Lake Shallap
Moving on from the educational experiences I moved on to focus on the nature around Huaraz, and before those that require an organized tour I wanted to do what I could by myself.
There were three lakes that could be reached from Pitec, and while Churup was the most popular, I opted to do Shallap first, since it was lower and the road was mostly leveled, which made me think it would pose less of a challenge.
The timetable for the colectivo to and from Pitec wasn’t very clear, but the general advice everywhere was to get to the colectivo in Huaraz at 7am and wait until enough people will show up. I did just that, and it left around 7:50am, reaching Pitec around 8:30. While other people have asked this prior to departure, I verified once more that the last colectivo back was scheduled for 4:30pm. The driver told me with a warning in this voice that I will need about six to seven hours to get to Lake Shallap and back in time. Since I had eight hours to go, which meant I could have a really long break if I needed it, I was a bit confused by the way he said it.
After misunderstanding the driver’s instructions as to where the trail starts, and then looking at the map, I was quickly on my way along the right path. Immediately, I was surrounded by amazing views, and had them for the entire hike. Surprisingly (although it’s not the first time it happened to me) the trail started by going down rather than up. I imagine a very small incline pretty much the entire way, and since I didn’t bother doing any research, it caught me by surprise. I also thought about how this downhill section will turn into an uphill section on the way back, and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it.
I moved down the path, using for the first time the trekking poles which were gifted to me by a fellow backpacker I met in the hostel. It didn’t feel like a necessity, since the road going down wasn’t steep, but it was still nice to have it (and I had a feeling I would need them on future trails). The road twisted a couple of times, which resulted in a change of scenery, but other than that nothing really happened. Knowing there is a time limit, and that gravity is on my side, I rushed this section a bit. I thought I might as well do what I can when I have plenty of energy, so I could take it easy on the way back.
After a little while I found myself on leveled ground, following a path that was between giant rocks, green hills, trees, and the ever-present mountains. The views were continually beautiful, and I was smiling a lot. It made me think about some hikes I did in New Zealand, and their continuous beauty, although different.
Then I started to go up, again, not at a steep angle, with some twisted road. Along that section I was spotted by three dogs, who made their way down the rocks to meet me, and stuck around for the day.
I kept going, and soon after was on leveled ground once more. I walked around, looking at the slowly-changing views around me as I did so. At a couple of points I noticed some man-made stone walls and wondered who built them, and why. Not too long after that I came across an active construction site, where I saw people building what looked like a house. I said hello, had a very brief chat with one of them, and continued along the way.
Up to that point, the trail was pretty straight forward. However, not long after I passed the people who were working in a very random location, I started to run into problems. I did have a few water crossing along the trail up to that point, but they weren’t big. This time I had to properly cross a river. Thankfully there was a bridge there, so that wasn’t the issue.
It didn’t, however, appear on the map I was using, which made me feel a bit weird, and the feeling got even weirder when I came to a blocked wooden gate. I only thought about it for a brief moment, but since I had previous hikes where going over a gate was part of the experience, I quickly went past it and continued along the road, hoping it won’t deviate from the map for long.
After two more river crossings I found myself facing a metal gate. This one was also easy to get over, although it felt less like the path I should be taking, But since it seemed the only other option was to turn around, I got past it and kept going.
In a matter of minutes I found myself next to an official sign of Huascarán National Park, along with a couple of empty buildings. I thought that if there was a point in which someone was going to ask me to pay an entry fee that would be it, but there was no one there (I was a bit annoyed by it, since I bothered myself with buying the monthly pass).
Along the trail was yet another gate, and this time I turned around to make sure I didn’t miss any turns along the way and that I was indeed along the right path. It seemed I did, so I got past this gate as well and kept going.
Right past the gate were quite a few cows, in a fairly small area, which made me feel like maybe I shouldn’t be there. At the same time, I did just pass an official sign, and the map seemed to point along the path.
After another river crossing and some walking at a very small incline up the road, the angle changed a bit and I found myself walking up among the trees. When the road started to level again and open up, I could see some more views, mainly of a snowy mountain ahead of me, way in the distance.
Around the same time I also met people coming across from me, along with a donkey, which surprised me a bit. I didn’t know if they just came back from the lake or if they were doing some kind of work in the area.
The road went down again, leveled, and pretty much stayed leveled for most of the way. If there was an incline, it was barely noticeable. I’m not sure exactly where, but at 11am, two and a half hours after I set off, I came across one more bridge. The road opened up and basically big a very large field with cows all across it. At that point, after looking at the map again and considering my progress so far, I felt there is a good chance I won’t be able to make it to the lake.
Nevertheless, I kept going, thinking that I should at least try, and made a mental note that I should turn around at 12:30pm, thinking that since the road was mostly leveled, whatever distance I will cover in four hours, I will need the same amount of time in order to get back, especially if I want to take some breaks.
A bit after 12pm I still had some distance to cover, figured that I wouldn’t make it to Lake Shallap in half an hour, and more or less gave up at that point. I sat down to rest, enjoying the nice views around me while having a snack and drinking water.
After about fifteen minutes or so I felt ready. I wasn’t happy about not getting all the way to the end of the trail, but the risk of missing the last colectivo felt too great. I got up on my feet, put my bag over my shoulders, and just when I reached to grab the trekking poles, I saw a movement in the distance. At first I thought it was just one of the many cows in the area, but a moment later I was confident I’m seeing another person.
Curious, I stood there and waited for this individual to get closer to me. The dogs that follow around, on the other hand, were not so patient. They started running and barking, which understandably seemed to frighten the unexpected traveler. I followed the dogs, yelling at them to calm down without success, and by the time I got close enough the traveler realized those dogs were not going to harm her.
We tried to communicate in Spanish at first, before realizing that English would be better. It turned out she got on another colectivo from Huaraz, which departed about an hour later. My first thought was that her fitness level had to be high (and that might be very low), if she managed to catch up with me after I had that much of a head start.
I was questioning the ability to reach the lake at that point, but she seemed confident, and I thought that at the very least if we both miss the colectivo, we’ll be able to face the problem together. I offered her one of the poles I had, and out of the blue I had a temporary hiking partner who was very determined to get to Lake Shallap.
We went along the way, at a somewhat faster pace than I walked on my own, and talked for a bit while enjoying the views. A little while later, with no lake in sight, we consulted the map again and wondered for a moment whether or not we should keep going. Despite knowing we won’t have much time to rest even if we do get there, we kept going anyway.
The road started to go up again at a noticeable incline, and we both struggled a bit (I struggled more). The next time we checked the map it was less than half a kilometer to go, and there was no way we were turning around. We climbed higher up, and then the road leveled one last time. We saw a few empty cabins, which looked like the camping area, turned a corner, and saw the sign.
I almost ran to it, filled with more relief than joy, that I didn’t notice the lake at first. Lake Shallap was a lot nicer than Lake Wilcacocha, although it also felt like the road was more beautiful and the real prize was the view around the lake, rather than the lake itself. We could see the water flowing down all the way from the snowy mountain, which was still far away, and all the nature right around the lake was adding to the experience.
One thing stood as unusual to me, and that was the altitude. Every online source I came across seemed confident that it was 4,250 meters (including a photo of a sight at the lagoon with that exact number), and yet the sign I looked at very clearly stated 4,483 meters. But since we got there at almost 1:10pm, I didn’t have time to think about it.
After a quick lunch break, me and my hiking buddy packed our bags, turned around, and started the long journey to the colectivo. Again, I wasn’t very optimistic about making it in time, but we had to try. After a little while though, I started to feel optimistic. We covered more ground than I thought we would, and I started to think it would be possible to make it time, and maybe even take another break.
When I did stop to take a break, my partner for the hike kept going, saying that whichever one of us got to the start point first could tell the colectivo driver to wait for the other. I agreed, thinking there is no way I’ll be the first. She quickly disappeared along the trail and I was by myself again (although the dogs stayed with me for some reason.)
When I finished my break, I started the journey up the hill and into the trees. I walked around as much as I could, but with so little break my energy was depleting quickly. My willpower was in constant fight with my legs, and managed to stay on top for a surprisingly long time.
I thought about taking another break when I saw my hiking partner taking a break herself next to a little pond. I didn’t think I’d see her again until the very end, which felt like a nice surprise. I decided to keep going, and didn’t take another break until I got to the very first gate I passed earlier in the way.
After finishing my break I was still by myself. I kept going down, and right around the construction site I saw two more people coming across from me along with a donkey. A little while after that I sat down to rest again, and could see my partner for the hike quickly catching up with me.
At that point that time was about 3:30pm. Looking at the map, it was supposedly an hour and a half to the colectivo, way too late. My hiking buddy on the other hand had talked to the men with the donkey and said it can be done in an hour. I wished her good luck and sat down to rest for a bit more, watching her disappear one last time.
A few minutes later, I felt that even the map’s suggestion was optimistic for me, and that it would be good if I finish by 5pm, and that realistically it would be closer to 5:30pm. I also felt I should have told this nice person I met to just keep going, thinking I should make a colectivo full of people to wait for so long, if the driver would even agree to it.
It was too late for any further chats at that point, and I had to do my best. I fought the pain in my muscles as much as I could, taking short breaks only when I felt it was necessary. I wondered what I’ll find at the end of the road, if anyone is there or if I’d need to find a way to call a taxi. The dogs left me at some point, and I did not notice when exactly it happened. It was very much a struggle of willpower.
The road went down, leveled, and then went up again. At every turn I wondered how much still remains. At every turn I hoped there was someone waiting for me. I was slow, and lost my balance a couple of times, and was very glad to have my trekking pole.
Then, eventually, the road leveled. I could see a couple of people on the road next to a colectivo, and felt a wave of relief. They waited for me. I hurried my pace and within a couple of minutes I finally made it, just after 5:30pm. The woman I met was there, for over an hour, waiting for me patiently. The whole experience would’ve been a lot different without her. As we sat down in the colectivo heading back to Huaraz, she handed me back the other trekking pole, and all I could do was say thank you.