Hiking in Anca$h

One of the reasons that Ancash is Better is because of its eco-tourism. Ancash is home to Huascaran, the largest tropical snow-capped mountain in the world, hundreds of glacial lakes, amazing rock climbing, white-water rafting, and of course, the Andes mountains. During this beautiful dry season, I've been enjoying Ancash to the fullest, going on beautiful hikes around Tumpa with my site mate Rabbit and exploring the Callejon de Huaylas with Ancash volunteers. 

*May was the month of beautiful hikes* 

Erica and Callie invited me and a few of other volunteers to participate in an environ

mental clean-up of Santa Cruz trek, one of the most famous, challenging and beautiful in all of Ancash. We left early in the morning with about 100 Peruvian arieros, or donkey drivers part of the local tourist committee. With our backpacks full of water, snacks, and sweaters, we were ready to brave the the cold Andean night. We spent the day hiking uphill, taking pictures and videos, and catching glimpses of the snowcaps from beh

ind the clouds. We arrived to camp by sunset, set up our tents despite the garua - the cold drizzle, and shared a warm dinner of rice and beef stew with the arieros. The drizzle cleared the next morning and we took off to reach the top of the trek. After getting a little off-trail and fording a couple of bone-chilling r

ivers, we made it to the turn around point and were rewarded by a spectacular view of an enormous snowcapped mountain. And the naked glacial lake jumps are a blast.

Every now and then, Ancash volunteers like to have destination regional meetings. We had the last one at the top of the 69 trek - a short but challenging day hike at 4600 meters. W

e had a great time hiking up together and when we reached the top we stripped down, kept tradition alive, and jumped into the ice cold laguna. 

As a New Englander, of course I miss the beach, the seafood, and the costal lifesty

le. But I've become much more of an outdoorsy person since living in Peru, and have grown a true appreciation for the mountain life.