March 18-22
The Ausangate Circuit trail presented some of the most
beautiful, challenging and wondrous landscapes I have ever experienced. The
lack of a trail marking (eg: blaze), guide, and a detailed map made the trail
difficult to follow, but presented a great opportunity to practice my alpine zone orientation skills. Most of the time I was asking myself
if the trail I was hiking was the trail, or an alpaca path. The great thing,
was that it did not really matter. I had plenty of food, and the mountains were
awesome from an alpaca path or the actual trail. The high passes were stunning
and headache inducing, but the coca-leaf remedy was adequate in its purposes.
The sky hailed three times, but the new Marmot tent kept me warm and dry. Off to Arequipa and the Colca Canyon...
