Climbing Cerro Arkhata 13-14.04.2016
Cerro Arkhata (5650m) is a mountain next to Cerro Mururata, near La Paz, Bolivia. We decided to climb it in a 2-day version staying one night on the mountain to acclimate a little before the climb to the summit.
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We parked the car on the bottom of this valey on the side of the road. |
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The beginning is easy climbing through grassy slopes. |
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After a while the first view of the north peak (Pico Norte) of the Cerro Mururata becomes visible. |
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View down towards the Yungas valley. |
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Finding a good camping spot is a little bit tricky, but there are some softer grassy spots among the rocks. |
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A french Opinel knife I found on the mountain. Looks like it has spent many many years here. |
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Camp |
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Cerro Mururata at sunset |
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First view of Cerro Arkhata early in the morning. The actual peak is not yet visible. |
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Time to crampon up for the final ascent on the glacier. |
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Finally on the top. Cerro Illimani - Bolivia's second highest - in the background. |
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Cerro Mururata with 3 of it's peaks in the background. |
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Cerro Mururata in the clouds later. |
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The route to the base camp. |
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Route to the summit. |
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Close-up of the route to the summit |
After spending an hour on the top we descended back to the camp and gathered our gear. Then another 2 hours back to the car. Another 2 hours by car to La Paz.
Hiking in Palca valley 03-04.04.2016
This was a random hike in the Palca valley. I wanted to explore the area and find alternative routes. I have an old map that shows a path starting off the Palca road. None of my new mobile or other maps show this path so I decided to try it out.
Day 1:
I took a mini-bus to the village of Huni which is situated just beyond the pass. The map indicated that the path should start a couple of kilometers from Huni so I walked onwards from Huni on the main road.
Half an hour later I found the path and started uphill.
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The path |
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The Palca road further down. |
The path is easy although the altitude makes it a hard walk.
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Nice views on the ridge. Unfortunately the mountain Illimani was covered by clouds. |
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The path going up. |
Basically you have 3 options to end up in the Choquecota valley. The photo below show the 3 options: the valley on the right (it has a road), the center one is called Hampaturi and the one I took staying up on the ridge.
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The 3 valleys |
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Relax in the sun |
I split off the path at the end of the valley and crossed east. I tried going around the ridge on the photo below from the right side, but it was not possible. However on the left was easy. The next valley is a very quiet and beautiful place with a small stream on the bottom of it.
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Off the path. From here on no more path. The way I took goes on the left of the ridge in front. |
The valley was empty. I was alone. In the other end I finally saw the lake Chuxna Quta where I had planned to camp for the night.
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Finally at the lake Chuxna Quta. |
Just before arriving at the lake a local farmer came running towards me. He asked where I had come from. I explained and then asked in turn: Not many people coming this way? You are the first, he replied.
I put up the tent and went almost immediately to bed since I was very tired after the 9 hour hike.
Day 2:
I was thinking of maybe continuing to the Takesi Inca Trail the next day, but I felt sore. The weather was not too good either so I decided to head for Choquecota and find a ride back to La Paz.
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Farming is far from trivial here. |
I headed down the road towards Choquecota village. On the road I met a farmer and we walked together towards Choquecota. He showed me a shortcut off the main road and we went down it.