bazaar along a different route.  Though we had hiked from Lukla to Namche Bazaar at the trek’s start, all in my group opted to return to Lukla by helicopter.  In addition to its obvious attraction of ease, this provided a very useful bird’s eye perspective on some of the terrain through which we had trekked.  Except in Kathmandu, we stayed in basic lodges and were fed well by our own traveling kitchen staff.

Everest (marked by the leftmost cloud) is just behind the Nuptse Ridge, with Lhotse to the right and below the larger cloud formation

As you would expect, views of Everest and other Himalayan peaks (especially Ama Dablam, Lhotse and Nuptse) were a primary goal and achievement.  However, the closest and best views of these (e.g., Everest with the famous Khumbu Icefall ) were not easy to come by, requiring climbs to 17,500 ft (at Gokyo Ri) and 18,365 ft (at Kala Patthar).  To some extent, but only this, the earlier parts of the trek prepared us for later demands by exposing us to gradually increasing altitudes.  For example, our lodges on days 4, 8 and 12 were at 11,270, 12,650 and 14,100 ft, respectively.  And Lobuche, the gateway to the base camp, sits at 16,200 ft.  Still, there is a significant difference between 14,000-16,000 and 17,000-18,000 ft and all of us found our highest climbs to be very challenging, even with the help of the Diamox that we took to ward off altitude sickness.  One tip I would give future Ultimate Everest trekkers is to strenuously avoid exposure to colds or other illnesses borne by fellow travelers.  All in my group paid the price for failing to do this.

Icefield at the top of Cho La Pass

Most of this trek’s figurative highpoints coincided with literal highpoints.  These included the aforementioned views of Ama Dablam, Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse.  In addition, I very much enjoyed the Cho La Pass, Ngozumba Glacier and some of the mountain views near the town of Dingboche. 

Views from Dingboche

In contrast, I found our visit to the Mount Everest base camp to be anticlimactic: The time of year at which the trek runs is not the Everest climbing season so that the base camp amounted to a sign-posted rock field, not a bustling climbers’ village.

Mani Rimdu Festival

On the other hand, an unexpected personal high point was the opportunity to see the Mani Rimdu Festival in Tengboche, as we passed through this town.  This visit was an option on just one of the season’s three Ultimate Everest treks and I would strongly urge any future trekkers to take advantage of the opportunity, if available.  

The festival highlights a set of 16 masked dances performed by the monks at the Tengboche monastery.  These dances depict the establishment of Buddhism in the Himalayas, partly by representing the struggle between the legendary Padmasambhava (aka Guru Rinpoche) and demonic forces.  They were complex, incredibly colorful and provided the opportunity to hear traditional Nepalese musical instruments and music.

All told, this trek was very demanding but also unique in both artistry and landscapes.  What other trek can boast sightings of two of the four tallest mountains in the world (Everest and Lhotse) that begin early and continue to improve as you approach the ultimate destination more and more closely?  If this sort of experience appeals to you and you’re ready for the challenging altitudes, then this trek belongs on your bucket list.