05/20 Getting out of Tauca was difficult because everyone in town with a camera wanted to take my picture. 
Even after I left some guys in their car stopped, got out and posed at the side of the road with me. The police in Tauca were awesome. As a going away present they gave me a small sewing kit. One of them must have noticed my shorts.
No brutal climbs today but one is waiting for me tomorrow. It was getting late in the day and I needed to find something before heading up again. There were a couple houses along the way but no one was home and I didn’t feel like waiting. Finally at the last place I was out of options before the climb. Luck as on my side though. Not 1/4 mile down the road was a curve where a small canyon snaked down from the mountains. I unpacked everything, scrambled over the remains of a landslide and found kind of flat spot to pitch my tent. Hopefully the trail leading up the canyon isn’t for cows since it runs right by my tent.
The directions the police gave me were good up until I was supposed to hit the turnoff for Corongo. KM112 is where the turn was supposed to be after the village of Llapo but the marker there said KM114. Riding downhill I smacked my forehead when the next marker said KM24 (or something). I did get confirmation from a couple people that I was going the right way and sure enough at marker KM21 a rough-looking jeep track led up into the hills. Just when I got there a transport van came down the road and said that was the right way.
The road turned out not to be too bad and I finally had my first views of the Cordillera Blanca range. 3 snow capped peaks were visible and there’ll be lots more to see. This range of mountains has more than 50 peaks over 18,700 feet tall. As a comparison the Rocky Mountain range only has 3 peaks that exceed that height. My goal is to make two trips across the range. The first one should take me right next to Nevado Alpamayo which is called, “The most beautiful mountain in the world”. The 2nd trip across will be over Punta Olimpica, a pass that sits at 16,000 feet.
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