December 15
Happy birthday to GDM and Kissy.
Today we hiked Winicunca. Note – the entrance ticket spells it this way. Everything on the internet calls it Vinicunca. Now, we know that if it’s on the internet it must be true… but I’m going to go with what my ticket says this time. This mountain is also called Montana de Siete Colores, Rainbow mountain, and Mountain Colours. No matter what you call it, it is a very difficult hike and a very beautiful view.
Warning: none of these pictures look real. We had a 3am pick up, a 1 hour wait for other people to get their act together, followed by a 3 hour bus ride. Then we had breakfast – nothing fancy, including the bathroom situation which I won’t post online although I did take a photo. Look at this view from the breakfast spot instead:
Then another 20 minute drive to the starting point. We started the 6 kilometer hike at an altitude of 4400 meters. For reference since very few of us from the states knows how high that is: it is about 14,400 feet. Cusco, where we’ve been struggling with altitude is 3400 meters, or about 11,100 feet.
Editor’s note: this picture was taken at the end of the hike. I was pretty concerned about tackling this, so it was all business on the way up. Time for pictures at the top and on the way back down.
So we started the hike. 6km and an expected 2 hours to climb about 700 meters to the top. We had two goals: finish and as long as we finish, be towards the beginning of the group instead of the end. There were some annoying people on the bus that Michael felt we NEEDED to beat. I was cautiously optimistic. The hike was hard. At one point, we were taking only 4 or 5 steps before another break.
But – we did it! Not only did we finish, but we beat the two German dudes who were in their 20’s and talked about climbing the Alps. In fairness to them, I think they were having some major altitude issues and we were pretty unscathed until the top. A few others beat us, but we were really happy with our trek. It took us about an hour and 40 minutes or so.
This is it! Once we were at the top, it was cold! We were warned, but without hats and gloves, we weren’t prepared to stay up there too long. Plus at 5100 meters (~16,700 feet), I was feeling a bit nauseous. So we enjoyed it and then started our hike back down. It was super cloudy. Our few peaks of sun gave us beautiful view of the colors and also the Andes and a glacier in the distance (not pictured).
The colors, per google, are due to different minerals: iron oxide (red), iron sulphide (yellow), chlorite (green).
So on the walk down, I had Michael take a picture of the hike we had done. We are not at the starting point of the hike – only about a third of the way down, but you can see the dramatic incline in the back of the center hill and all the people along the trail.
After the fourish hours on the trail, we headed back to our breakfast spot for lunch and then the long ride home. It was three hours made an hour longer by an extra bathroom break and a busted tire.
Once we finally got back to town, we grabbed two empanadas, showered, and headed to the Last Jedi!!!! Michael found a showing that was in English with Spanish subtitles, so we went and it was awesome!!! Despite being up since 2:30 and having an aggressive hike, I was pumped and wide awake for the whole thing. No spoilers – but go see it. If you aren’t a Star Wars fan, rent them all (even 1-3, the bad ones, but watch 4-6 first) and then go see it. If you have daughters, make them watch all of them and then take them!! Super badass chicks in this movie.
As many of you can see from SO MANY blog posts, today, December 16th, is a relax day. I’m cranking through these blog posts and Michael is running some errands. We head out to the Inca Trail tomorrow for a four day hike to Machu Picchu, so we’ll be out of touch for a bit. Pray for us/send us good vibes – I’m very anxious about this hike. Some people train for it. We have not. Wish us luck and we’ll be back in touch soon!