PowerCycle

06/02 New record today. Made it up to 15,477 feet. The climb up to the pass was actually pretty easy except for maybe the last mile. The road went into some pretty tight switchbacks and climbing was a bit harder. The altitude had me stopping a little more often to catch my breath but it wasn’t too bad. Even the temperature was reasonable. It might have dipped to 45F. It’s much colder out now that the sun has set. It’ll be dipping below freezing for sure. It’s 8pm and 36F.

The scenery was incredible. What’s left of the glaciers could be seen easily from the road almost the entire way. After the pass there was a huge one that snaked down pretty far into the valley. No forests or anything like that. It’s a bit greener than I expected but it’s mostly shrubs.

The road back down after the pass wasn’t a lot of fun. It was so rocky that the steel cable that secures my handlebar bag to the bracket broke from all the bouncing up and down. I managed to rig up some tie wraps but I’m not sure how well that’s going to work out. I ended up taking my heavier Canon camera out of the bag and sticking it in a front pannier. The cable was getting a bit worn and I already ordered a replacement a couple weeks ago so it’ll be waiting for me in Florida unless my Aunt tosses my stuff out because there’s so much of it now.

This area is a national park and there’s an official campground even if it is just a lumpy field occupied by many cows. There are no trees, picnic tables or anything like that. The cows have left their brown stamp all over the place so I was flinging dried frisbees to make room for my tent. The only place kind of hidden from the road is behind some rocks next to the mountain. No one else is here. It feels safe enough but I’d prefer to be in a spot where my light can’t be seen by passing cars.

The big news is that I actually saw some wildlife. It was some kind of tan-colored dog; about the size of a coyote with pointed ears and a long tail with black coloring on the tip. It’s been checking me out since I got here. Hopefully it doesn’t try a food raid tonight.

Made some new friends in Yanama. The US Peace Corps has a few people scattered around the area helping out the locals with nutrition and health/sanitation issues. A couple of them hang out at the hostel since it’s the only place with wifi. There’s also a doctor staying there for her mandatory service that all doctors in Peru have to go through (they have to work in a small village for a year). She was really cool and helped me finish off a bottle of wine that was more than I wanted to chug down.

GPX track