I think I can. I think I can.

So... three days up here at 3100m and I'm finally walking places without mouth breathing. Hey, it takes a while. Anyway, we made some plans for today, and they changed 180 degrees, and the result was wholly rewarding.

We'd read about two hikes leaving from Pitec, about an hour outside our base of Huaraz. One went straight up to a lovely lake (and someone staying at our hotel said she'd tried 3 times to get up to the lake but hadn't been able to get over the last 20' of rock scramble) and the other meandered up a less attractive valley to meet a different, less dramatic lake. Seeing as how I'm not in tip-top high-altitude-rock-scramble shape, we settled on the easy hike, and tried to find the 5S per person (less than $2) collectivo to Pitec.

Well, there were none, and we had to bargain/bribe a driver to keep going after the end of his route. Pitec wasn't really a village but a trailhead, and there was nothing there. As he dropped us off I asked the driver how we'd get back around 4pm. He responded that we'd have to use our cellulars to call a cab. I said, with no cell phones, what are the other options? He shrugged and said "90 minute walk down to end of collectivo route." Ugh. I saw two cabs sitting there with drivers lounging/sleeping, obviously hired by hikers who'd beat us to the trail. I bargained with one to come back and pick us up after he drove the earlier party back to town. 50 soles. Yarg. Either way, at least we had a ride.

A man was standing there, in the middle of nowhere, selling the compulsory ticket into the national park. He reported that the easy hike was 7 hours, that the hard one would take 3 to the top. It was 10:30am, we had 2.5l of water, 4 egg sandwiches from the market, a roll of Margarita cookies, and lacked the patience for a 7 hour saunter. We set off on the hard trail.

It was slow going. It was super steep and loose-rocky. We'd walk 50 feet and have to stop to catch our breath. At every ridge we hit we saw the trail climbing beyond us- straight up the hill, straight through the rocks, alongside a waterfall. All I could think is, "you're kidding, right?" After about 2 hours of slow going and starting and stopping, we got to the rock scrambles. There were cables bolted into the boulders, and in three separate areas it was precariously tough. The first one Ben sort of hesitated at, his legs shaking when he finally attempted the feat-- using the cable as balance/support, swing yourself up 4' on to a slanted boulder, then around to the top of another. It took me several tries. The next two cabled areas were straight up rock faces, with just tiny toe holds. I was terrified but Ben coached me on, step by step. At one point I stood there in the sun, 1" of rock holding my toes and my arms grasping this painful cable, just wanting to stop and cry. But it had to end at some point...

I have no idea how we did it, but we made it up 600m to that darn lake. Had lunch. Ben stripped and swam. Terrified by the way down on those cabled areas we took the other side of the waterfall instead, scooting our butts down as we found toe and finger holds. I have no idea how these maternity jeans made it through un-torn.

At the bottom, we were walking off the trail as the cab pulled in. Never have I felt such accomplishment. Ben and I agree- today was a very, very good day. You need to see the photos.