Climbing Huayna Potosi.
Martes 13 de noviembre – viernes 16 de
noviembre.
The next day in La Paz, Tuesday, I visit the Iglesia San Francisco. It
is very beautiful with clean and simple architecture. There is the prerequisite
dozen or so altars with statues that you can pray to and tons of gold leaf at
the front. The church is in the main
square, Plaza San Francisco. The main
square is very busy with lots of people and things being sold on one side.
Unfortunately, a new main thoroughfare has been built right through it. On the
other side, there is a good market on
three floors where you can buy really good meals cheaply.
I also visit several tour agencies as I have decided that I will climb
Huayna Potosi, a glacier-topped peak not
far from the city which is 6090 m (19 975 ft).This is higher than Mt Logan
(5959 m), the highest mountain in Canada and higher than all but Denali in
North America. I have kind of caught the climbing bug and I want to climb at
least one peak over 6000 m. Huayna Potosi means ‘little Potosi’ and is so named
because it it similar in form to Cerro Rico, the mountain in Potosi, Bolivia,
which had the richest silver deposit that the world has ever seen.
I remember working for the Geological Survey of Canada in the summer of
1977 in the St Elias mountains where Mt Logan sits. I talked to climbers from a
couple of Logan expeditions. Logan may be lower and no more technical than this
mt, but at its latitude of around 61o, the snow line is much lower,
around 3000-3500 m in the summer. Also the approach (other than by ski plane),
requires climbers to ski the 40 km or so up the Kaskawalsh Glacier.
On this mountain, unlike Misti, there is a big glacier which comes all
the way down to 5000 m, so there is no way I am doing this without climbing
boots, crampons, and a guide to rope up with. I make a deal with a tour operator
(Adolfo Andino Tours) for B770 including transport, guide, fee for staying in
the refuge at 5030 m (much like the huts of the Alpine Club of Canada in the
Rockies), meals, and most of the equipment: climbing boots, crampons, harness,
ice axe, wind suit, gloves, balaclava, and a heavier sleeping bag. For another
B70, I rent a big packsack (mostly to hold the sleeping bag as well as my other
gear), and hiking poles. Total B840 ($125).
That evening I get an email from Bruce and Lucie, my good friends in
Ottawa who are taking care of Willow. It seems that Willow has bit their dog,
Miles (who would not hurt a flea), and they would prefer that I find another
home for her. Willow has spent too much time with too many aggressive dogs on
three different reserves. She does not have the best of manners. I spend most
of the evening emailing friends and other people I know hoping to find an
alternative placement for her.
The next morning I arrive at the Agency early to get fitted for boots
and the other clothes. Adolfo has no boots my size nor a backpack so he sends
me to another agency nearby with a better
selection. I find out that the French couple that I am supposed to be
climbing with are already at the mountain having done a 3-day trek nearby.
However, Jason, an American biologist living in Florida and Mary, a broom-maker
from Vancouver, walk in and they decide to come out to the mountain for a hike
for the day. Mary is flying home the next day.
When we get to the base of the mountain around noon, I find out that the
Frenchwoman has taken ill and the couple has left for La Paz that morning.
There were supposed to be 2 guides as there is a limit of 2 clients per guide
since we have to rope up. However, inexplicably both guides have left. I have
no guide, which means no rope, no meals, and, I find out later, my stay at the
refuge is not paid for. I tell Elias, the driver who is going to wait for Jason
and Mary, that I will leave with them if I cannot work something out up at the
refuge. Elias gives me my lunch and the lunch which was supposed to be for my
guide. I have that and 2L of liquid, snacks, the rented gear, and a few other
odds and ends. I leave one of the hiking poles behind as I cannot get one of
the joints to work (there was some paper stuffed up the inside to hold it in
place), but I do not really want two anyway.
Huayna Potosi
The climb starts at 4600 m, 1100 m higher than at Misti, so it is not
surprising that there is virtually no vegetation, just rock. Correction there
is a little vegetation as there are viscachas here, too. Since the lodge is at 5100 m here, it is not
that long of a hike up, and it only takes the three of us 2 hours to get to the
lodge. It is a pleasant hike, scrambling up through loose rock at times, but
mostly on a trail. I have maybe 12 kg of gear in my pack below the refuge and I
will have about 5 kg above it to carry. Of course I will still have most of
that 12 kg (other than the sleeping bag but I will be wearing or carrying it.
In the refuge, which is held down with cables, there is a main eating
room, a back room with 10 double decker bunk beds, and an attic above the
eating room with the floor covered with mattresses for the rest of us. Behind
the building a tarp shelter is set up with portable propane burners for
cooking. Fifty meters below the refuge is a two hole outhouse also held down
with cables. There are about 12 climbers and 7 guides and the lodge caretaker.
In talking with the guides, I find out that Alfonso (tour operator) is
well known for leaving clients high and dry. Reading between the lines, it
appears that he pays his guides less than the going rate and so they do not
feel a sense of obligation to him and often leave him and his clients. One of
the guides, David, offers to guide me although he already has the maximum
allowed of two climbers (another French couple). I tell Jason and Mary that I
will be staying. Several of ffered food
by several guides soup, hot drinks, spaghetti and meat, and crackers.
Daniel and others tell me that it is possible that another guide will be
sent up for me. ‘Todo es posible, nada es seguro’ they say repeatedly.
(Anything is possible but nothing is for sure.) I like this expression and will
here it again and again in Bolivia. It is almost exactly what I have been saying
to myself since before my trip started.
Later in the evening, when it is becoming more definite that I will not
have a guide, David tells me that he could rope up with me only over dangerous
sections, but realizes he can’t legally do even that. He asks Andreas, the
lodge caretaker, to come up with me and he agrees. I will pay him.
The guides play cards and give me advice on what to do without a guide.
After supper and after dark, most of us lie down, but I cannot sleep,
nor can most of the others. I get up a couple of times to pee and to see the
outside conditions. It is pretty cloudy outside and not too cold. The foot of
the glacier is just beside the refuge and ends a few 100 meters further
downslope.
I am awoken by David (along with the French couple, Canella and Cyril)
at 11:30 PM and have a cup of hot chocolate and suit up. The harness I have is
a little small so I cannot put my hooded shell jacket over my insulated vest,
so I leave it in my pack. The four of us head off at 12:30 and by 1 AM we have
our crampons on, ice axes in hand, they are roped up and we are on our way.
Andreas does not head out with us, so I start out unroped and lead David and his
2 French clients behind me. Daniel is extremely clear, explains every step of
what needs to be and why.
A little higher up, I decide to take off the vest and put on the parka.
The wind is blowing but it is not too cold. We reach the first snow wall. It is
not exactly vertical but very steep, with small indents hacked into it by
previous climbers. I am not concerned as below it is not too steep and I do
have my ice axe in hand.
Andreas does catch up with us soon enough and I rope up with him. He is
extremely quiet which I take to mean that he has not had much experience as a
guide. As we go, this becomes clearer. However, he is competent at climbing and
is so well acclimatized to the altitude that one would think we were 1000s of
meters lower. However, Andreas is going too fast for me. He stops every now and
then to let me rest but this is not working for me. I do not want to rest but I
cannot travel at this pace, or I will burn out, rest or no rest. Since he is
hard to talk to, I decide to climb at my pace and since he is attached, he will
soon get the message and he does. On one short break, I decide to eat a piece
of chocolate and drink some Gatorade and it makes me nauseous, so I do not do
that again until we get back down to the refuge much later. The route is long
not too steep over the glacier with a few crevasses we walk over or in one case
jump over. There is one big one where we cross where the snow is very steep and
we climb through it. With over an hour to go to the summit, we climb two short
very steep sections with a mixture of rock and snow. After that, it is a long
knife-edged and corniced ridge, steep at times, but well-covered with snow.
There is a long steep drop on both sides. On the side we came from a fall could
be stopped with my ice axe but not on the other. It is a cliff.
I recognize that Andreas is not properly securing himself where needed
for a proper belay over
tricky parts. I guess he does not think this is dangerous. Note to self:
do not fall. If you do, be ready to stop yourself. As we get higher, I am more
and more out of breath. For the last hour, where it is steep, I have to stop to
catch my breath after each step.But slowly the summit draws near.
We arrive at the summit at dawn (6088 m) and stay there while the sun
leisurely makes its appearance. David and his two charges are first and we are
right behind them. We all unrope, but there is a 300 m drop off on one side and
a steep slope followed by a similar drop off on the other. There is not a lot
of room for doing stupid things here. We take pictures and just enjoy the
amazing view: many rocky peaks sticking out of a thick blanket of cloud. In the
forty minutes we stay on the summit another 10 people or so arrive. The summit
is really only part of the knife edge ridge although it is a slightly flatter
´part here.
Me on the summit
at 6088 m
I am starting to get cold, so I signal to Andreas that we should start
down and I go first. The way down is obviously a lot quicker. The steep
sections are a little trickier going down than up. None poses a problem until
we hit the steep section through a crevasse. Shortly before we stopped and let
a group of Americans and one Canadian get ahead of us. They do not appear to
have a lot of climbing experience and they take a lot of time going through
here slowing us down. At least their guides are securing themselves properly
for the belay.
Other climbers on the summit as we make our way down.
Finally, we get down and just below the refuge we unrope and take
off the crampons. Once back at the
refuge, I cannot wait to get the boots off as I have a few pressure points that
are very sore. There is some food out and I eat and drink a bit, and discuss
what I need to do back in La Paz. The guides are adamant that I need to get
some money back (they say all, but clearly he has provided me with equipment
and a ride and that would not be reasonable). They feel that he does this
regularly and it needs to stop. On the way back, I arrange with David for him
to meet me a little later and come with me to back up my story with the Tourist
Police (yes, there is such a thing here).
The refuge where we spent the night is in the middle of the photo, taken
late morning on the way back down.
Back at my hostal, just as I am about to leave with the pack full of
rental gear, Alfonso comes to my hotel to apologize and gives me back a small
pack that I had left with him. I tell him I will meet him shortly at his agency
with the rental gear. I do not tell him anymore because previously when a
client tried to get a refund from him, he simply closed up his agency until the
tourist left town. Strange but true. Also, I do not just want to get a partial
refund (mainly for all the additional money I had to pay out. I also want to
make the Tourist Police aware of him for future reference.
I meet David, and we speak to a couple of the Tourist Police. David has
to go so I go to the Agency with just two of the TP. We confront him. There is
one part of what he owes me that I cannot substantiate, but just then Jason
happens by and is able to substantiate my story, which helps. There is another
part that he lies about but I let it go. I still end up getting back a little
more than the extra I had to pay for the refuge, the guide, and the ride back.
And the TP are aware of him now so I am happy.
Back at the hostal, I am still feeling the effects. I am very tired
(having not slept) and have a bit of cough which again disappears within a
couple of days. I look for my camera to download the photos to my laptop but
cannot find it anywhere and I am praying I did not leave it with Adolfo by
mistake. When I unpacked a couple of hours before, I remember knocking a few
things off a table and hearing a thump. I did pick up some things but looking
down I see that there is a garbage pail beside the table. Sure enough, my
camera is in the garbage. A little
later, I go to run a quick errand, and I need to cross the main street that
runs through the main square (Plaza San Francisco). I am impatient as the only
proper way to cross is on a pedestrian overpass 300 m away. Usually I wait for
a thinning of the traffic like most people but this time I decide to dash
across when there is a slight break. I sprint looking in both directions.
Unfortunately, I do not look down and catch my foot on a pothole, and down I
go, hard. I am up in a second and across where I can survey the damage.
Slightly ripped pant leg and a couple of good scrapes, and nothing more. In the
main square, I am approached by a man selling trilobites and I look at one that
is perfect. I am impressed and purchase it for $3. Later when I look at it I
cannot believe I bought it (which I blame on my lack of sleep). It is an
obvious fake. I try to snap it in my hands and it breaks. Sure enough it is
made of clay and was made in a mould. Later I see many more people selling
these. Clearly some of them are genuine but most are fakes. There are
trilobites in the area, and in fact I plan to go to a major fossil area south
of La Paz in January.
I have been in email contact with Patricia and she and I are planning to
travel the ‘Death Road’ together (see next Blog entry). We have agreed to meet
that evening and I email Jason and invite him to join us as he is considering
doing it too. We meet, have supper and talk it over. It looks like he will come.
The next morning, we visit an agency and book our trip on the ‘Death
Road’. I and Patricia (I think) are
going to bus to the Amazon afterward. I
was going to book some tours in the Amazon afterward but I may do this with
Jason and/or Patricia and they are unsure of their plans so I hold off. Jason is going to fly down to the Amazon as
he had heard bad things about the bus trip down.
For the rest of the day, Patricia is off to a major ruin site and Jason
will try to work on his plans for the Amazon, as he is trying to get some
serious bird-watching in. I want to rest up after the climb, so I visit the
Mercado and get some good food, visit the Witches Market (a street with a lot
of dead animal parts and herbs used for various purposes. The most obvious thing
is the many dried llama fetuses which are placed in a new home to bring good
luck.
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