04.09.2004

Mules infront of Mt. Illampu. Click here to see more photos!

The night was fairly warm - whatever you would call warm at almost 4000m altitude. Evernow and then there was a little rain since we were still stuck in this big cloud. The ground was quite hard and so it was not the best night-sleep we got.
In the morning we woke up with the first rays of the sun. Our tent was still in the shade of the mountains but against our expectations we had a clear blue sky and a great view onto Mt. Illampu with its peaks covered in snow and ice. It was a beautiful sight to see the first rays of the sun padding the majestic mountain. Anyway, it was around 7 o'clock by the time we had gotten up and were ready for breakfast but Fernando was not in sight yet. He had spent the night at his parents house and wanted to be back by 7:30. The herds of Llamas of our "neighbours" were already on their way to the meadows, watching us sceptically when passing by. We started to prepare the scrambled eggs for breakfast wearing most of our clothes since it was still freezing cold. If you are astonished about those scrambled eggs for breakfast you are not the only one. We also thought that our food sack with its 10 oranges, rice, 50 bread rolls, lots of tinned food, and whatever else it contained was quite lucurious for going trekking. We have never had such a varying cuisine before while trekking. But in the end we do not have to carry it... :-)
After we had packed everything and the sun had reached our tent as well we started our climb up to the Pass at around 4700m. At first we had to cross the meadow of the Llamas, who were still watching us sceptically. Then the path went up the mountain in fairly indemanding serpentines but nevertheless climbing steadily. The thin air made us stop every now and then to catch our breath, and in those little breaks we enjoyed the great views of Mt. Illampu that was allways getting closer. During the last meters of the climb the path got quite steep and the ground was fairly wet and slippery and in the shade of the rocks it was even still frozen. But from there it did not take long until we reached the Pass. It was around 11 o'clock in the morning by the time we reached the stone pillar that marks the highest point of this Pass. Next to us was again Mt. Illampu - now covered in a few clouds - an din the far distance we could even make out Lake Titicaca. Only the cold wind rushing from one valley into the other over the pass was not very comforting for us.
That is why we did not rest for long but started to walk down into a round and grassy valley. There were even more Llamas than in the valley we had come from as well as uncountable sheep that were watched by some dogs. But no human beings. Until we reached our picnic place for lunch the landscape did not change much. While having our lunch though, big clouds came over the mountains and by the time we walked on they looked like they would ride a rollercoaster across the mountains. Obviously these clouds got stuck on Pico Norte and so they formed a dark black wall behind us. Nevertheless a few minutes later we were stuck in another cloud and it started to rain. Besides the rain the wind was quite cold and it was hard to believe that just a while ago the sun had been shining.
After all the treks we have walked by now, this was the first time that we experienced such a dramatic weather change. It really change within approximately 15 minutes from warm and sunny to cold, rainy and misserable without much sight.
Having somebody with us to guide the way we rather enjoyed the mysterios atmosphere of the clouds around us covering the valleys and sometimes villages or ruins of houses in a spooky way. The way itself was rather boring since we walked along a dirtroad. On this road we reached the village of Ancoma, where a wedding took place on this sad day in the middle of the rain.
After another 1½ hours walking along the road we finally reached our camp ground for the night. The sun had come out again and we pitched our tents late that day. There was not much time for dinner before the sun set behind Pico Norte, so we started cooking straight away. After an exhausting but beautiful day we had no problems going to sleep.