Lake Churup

I am now in Huaraz, the tourist capital of all things outdoorsy and hard core. Kind of an odd place for me to be since I am neither outdoorsy nor hard core, but I have to say that being here has been one of my favourite parts of my trip so far. On my second day here, I set off on a day trip to a high-altitude lake, Lake Churup.

Even though it was only a day trip, it was still pretty intense for me. I did five hours of straight climbing, up to an altitude of almost 4500 metres. Around hour 3 I really started feeling the altitude, and had to stop and rest every 30 seconds. I was a bit nervous about my ability to make it to the lake, still two hours away, and then climb down again. But I kept going, and was encouraged by the fact that other hikers were moving as slowly as I was. At hour 4 I stopped feeling as much pain in my muscles, which was nice. Numbness! And finally, right before getting to the lake I had to climb this enormous wall:



But it was worth it. The lake was perfectly calm and the surroundings were spectacular. Here are some pics: