Santa Cruz Trek - Day 3 - Acclimatization Day - Trek to Alpamayo Base Camp and Laguna Arhueycocha

I woke up with my stomach still upset, so I grabbed a cup of ginger tea.  A natural remedy for gastric ills, I came unprepared with only two bags. After downing the first cup I intended to reuse it for a second does, but our guide was super-efficient and cleaned my cup before I noticed. Fortunately, it did the trick.

Today we were doing an extra day trip and were glad not to have to pack camp. I am sure the crew were equally happy to have an extra day in one place. We headed to Laguna Arhueycocha just above Alpamayo Base Camp. The day hike would give us an extra day to acclimatize and promised a stunning view. It also gave us two nights with such an amazing view. As we climbed, Ben continued to struggle with the altitude.  So we asked if the emergency horse could carry most of Ben’s bag, some of Jen’s and a lot of my extra camera equipment. This was great. I felt bounds of energy.

We retraced some of our steps back in the direction we came from the previous day, but then turned down a different valley. The ground was soft and the walk easy, but clouds rolled in making our target look less appealing. We stopped for a snack at the Alpamayo base camp and the snaking up a series of switch backs to reach Laguna Arhueycocha. Indeed, the view was obstructed by a clouds and the dimly lit lake didn’t look even close to its potential. Unfortunately, Ben was really feeling the altitude so we headed down quickly and returned to camp.

We had a healthy snack and then all illusions of health were broken when a hot chocolate cake rolled into the tent. We couldn’t even finish a quarter of it. We’re sure the cook, mule driver and our guide got through it just fine.

The story continues...