Cordillera Blanca and the High Andes

 

We went on a three day adventure to the high Peruvian Andes.  We visited the Parque Nacional Huascaran in the Cordillera Blanca where there are 20 peaks over 20,000 feet in elevation. 

It was an 8 hour bus ride from Lima to Huaraz.  We traveled up the coast then back through the mountains. As we moved up the mountains, the barren coastal desert changed to something more like the deserts of the American Southwest. Cactus, brush, some trees; farms and green wherever there was irrigation. 

Breaking out on top at 14000 feet, it looked a lot like back home in southcentral Utah.  Rolling hills of dry grass and brush with snow covered peaks in the distance. But here the peaks were near 20,000 feet and the snow is actually glaciers. 

We followed a river running parallel to the big mountains down to Huaraz, a city of about 125,000 people situated at about 10,000 feet elevation. 

From our Hotel room we could look north toward Huascaran, the highest peak in Peru and the northern Andes at 22,300 feet. 

Magnificent mountains! Another photo of Huascaran. Taking the photo at about 9,000 feet elevation, Huascaran climbs 13,000 feet above the valley below. 

The people of the Andes were humble and kind. They grow lots of wonderful foods in their high mountain hill side farms. 

Our small tour bus took us up a winding dirt road higher and higher up the mountain. We saw farms of strawberries, potatoes, alfalfa and roses (Yes, roses are a major product they grow in the high mountain farms. They sell them in Lima). 

We ate at a quant local restaurant. The food was delicious. The host was kind. The views were spectacular. 

We enjoyed the beauty of Laguna de Llanganuco. The elevation was near 13,000 and having just come from sea level, it was rather difficult to walk very fast.

Peru is an amazing place of great extremes.  The coastal deserts are some of the driest places on earth. The Andes are home to some of the highest cities on earth. The Cordillera Blanca has some of the highest peaks in the western hemisphere. Palm trees and tropical plants growing below looming white ice covered peaks.  Not many miles away on the other side of the white peaks is the Amazon jungles. Extremes of poverty, high mountain villages and the metropolis of Lima. So much variety. Truly an amazing place!