Jess is a 3rd year volunteer who works with the national park here and is a wealth of information for every thing related to the ecology of the park. She's an environmental volunteer and she loves her job, the park, and Peru so much that she's signed up for a fourth year of service in a new jungle providence (Amazonas/ not Ancash) that Peace Corps Peru just opened. With that little piece of back ground information, it should be no wonder that she was a great person to ask about hikes around town. I mentioned that I'd like to go scout out so possible fishing spots, and she offered to show me where she had seen the "biggest Peruvian trout of her service" (not a the kind of person you want knowin' your secret fishing holes, but she sure is a good guide). So early Saturday we met in Huaraz, and headed to the spot.
Our goal was a quebrada (canyon) an hour away, with ruins at the base. We quickly toured the ruins and then headed straight up the quebrada. If we had time, we could have hiked 8 hours to a lake at the base of the nevado, but we didn't and had to settle for just going half way up and turning around at large pampa (meadow) that had some pretty cool boulders. I saw a few trout and a couple of campo guys fishing (without luck), but didn't really dedicate too much time with my own fly rod. Its a tightly overgrown stream, with crystal clear water, making the fish very spooky and difficult to figure out, also it was a JUST a scouting trip so... well enough excuses, I didn't catch a thing. However, I'm definitely going back to try again. Enjoy the pictures.
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| This is the view from Ben (the bike guy) and Katie's (Ben's wife) site. We stopped by on our way into and out of the quebrada. |
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| Me with the stray dog we named "foxy" at the ruins. |
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| A gin clear stream that reminded me of a few places back home. |
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| Jess dropping a few nature knowledge bombs on me. |
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| Most of the hike was through this pretty cool forest. |
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| Hard to tell with angle, bot this boulder was about 6 meters tall and really framed the stretch of the trail. Look at the trees in the background. |
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| This boulder was my favorite, easily the size of house. |
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| Jess and I in the upper pompa. |
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| Trying my luck at the base of this waterfall. |
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| The sun setting after we emerged from the quebrada. |
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| Looking back a my new favorite spot. |
