Road to (and from) Huaraz Peru

I eventually left Trujillo Peru and headed south with another Canadian cyclist, Michael Schratter, who is fundraising for the Vancouver charity http://www.ridedonthide.com/However, his narrower tires along with his time and distance needs in order to keep to his tour schedule made it impossible for us to stay together.  So for me it was a left turn-off onto a dirt road along the coast.

Much of the Pacific coast of South America is a desert, stretching from northern Peru through to southern Chile.  It is just sand dunes.   For a cyclist, it is dull to look at and when the wind picks up around lunch time, you spend your afternoon being sandblasted.  After 70km. of this, I had had my fill and was looking forward to the cordilleras negro and blanca which I had heard so much about.

The first 50km had been on a private mining road where I met only a handful of cars.  There were almost no houses, and only the odd ruins of a modern-looking town on a flood plane above the river.  None of the houses had roofs, most of the windows and doors had been bricked up, but new entryways had been punched in the walls.  There were no tracks in the sand surrounding them and I cautiously picked one of these post-apocalyptic places to shelter from the blowing sand for the night.

I was relieved to wake up undisturbed, but in the calm of the morning that quickly changed, as sand flies feasted on exposed flesh and prompted me to break camp 30 minutes faster than usual.

This cordillera seems to be named “negra” due to the vast amount of coal in the surrounding canyon.  I saw miniature-looking miners swinging from ropes far above me on the canyon walls.  I had a great dinner in a small restaurant in Yuracmarca. Then the proprietor pushed aside some tables to allow me to sleep inside.

The following day was simply spectacular.  The road which is following an extinct train route, featured around fifty tunnels (I lost track at 18) carved into the mountain side.

At the top of the valley I rode into the higher cordillera “blanca”, named for the snow-topped mountains, which are allegedly the most beautiful in the world.   Among the peaks is the one which Paramount Pictures uses for its signature shot.  Midway through the range is the trekking town of Huaraz.  The sad part is that I was never able to see the mountains.  Their bases were visible for a few hours mid-morning, but above 4000 m it was always cloudy, that layer descended down and by 3 to 4pm a cold rain would start to fall.  From here my planned route was to head farther up into the mountains, which would have put me farther into the cloud layer.

My first night in the area, I was caught in the rain, and having problems finding a place to camp.  After a few failed attempts I asked at a gas station.  As it would turn out they were Jehovah’s Witnesses and had a small chapel above their living quarters.  Even though it was the second level the floor was plank and dirt.  We moved aside some pews and voila, I had a sheltered camping spot.

After a few days with Eric and Merilee http://ericandmerilee.blogspot.com/2010/07/fixed-bikes-paradise-and-scorpions.html and Italian cyclist named Antonio, I decided I would have to bite the “bullet” and take a bus south to avoid the unnecessary cold of the rainy season.  I will come back and ride this part when its sunny.

Update.  I am now in Santiago Chile, which is a modern mix of South American, North American and Europeans styles, cultures and commodities.  Pedro, who is the local Cannondale dealer has taken me in.  (We went for a Boxing day Singletrack ride but I will blog about this later.)  His shop Intercycles has given my bike a fantastic, and somewhat needed, cleaning and tune up.

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