21st July 2012: Ausangate day 2:

Ausangate day 2:
I had a long sleeve t-shirt on, 3 fleeces, long trousers, socks, a woolly liner and slept in an allegedly -20 rated sleeping bag, and still froze myself during the night. Arthuro reckons that the temp must have dropped below -12 during the night...!!!
During breakfast, our guide confirms the slight change of plans for the day. We were meant to tackle 2 high altitude passes today, but are cutting that short to just 1. The spot. where we were meant to camp on the second night, is located near a community of farmers with lots of alpacas, and during the dry season, the grass is not plentiful enough to share with our mules and horse. He proceeds to explain that the farmers can get fairly nasty, sometimes even stealing the animals and asking for payment for their return. What it basically means, is that we get a relatively easier day second day, and that the next day would be extra super tough, with more distance to be covered, an additional high mtn pass to tackle, AND the highest pass during the whole trek..!!!!

@ Breakfast

 Prep before the trek...

We start the trek with lots of warm layers on, but find ourselves stripping as soon as the sun hit the land.

The temperature difference with and without sun is fairly drastic, and we are just happy to soak in as much of the harmful light as we can. Spf 50 is a minimum at these high altitudes.
Another contrasting aspect of this hike wrt to the inca trail, is that despite the hard efforts, we hardly feel sticky at all. The air is so dry that any sweat produced just vaporises and cools you down very efficiently.

Summit of Arapa Pass

Throughout the day, Biscachas (sort of rabbit like animal with a tail resembling that of a squirrel) cross our path. They lie idle in the sun, usually perched on a rock, on the lookout for their predators, the mountain eagles, which can be seen every now and then circling in the sky. The locals are also fond of these rabbits, and use slingshots to hunt them down.

We also come across small Alpaca and llama poo storage sheds scattered throughout the land. At this altitude, there is no firewood, and the locals have to use the animal waste as fuel to cook and to warm their houses. The poo is collected during the dry season, when the dry air dessicates the material, rendering it suitable for combustion.
The high mtn pass of the day takes a toll on my system, and as we reach, campsite at 13.30, I am brought down by a headache. Small nap after lunch, after having ingested a paracetamol and an ibuprofen pill, and I'm ready for action again. We are left free to explore the area, and I go take a few pictures by a nearby lake. Still 90 mins before tea time, so I decide to tackle a small mountain opposite the lake, but only managed to make it halfway there, before it's time to go back to camp for tea.

Lunchtime...!!!

Nighttime, I am determined to stay warm, so I put on an extra shirt, jacket and an extra pair of trousers. Problem with that, is that it the extra layers mean that there's hardly any breathing space in the sleeping bag to move at all, not very good if you have claustrophobia...!!! Additionally, Jeff only has a limited supply of those magic pills, so I decide to save them for later.

Day 2 stats: from Tinqui to Pukakocha at 4,620m, via Arapa pass at 4,750m, 12 kms.