July 7, 2015
Pastoruri Glacier sits at 17,000 feet above sea level and is normally reached by bus from Huaraz. This is not a short drive; it is at least two hours over diminishing roads to the glacier. Some people apparently bike this distance, we saw at least a few people who were doing so. I don’t know who or what these people are; they must be stranded here on this planet so near a yellow sun it gives them super powers. I was not entirely sure the bus would make it.
Pastoruri Glacier sits at 17,000 feet above sea level and is normally reached by bus from Huaraz. This is not a short drive; it is at least two hours over diminishing roads to the glacier. Some people apparently bike this distance, we saw at least a few people who were doing so. I don’t know who or what these people are; they must be stranded here on this planet so near a yellow sun it gives them super powers. I was not entirely sure the bus would make it.
Above...the road to nowhere and us on it (of course.)
This is the famous Puyas Raimondi. Since it is famous you don't need to know anything else about it right?
The Glacier is not what it once was. Sylvia visited here some years back (she refuses to tell the exact date.) This was before the ‘Gringo Friendly” walkway you see in the pictures was installed, and the walk was longer and rougher. She was saddened by what she saw; the glacier is but a fragment of what it was, diminished by the rise of global temperatures. Everywhere around the world they say the same thing; in Salkantay three years ago, our guides told us that the snow-capped peaks they remember in boyhood have receded. I won’t get too deeply into politics but if you are one of those global warming ‘skeptics’ – well, go ahead and take a look at the pictures.
The Glacier is not what it once was. Sylvia visited here some years back (she refuses to tell the exact date.) This was before the ‘Gringo Friendly” walkway you see in the pictures was installed, and the walk was longer and rougher. She was saddened by what she saw; the glacier is but a fragment of what it was, diminished by the rise of global temperatures. Everywhere around the world they say the same thing; in Salkantay three years ago, our guides told us that the snow-capped peaks they remember in boyhood have receded. I won’t get too deeply into politics but if you are one of those global warming ‘skeptics’ – well, go ahead and take a look at the pictures.
Views of the glacier, what used to be the glacier, and the 'Gringo Friendly' tourist walkway.
Go anywhere around the world
where there are glaciers and you will see the same. I saw blocks of ice the
size of refrigerators marooned on the rocks, slowly melting away. In our
lifetimes probably there will be no more Pastoruri at all.
Above, parts of Pastoruri glacier lie where the rapid melt has stranded them.
The hike was no big deal but the elevation was a physical
presence…just stepping off the bus I felt as if I would pass out. So we
proceeded at a VERY slow pace and in time adjusted pretty nicely. The scenery
was awesome, and as it was offseason (and late in the day) the place was almost
empty. You could see spaces for thirty or more buses so in season this place
must be a zoo.
The long and winding -- but Gringo Friendly! -- Road.
We must have been the last group of tourists to the place;
on the way back all the women selling water and candies jumped on the bus with
us, and along the way we met the guy renting horses, galloping down the road
with his charges, headed back to the home pasture. And thus ended the first day
of adventuring…leaving us to prepare for the main attraction…the four day Santa
Cruz Trek.
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