I had decided when I got to Huaraz that, in addition to treks around the mountains, I want to get to a summit of over 5400m. I asked around at the agencies and, after some trouble finding a group, booked a 2 day summit of Vallunaraju (5686m) with the same partner and guide that I went climbing with the day before.
Getting There
We set out from town around 8 in the morning in a taxi — an old Toyota stationwagon. The accompaniment was our climbing guide Agri from the previous day, and a porter, a man of about 60. My climbing partner R. and I discussed in awe and light carsickness how the poor vehicle was managing the rocky 1500m ascent to basecamp. The livestock traffic barely slowed us down as the car heaved up the road. When we reached the basecamp checkpoint (4550m), we were equally surprised anybody else would make this commute to check our park entrance tickets.
Traffic jam.
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Hike to Camp
We started behind the guide. He set a very slow pace. This was for good reason because the trail immediately started very steep and treacherous. Even so, we made good time. Taking one break for snacks, during which the elderly porter picked up the pace and marched on, we arrived at Camp Morrena (4945m) before we knew it. It’s amazing what a difference a week of acclimatization and good weather makes — this was much easier than Punta Union, despite being much steeper and 200m higher.
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Camp
At the campsite we found several locals and the rickety frame of a hut that they were building. They greeted us happily but made sarcastic remarks when I took a picture of the process. The tourists here next year will have an even cozier time. Our campsite already had the cooking utensils set out in a nice circle on the rocks, as the porter had gone ahead.
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The guide and porter quickly set up our tent and moved on to theirs. Because the hut was taking over the former camping space, they had to clear a new one for the second tent. The guide picked away at the rocks around a small flat area with his ice axe, then flattened the soil with another climbing tool. Meanwhile, the porter picked some grass to make a hay bed between the newly ruffled ground and the tent.
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Our tent was spacious, of high quality, and in good condition.
The tea was ready before camp was set up. It was only 1pm. It occurred to me that this too is an acclimatization day. We reorganized our bags for the midnight ascent and enjoyed the views and snacks for a while until it started raining at 4PM. The temperature dropped quickly and the rain turned to snow.
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Sickness
By dinner time, R. had a big headache. Surprisingly, the guide didn’t have much to say on the topic other than suggesting aspirin and more coca tea. We went to sleep at 6:30 in a snow encrusted tent. I had a light headache. Sleep seemed impossible, as expected. The headache gradually got worse. Close to midnight, the nausea started. By 12:30 I had decided that the only direction I would be going that night is down. It only got worse by wakeup time at 1:30. I immediately told the guide that I needed to go down. He suggested that I stay and go down in the morning, but I insisted that I cannot sleep and need to go down. R. seemed to be feeling just fine now, so after he and Agri started on their way up, the porter packed up and I went down with him.
Going Down
The guide certainly had good reason to discourage going back in the night. The trail down was almost as scary as the prospect of serious altitude sickness. Steep and treacherous going up, it was now wet and muddy as well, and we were doing it in the dark. Fortunately, the porter knew the trail well and would always point me in the right direction when I moved my light around in confusion. I could feel the slightly richer air going down, but did not feel much better for the exertion. We made it back to the road at nearly 5 in the morning, some 500m lower but still dangerously high. It took me another hour to start feeling better. We still had half the day to wait for the others.
Ocshapalca
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Costs
The trek with a porter cost $210 + tips.
Cost 2 days: $242.00
Cumulative cost: $5,389.75
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