Santa Cruz Trek - Day 4 - Over the Punta Union Pass

Camp was cold that night and Ben was looking a little worn. As we were getting ready to hit the trail, we then heard a painful cry of help from Ben. Running out of the tent to see what was up, we found him in the Seinfeld position,  he needed someone to “spare a square.”

Yessica warned us to go slow and kept repeating her concern as we started up the switch backs. She took frequent breaks which were welcome not just to catch our breath but to take in the even increasing views of the mountains before us. As we climbed, the tips of the mountains appeared closer to eye level. Again, we had put a lot of the extra camera equipment on the horse to make life easier. However, as we approached the pass, the horse was nowhere to be seen. This would have killed the wedding dress shot not to mention we stored our extra water there. Luckily, their timing was perfect and the horse appeared within 50 vertical meters of the pass.

The scene at the Punta Union Pass was magnificent. It was a mere crack in the range where people could slip through. Trekkers were perched on both sides, joking back and forth, taking photos and simply enjoying the unparalleled weather. We took some wedding dress shots, but the light was in the wrong place. As we were in mid shoot a majestic condor soared just overhead. Given our height it was just overhead. I looked up and then down at the horse. My telephoto lens was way out of reach. By the time I reached the camera bag it flew off.

We couldn’t wait too long as we still had a long hike down. So we enjoyed the view, took a few more photos and started our journey down over 900 vertical meters. We dropped quickly, but it was painful on the way down. I wouldn’t have wanted to climb the opposite way up as some people did. I carried my telephoto lens just in case the condor returned. Instead, I got treated to a large rabbit. Really, the largest rabbit I ever saw. Not quite the same.

As we descended, we saw a series of small lakes below and ate lunch at the first one we stopped at. Yessica pulled out cervicie for lunch and then headed to a campsite other than the traditional one. The tradition campsite, Paria, was ridden with mosquitos.  The trek there seemed far longer than we anticipated. We passed meadow after meadow of wild horses, alpaca, llamas, and more. Sure it sounds great, but we were fairly tired and couldn’t see an end in sight. When we did finally reach the campsite it was wonderful. It was quiet and peaceful with only one or two other small groups there. They even had women selling beer. We bought a round for ourselves and our crew and then another round or ourselves.

Jennifer decided Ben didn’t have a trail name and we debated on a few when Leaky Hose just popped out. He had spilled a few things and once the name was out there it stuck.

The story continues...