We awoke to snow in the morning delaying our trip to see sites from Touching the Void and to head up to Cerro Gran Vista. The snow abated but returned on and off during the day (lightly).
We walked up the Sarapococha valley under a number of gigantic mountains including Carnicero, Suila, Tropecio, Rasac. We stopped at the base camp from Touching the Void (as seen in the image below)
We then started our highest ascent of the trip up to Cerro Grande Vista. I have to say that is was super challenging. It was only slightly higher than the prior day but we seemed to climb for ages in an environment that lacked oxygen.
We made several stops in which we would see three beautiful lakes. We also had views of amazing glaciers. One of the glaciers was the one that Joe Simpson from Touching the Void crawled out of. We could also we the valley of boulders he negotiated to return to his base camp- an incredible feat.
The hike up was tough but the entire group made it. I was the third to the top.
Although there were clouds we had views of many of the mountains in the Huayhuash range. It was stunning. A condor soared above us. The elevation of Cerro Gran Vista is 16767ft.
We could also see the steep descent we made from the Santa Rosa Pass the precious day.
Eventually we had to walk down again. Two incidents happened on the way down. In on of the steepest sections on hikers decided to alter their clothing then run down the steep part. At the bottom the guide asked him where his camera was. Much to his dismay he had left it at the top of the steep part. Up he went to get it. Boy was that tough. We also saw two avalanches on one of the glaciers creating a snow water fall as it cascaded below the glacier.
Eventually we made it back to camp tired but accomplished
For dinner we had a soup made of a Peruvian tuber called Olluco. It was very good
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