Punta Olímpica

WOW! The mountains are so beautiful this morning!

The alarm is set at 5:45 to take advantage of the clear morning. The ground is quite soaked after a seriously wet night that clears to stars by 4:00.

Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, porridge, some fruit, pack our stuff and the heavy wet tent... and off we go with no less than 28 hairpins and, weather permitting, fantastic views of the highest mountains of Peru (see map) awaiting us. At the top at 4770m, we will have a choice to descend through an unlit tunnel, or to continue on the old road up to 4850m. The old road is passable for hikers, and, in principle, for cyclists who can carry bikes over steep landslides... It will only be possible with good enough conditions...

The views are out of this world for the first hour or so, but soon clouds wrap the top of the mountains, and our summit collection stalls completely. Alice is tired and after about a third of the hairpins, Alain takes on the (wet) tent. We settle into a rythm, but wind and drizzle encourage us to push harder -- probably a mistake.

Finally we make it to the tunnel. We are cold and go a short way along the old road to shelter for a quick lunch. We can't help a shivering selfie and self congratulations-- we have never been or even imagined being so high with or without bicycles! Sadly, we feel too shattered to try the tough old road in these conditions, so we turn on the lights and reluctantly head through the tunnel. It is cold, dark and much water pisses from the ceiling.

The beauty of a glacial lake welcomes us on the other side of the tunnel. We manage (don't ask how!) to lose each other for a brief ( but infinitely long) moment during the descent...

The descent is beautiful, but Alice is seriously exhausted by effort and altitude, and struggles to get down to the superb village of Chacas, where a few days of rest will be de rigueur.Read more