Day 28: In and out of the canyon
11,000 feet of elevation change in two days of hiking generally means you went somewhere pretty interesting. In my case it was the famous Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon in the world (and over twice as deep as the Grand Canyon). Unlike the Grand Canyon, the Colca doesn't feature vertical walls and giant carved out spaces, but instead seems more like a river which is towered over by two giant mountain ridges. Incredibly, the entire canyon was forgotten by time until the early 1970s when the Peruvian road engineers explored the region for the first time as part of an effort to built a road through the region. To their shock, they found thousands of Andean condors (largest bird in the world), thousands of stone terraces burgeoning with agriculture, and a system of towns that had been incommunicado with the outside world for a long, long time. And, of course, the canyon. They did build a road into the region, which has led to the area being reconnected with Peruvian society and the world at large.
I had some very interesting experiences while I was there (on top of witnessing the above). Probably the most interesting was the taxation placed upon my body. On the first day we started in the town of Cabanaconde, at around 10,800 feet up on the canyon ridge. We then descended down to the river, which sits at a modest 6500 feet, and then climbed up to the village of Cosnihua is at 7800 feet. This first day wasn't so bad, although descending down over 4000 feet is really hard on the knees. Not to mention the danger aspect, given than most hiking accidents occur when going downhill. The trail was good for the most part, but there was a bit of slipping and sliding on loose rocks and steep trail. By the time I got to the canyon bottom my legs felt like jelly from the repeated stress put upon the knees. Downhill can be just as hard as uphill.
The second day, after a great night spent with a local family (more on this below) we set off and descended again to the river bottom, this time to the oasis town of Sangalle. There we rested for a few hours and then did the monster hike back up the canyon wall to Cabanconde. I am unsure which hike was more difficult, doing the 4000 feet going down to the canyon bottom, or hiking 4000 vertical feet back up to the top. We set off at 3 pm for the hike to the top and got there at around 7 pm, the last hour of hiking was done in the dark with flashlights. Sketchy, but beautiful to watch the sky and canyon steadily darken as we made our way up the mountainside. The canyon is so deep that sundown for the towns at the bottom is 3:30 in the afternoon.
The canyon is remarkable for its depth of course, but I think the most beautiful part of the experience was walking through the towns that sit on the canyon walls. Snow falls upon the mountain ridges there in the summer, and snowmelt creates rivers that race down the canyon walls to the Colca river below. The people who live in the canyon have engineered an impressive system of aqueducts for transporting this snowmelt all across the canyon walls, feeding giant terraces where they grow their crops. The terraces and water system dates back hundreds of years, to before even the Incas had arrived in the area. Seeing the giant terraces from the top of the canyon is mesmerizing, as they snake along the lower canyon wall in a seemingly endless belt. And hiking through these towns is equally cool, as you go down dirt paths lined with rocks and look upon terraces and fields planted with lime and avocado and cactus. Some of the areas made me feel like I was in the Shire from Lord of the Rings, in how verdant and sleepy and tranquil was the combination of fields and trees and little houses.
---
The second night of the canyon trip, me and my fellow hikers Allison and Mario stayed at Hostal Don Anillo, in Cosnihua. It was more like staying at someone's house than a hostel. Magical. The entire canyon has no electricity, so we spent the night outdoors around candles and a bonfire, enjoying great food and the company of Don Anillo's family. He served up cuy (guinea pig) and alpaca (cousin to the llama) steaks, which made for a incredibly tasty dinner (funny what five hours of hiking does to the taste buds). Eating fresh (in that the animals they serve up for dinner are kept in the back yard) barbecue under a million stars in an impossibly gigantic natural setting - unforgettable.
