Ausungate- Day 2

Gate Keepers

            

            We woke up early to have a breakfast of pancakes and coffee before hitting the trail. Once again I was entertained by the barefoot kids running around the icy yard and I felt kind of dumb in my wool socks and hiking boots. As we finished breakfast we looked at the assortment of homemade crafts they had for sale and we bought a few things to thank the family for their hospitality. We had to walk only a few minutes to get a good view of Ausungate and we realized our counterclockwise jaunt around the mountain was going to be full of good views. The whole day was spent checking out spectacular views of snow-capped peaks, crystal clear lakes and herds of alpacas. We ended the day with a descent down to Ausungate Lake where we would be camping at around 15,200 ft. Yoel told us it was going to be a cold night and I definitely believed him as I already had on both jackets, a hat and gloves and the sun hadn’t even set.

                We had a pre-dinner snack of popcorn and coffee, sitting around the tent talking in Spanish with Yoel and having some good laughs. Once again we had our soup and rice for dinner. After dinner, Yoel said he would be going night fishing in the lake and Tim and I insisted that we help. I think he was surprised at our willingness to face the cold water as the usual gringo would be happy to be in the comfort of their warm sleeping bag. We headed out with headlamps to the lake where in certain areas trout had been trapped. Yoel would shine the light to search for a fish and when spotted would reach quickly to pick it up or stun it with a rock. No pole necessary. We only got two fish that night and he said it was due to the full moon being so bright but nonetheless it was a good experience. After fishing we headed to the tent to go to sleep. All of us were beat from the day of walking at altitude but it still seemed the cold could prevent a good nights sleep. After chatting for a few minutes we all fell asleep. It was 8:00 p.m. 

Lunar Surface

Pescado de Mano

Grass

Tall Gringo

tea & talk

Lago de Ausungate