As I've cycled through northern Perú, several people have told me about Huaraz and the mountains. After two weeks of heat and desert and continual headwinds, I'm ready for a change of pace and turn east into the mountains. I am not disappointed!
I arrive well after dark into Huaraz and find a cheap hostel for the night. I'm hoping to make it to the mountains for a bit of cool weather and hiking the following day. I ask the hotel manager if he knows how to get to Laguna 69 (so named by the government who numbered any lakes that didn't have a proper name). I'm in luck... he is from Yungay, the town that is closest to the lake and give me detailed instructions on how to arrive.
The next day, I wake early and take two different local buses to Yungay. There I wait for another local taxi-bus that will take me to the top of the pass from where I can begin trekking to Laguna 69. I wait for several hours before there are enough people to fill the van. And we are off!
An hour and a half later, we have traveled the 30 kilometers to my drop-off point. It is later in the day than I hoped to start and I start walking quickly. I'm told it is still four hours up to the lake, at 4,600 meters and about two hours back... no time to waste!
I make it up to the lake quite quick, breathing very hard, but enjoying the change of being off the bike. I jog back down the trail to start hitchhiking my way back to town... got to get back before the last cars go down.
