June 14, 2017
Small steps toward the big payoff of beautiful views. Oh ya and there are amazing views along the way.
Cycling Stats
Start Point: Wild camp near Paccha, Ancash, Peru
Destination: Wild camp near Vaquiera, Ancash, Peru
32.6 km trip, 4:09 time, 25.4 km/h maximum speed, 7.9 km/h average speed
948 meters climbed, 884 meters descended, highest elevation 4047 meters
Route Description:
This day is along more gravel roads that were rideable. There is not much going on in this section. You continue on the gravel road that has some flat sections and some climbing sections. If you continue 3K more than we did yesterday there is a very nice camp spot by the river. You continue up over the pass. After the pass turn left at the junction. In Yanama after 21K there are hostels, restaurants and stores after you descend about 700 into Yanama. We opted to keep riding a short distance out of town and camped near a mine entrance that had flowing water. If you continue on this day another 3K, there is a great camp spot by the river.
Accommodations:
If you want a hostel stay in Yanama on this day. We wild camped just outside town by the entrance to a mining road. You can also continue just another 3K more to Vaquiera where there is an hospedaje.
What happened…
Andrew writes: It was a strange day today. Right at the beginning we got to see two giant bulls have a “bull-fight”, and two donkeys making sweet, sweet love. Then I was really eager to put some miles under my belt but by the end of the day I was the one who was most tuckered out. Maybe I went out too fast? The further we get into this Huascaran loop, the more beautiful the sights become. Wait, I’m getting off-topic. About 5km into the ride we reached the first big climb of the day I just took off and ended up with 20 minutes at the top to chill out, dry off the tent and tarp and eat a snack. Amanda rolled up, and we sat there wondering if Nici and Philip would make it up to the top (4100m). Amanda thought she heard Nici say that they were going to camp at the bottom. Oh man. We decided to give them another 10 minutes, and as luck would have it, they were right behind us and eager to tackle the downhill into Yanama.
We reached Yanama right at lunch time, which was great for our appetite, but made it difficult for us to re-stock some food items as the shop owners were also out eating lunch. I killed time by changing my brake pads while we waited for the stores to reopen so we could get going. My rear brake pads were worn down to absolutely nothing after about 4 weeks of Andean downhills.
The afternoon was spent just grinding it out. The road was back to a gradual climb but the condition of the road was deteriorating rapidly. There were huge potholes everywhere. There were giant rocks sticking out at odd angles. There were some big puddles from the rain yesterday. It was a bit of a slog for me as I ran out of energy. I kept waiting for Nici or Philip to announce that they were ready to camp, but it seemed like right after I loaded up with 10L (10kg) of water, they found a second wind. Finally though we found a beautiful camp spot and enjoyed another night out in the wilds.
Amanda writes: As Andrew mentioned the road conditions started to get worse. It made climbing all the more slow. Nici and Philip did seem to get a second wind but I did wish that everyone could have gone just 3 kilometres further as the book said there was good camping there. Our spot was okay but not perfect. It was in the shade and just at the base of a mine entrance so there was some mine equipment traffic. Oh well it was nice to sleep under the stars again and I’m really looking forward to tomorrows ride up the pass.
The aerial view of our ride: