This river is being fed by the too quickly melting glacier on Salkantay Mountain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salcantay
Our camp-site is in a valley sitting at 4,200 meters (12,600 feet- only 1,000 feet lower than the Grant Teton.) Alex and I are bundled in our tents, we have just been fed Anise tea and afternoon snacks of popcorn and cookies. Today has been an amazing 12 km (7 miles) hike through the Peruvian mountain "roads." We have been passing through high altitude villages, being passed by trains of donkeys hauling heavy loads, watching stray pigs wander, and imagining the life of those who live in the withdrawn farm houses.
Velvet green mountains lift on either side of us, with a glorious snow-filled rock peak in the horizon were the valley ends. The rain held out all day, until now. It drowns the sound of the river. I can barely write because the last two days have been so long and physically exhausting... the weight of the rain drags me towards suspension of consciousness.
-Journal, Day 2
I find myself laying on the soft grass in a local farmer's field- sharing the land with sheep, horses, and roosters in Peru! A light breeze blows and cools the sun warmed skin. Siesta time for the paying hiking group as the porters, the horsemen, and the chefs tear down the lunch site. That's right. Never have I been a treated like such a princess in the mountains! (note- hell if this girl hired a porter! Alex and I carried our own gear!)
But, seriously, we arrive to already set up camp-sites (5 tents for sleeping, two for eating/cooking, a standing port-a-potty tent and a several course traditional Peruvian meal- with a special dish for this vegetarian!) Also we have set lunch-sites (fully equipt with a long table and 9 chairs inside a large tent to shield us from the intense sun!) Full on princess treatment!
I accept the treatment (the price of the trip included first born child) and enjoy a very different style of camping. The hiking aspect is very demanding; I swear I have done this a time or two before, but I am worked after each day! Waking at 5 a.m. and arriving at camp 12 hours later puts some cramps in the calves and blisters on the toes.
Today I witnessed am awe-inspiring glacial lake at 4,600 meters, higher than I have ever been before. The Salkantay Glacier is where the Inca people buried most of their 12-year-old virgin sacrifices in a fetal position (to represent their thankfulness of the fertility of the land) with an abundance of gold. I mean a little extreme, but... how often we forget to give thanks. Gratitude for this simple gifts of the earth.
-Journal, Day 3
Dogs howl and roosters doodle their doo at about 4:30 a.m. I try to sleep for the next half hour until Poppy comes "Beunos Dias" offering our morning coca tea and bowls of hot water to wash our faces. It is the best way to be seduced out of bed! Breakfast is nothing shy of amazing, omelettes, quinoa porridge, toast, fruit, coffee, etc. Safetylaws are a bit different here in Peru compared to those in the US... we hike over freshly slid landslides and on thin trails were one twit of the ankle of few inches to the right of the trail and BAM- "rafting" as Javiar our guide would say. The river is half a mile to a mile down a straight canyon wall. Death.
Destruction is happening all around these parts as Peru tries to encourage tourism by building roads, the mountains fight back by falling apart right on top of these new developments. Machu Picchu has just reopened five days prior;Closed do to catastrophic landslides after unheard of amounts of rainfall. As humans, we just don't always listen.
Favorite part of the day= playing soccer with most the children from the small town in which we are sleeping in tonight watching or playing . Our camp is set up in a family's backyard with several other hiking groups at the next door neighbors houses. My soccer team included 4 Peruvian guides, 2 Frenchies and UK Chris from my group, and me against eleven 8-12 year olds. And they are good! High altitude and Andes as a backdrop made this an unforgetable memory. Two games and we both won one, so we bought all the kids coke! Tomorrow we hit up Machu Picchu... I think it's going to be pretty cool.
-Journal, Day 4
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