Hobo Drifters

the danger zone. aka: the needle in the red.

So after some rest and relaxation (including some unimpressive ruins and some very impressive bug bites) we decided to attempt a day hike. This involved a good old fashioned neighborhood collectivo (small bus) ride, not complete without an absurd amount of fellow passengers, up a non-maintaned imitation of a road. Anyways we got to the trail and started up.

It wasn´t long until we realized that hiking at these altitudes was going to be more challenging than we originally planned. Its a weird feeling having your body starved of oxygen. It starts with a suddle dizziness, then slowly your head starts to feel very light. The higher you go the harder it becomes to catch your breath. Every few steps you need to stop and breathe simply to avoid passing out. After a while the dizzyness turns into nausia and the lightheadedness turns into a throbbing, even a pounding headache. Imagine if you will, in your field of view, a dashboard, with guages that monitor your vital signs. All the needles are in the red, and with every step upward they move deeper and deeper into it, until finally the needle is buried as deep into the red as it will go. This is how we felt climbing up to Lake Churup.

We did all eventually make it to the lake. An elevation of about 14,500 feet. We fared much better than some others on the trail (one girl laying on a rock next to her vast puddle of vomit). Got some cool pictures, although they won´t make it onto the blog until later. I can´t speak for everyone, but I was now legitimately worried about our hiking trips in the Andes. 14,500 was high but we would need to climb higher. The hike to Lake Churup was a stepping stone. A means to get acclimatized to the high altitude, and despite the worries I also now felt legitimately excited. Bring on the Andes.