Huaraz to Cuzco

October 20, 2016

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The terrain from Huaraz to Cuzco was wildly complex so I’ve added more maps than usual. The straight line distance is about 450 miles but the odometer logged nearly 1000 miles. The first leg is from Huaraz to Huánuco.
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Then Huánuco to Junín.
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Junín to Huancayo through La Oroya.  Ore from area mines is smelted in La Oroya giving the town the distinction of being on “top ten” lists of world polluters.  The town has a huge smokestack, adjacent to Rio Mantaro, that I should have photographed.
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Huancayo to Ayacucho along 3S.
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Ayacucho to Abancay.
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Winding road climbing out of Abancay.
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Last leg to Cusco.

After an extended rest in Huaraz it took a couple of days to get back to full strength again. The route continued uphill to a pass at 15,493 feet, Yanashalla, on the second day, at the top of which 18,000 foot peaks were near by. Got snow overnight at a camp near the top. Then it was down to 10,000, up to 13,000 and way down to 6,200 feet and the town of Huánuco. The downhill stretch to Huánuco started out with fast, easy grades winding through small villages. Waving people, chasing dogs and steep drop offs would have made for good headcam footage. The pavement was punctuated with dirt stretches but soon deteriorated into dirt punctuated with chuckholed pavement and had to be taken slow. It was hard on the bike and gear regardless, but a good test for the fork repair, which held up.

Beautiful camp on rising plain above Huaraz.
Beautiful camp on rising plain above Huaraz.
Looking towards Yerupaja, a difficult peak in the Cordillara V,
Looking towards Yerupajá, a spectacular peak with a climbing reputation in the Cordillara Huayhuash.  Unfortunately I never saw it out of the clouds.
The lower end of this valley marks the extent of glaciation where thee flat-bottomed valley drops into the V-shaped canyon.
The lower end of this valley marks the extent of glaciation where the flat-bottomed valley drops into the V-shaped canyon.
Town of Pachapaqui. The highway climbs to the glaciated valley right of the foreground mountain.
Town of Pachapaqui. The highway climbs to the glaciated valley tucked behind and right of the foreground mountain.
Bull fighting rings replace soccer fields in many of the mountain towns.
Bull fighting rings replace soccer fields in many of the mountain towns.  This is Pachapaqui as well.
Climbing to 15,500 feet.
Climbing to 15,500 foot Yanashalla.
Woke one morning to this.
Snowy morning.

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Somewhere after the town of La Union I caught up to a couple cycling from Berlin, Germany- actually East Germany which was the USSR when they were growing up.  They had cycled across Europe to Lisbon, Portugal and then flew to New York. They pedaled to San Francisco then down the west coast to Baja’s tip and ferried to mainland Mexico. They zig-zagged through Mexico, took a side trip to Cuba, and then took the sail boat to Colombia that enabled cycling the part of Colombia I had skipped.  They’ve been on the road for 17 months and plan to go to Ushuaia, and on to Australia.  We ended up traveling together for several days and it was good to have company.  You’d think we would be learning alternative approaches to the world of long distance cycling from eachother, and though there were a few things, it was amazing how similar we were.  We were pretty much in lockstep from the beginning.

Ina and Mirko were on mountain bikes and consequently traveled a little slower than me. They estimated that they would have a hard time making the tip of S. America before Austral winter and decided to take a bus over the last torturous and time consuming passes from Huancayo to Cuzco, so we parted. I may catch up to them again in Argentina.

Ina and Mirko
Ina and Mirko.  Check out MINA.RTWBLOG.DE.
 Campground south of
Small campground south of Huánuco that Ina spotted late in the day when campsites in a narrow canyon weren’t looking probable.
More friends in Peru
Campground host- more friends in Peru.
One of many countless small towns
One of countless small towns.

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Beginning a long descent.
Beginning a long descent.

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Huanaco's main square was a surprize.
Huánuco’s main square was a surprize.  The city has nearly tripled in size since 2007 to nearly 200,000 people, and is a confusing mix of old and new.

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Camping in quenuals.
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This is Michael and Domenique (Mirko center).  From France, they’re retired and have traveled the world by bicycle for five years.  They store their bikes and fly home for two months a year to spend time with kids and grandkids.  They don’t go too fast but they’ve been everywhere.

On my own again, I resumed the enormous grades that would eventually lead to Cuzco.  There were a total of nine high points between Huaraz and Cuzco, all over 13,000 feet, most over 14,000, and the one, Yanashalla, at 15,500.  The lowest point was about 6500 and the longest uphill about 8000 feet.  As difficult as it sounds it was incredibly beautiful and actually enjoyable.  Traffic was lite having stretches with less than a car every 1/2 hour, much of which was on manicured roads.  Peruvian grades are not in general as steep as elsewhere in Latin America, perhaps to lessen brake loss fatalities.  I seem to be inured to the uphills and keep getting stronger; the main differences are with altitude.  At over 14,000 feet muscles simply don’t work as well but a couple of hours drop to 7000 feet makes climbing again feel like you’re on steroids- professional sports training camps would do well to locate high in the Andes.

I tried to time camps to be at higher elevations where people, bugs and cactus thinned out.   There were some beautiful camps.  Lower down I would encounter a species of  no-see-um that made fixing a flat a challenge and camping resigned to the tent. After, there were days of incessant scratching.  Over about 12,000 feet bugs pretty much disappeared.

Ina after a chilly and rainy night.
Ina after a chilly and rainy night.
Though downstream from La olya
Rio Mantaro downstream from La Oroya.  The highway follows this river for over 100 miles.  No boaters whatsoever, which wouldn’t be the case if it were in the U.S.
Heavey trucks cross this bridge.
Heavey trucks cross this deteriorating bridge.
This is debris from a highway tunnel being excavated several thousand feet up. Had to stop and watch some world class trundling.
This is debris from a highway tunnel being excavated several thousand feet up. Had to stop and watch some world class trundling.
Flat Fauna. Skunks have been common in Peru.
Flat Fauna. Skunks have been common in Peru.
Cactus!
Cactus!
Yucca at nearly 14,000 feet. More on this i another plant segment.
Yucca at nearly 14,000 feet. More on this in another plant segment.
This is Karan Ali. He was coming from Ushuaia and heading for N. America. He's from Pakistan but works as a software engineer in Germany.
This is Kamran Ali. He was coming from Ushuaia and heading for N. America. He’s from Pakistan but works as a software engineer in Germany.  He was unsure about being able to get a visa for the US.  Check him out at Kamranonbike.com.
Alpacas are the stereotype you see on Peruvian postcards but you see more cows and sheep in the highlands by far.
Alpacas are the bucolic stereotype you see on Peruvian postcards but today you see far more cows and sheep in the highlands.
This ranchero had a spring, below, that enabled a beautiful camp at 14,000 feet.
This ranchero had a spring, pictured below, that enabled a beautiful camp at 14,000 feet.

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Took an evening hike to the top of this little peak.
Took an evening hike to the top of this little peak.
View from the top looking at the highway and camp in the meadow.
View from the top looking at the highway and camp in the meadow.

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Bricks of mud, straw and gravel go into many of the houses.
Bricks made of mud, straw and gravel go into many of the houses.
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Jonathon,  Bery, Amelia and Valentino.  I stopped here to eat and learned that Bery was a biologist working in Abancay but helped out with the family business on weekends.  She knows plant and bird taxonomy and has emailed loads of info for IDing plants.
Salcantay, 21,000 feet, is the high point of the Cordillara V. Described as a deeply incized range, Salcantay is Peru's second highest in prominence. It's too bad I have have to keep bypassing these beautiful peaks.
Salcantay, 20,551 feet, is the high point of the Cordillara Vilcabamba.  The range is described as “deeply incised”, and Salcantay is Peru’s second highest mountain in prominence and twelfth highest overall. There’s always a little sense of anguish at having to bypass one beautiful peak after another without being able climb.

The people of Peru have been very friendly and prices here are very cheap.  Food in general has been wonderful and I can get a breakfast of eggs, rice, potatoes (Peru is where the potato comes from), veggies and quinoa in a stir fry with a choice of meat, all for less than $3.  Yuca, a sort of stringy potato, is common and very good as well.  I’ve never felt unsafe really anywhere in South America, and Peru has been as welcoming as anywhere.  You get stories of bandits disguised as policeman or gang violence or kidnappings and though these things happen they’re isolated.  It’s not unlike a traveler to the U.S. wondering the likelihood of being involved in a random shooting; for the vast majority of the country it would be highly improbable.  People are just going about their lives and Latin American culture is not far out of step with the US and Canada.

Getting to Cuzco was a major milestone.  It has put me into territory I’ve been to before, having visited Machu Picchu in 2007.  I’ll be on roads into Bolivia that I’m familiar with, at least from the perspective of a bus.  I remember the confinement of bus travel and looking at the sparsely populated, high Bolivian landscapes and thinking how nice traveling in the van would be, camping whenever and wherever.  I wouldn’t have guessed that ten years later I’d be here by bicycle.  The terrain from here should both straighten out and flatten out, with direction of travel for once actually tending towards the destination.  In Bolivia I’ll be crossing the Altiplano, which is high, over 12,000 feet, but stays high without the drops.  There’s a favorable probability I’ll get tailwind.  We’ll see.