Canyoning on

From our dusty perch above the river we have another day of climbing dusty canyons. It is impossible to escape the dust. Taste the dust, smell the dust, cough the dust, eat the dust. Our hands are black when we stop. The road sides are covered in dust. No choice but to live with it.

We have started early to help with the heat. Whilst we wind the rest of the narrow section of the gorge we are in and out of tunnels and shaded. Once the gorge widens it is hot. 🥵 and barren. We climb steadily past several coal mines that look rather derelict but seem to be operational. There is an air of poverty here and the miners housing is often very basic and shabby.

We find a simple hotel in a small village that has a hydroelectric power station at one end and a coal mine at the other end. Then it’s off again in the morning for the next set of tunnels in the Canyon de Pato, another massively deep and narrow gorge that forms the boundary between the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra. The road clings to a cliff face with unprotected vertical (and vertiginous) drops to the river below, and the mountains tower above.

It appears that we are now on a more frequented route. A québécois cyclist whose bike we had seen in last night’s hotel arrives and we chat a while, then we meet a french couple who are descending.

Its not long before we are through and out of the gorge, and pedalling up and into Caraz. We have tiny glimpses of the Cordillera Blanca with snowy peaks, though mostly it is hidden by the clouds. This will be the next challenge of our adventure.Read more