Hualca Hualca

Some history of that volcano I tried to climb - though some of it may not be true, and other parts may have been confused by my still imperfect Spanish....

A man I met recently told me that as recently as the 1600s or 1700s there were sacrifices of young women on Hualca Hualca, in the same style as Juanita, the famous mummified sacrifice found on top of Ampato. He could remember stories of these activities being passed down - even when the Spanish were well established here. A young girl would be adorned with a sash onto which were pinned food and other offerings. The whole community would go with her to the volcano where she would pass through a window or gate and it was there that the sacrifice would be made - I think by putting the girl, alive, in a sacrificial tomb, but I am not sure. Because of landslides and earthquakes, the window no longer stands, though a friend of this man was hiking on the mountain and said he saw pieces of fabric and other artifacts. These frightened him immensely and he didn't return to investigate, though it was likely the spot of the "window" where mummies could be found. The term mummies is also a bit misleading, for the sacrificed are not preserved intentionally, but are preserved from the intense sun, dry air, and high altitude.

Hualca Hualca and Ampato, the next volcano over and a little higher in elevation were also once in a fight. The nature of the dispute was unclear to me, but I think that it had something to do with the sun's rays (which would make sense, given the importance of the sun to the Inca). The two volcanoes became so mad at each other that they began to fight. In the traditional manner of Incan warfare a stone with a string around it was flung at an opponent. It was in this way that the volcanoes fought, launching rocks at each other (something easy to imagine from active volcanoes). Today you can see a giant rock in the side of Hualca Hualca that Ampato launched and likewise one in the side of Ampato from Hualca Hualca. In the end, Hualca Hualca won the battle, and launched a rock that cut off the head of Ampato, which is why today you can see that Hualca Hualca rises to one singular point, while Ampato has a broad flat top, as if it is missing its head. Ampato also gets its name from its flat, squat appearance, which resembles a frog - the word for which in some local language is Ampato.

Finally, the Colca valley, before the Incas conquered it, was home to two distinct ethnic groups, the Collaguas and the Cabanas. The Collaguas lived in the high central part of the valley and practiced head deformation into taller shapes. The Cabanas occupied the lower part of the valley and practiced head deformation into wide and flat shapes. It is said that you can still see this reflected in the shapes of the hats that people wear. The capital for the Cabanas was Cabana which sits at the foot of Hualca Hualca. They also believed that they had come directly from the high snowy peaks of Hualca Hualca.

Hualca Hualca photos

one

I just spent over an hour online adding one photo. Sweet. Here's a canyon. I'm in it.

high

Monday and Tuesday I tried to climb a 6025 meter volcano (19,767 feet) with three Australian women, an American man, a German woman and our two Peruvian guides. On Monday we hiked to our camp at 5000 meters after examining a geyser and boiling eggs in a hot springs. The geyser and the volcano are thought to be locations where the devil dwells, and I was told that once a priest threw a bottle of blessed water into the geyser which was then violently shot back out, directly at him. My boiled eggs weren't very boiled but I ate them anyway, and by the time I reached camp I was feeling quite sick to my stomach and had a bad headache.

I attributed the symptoms to altitude, though the bad stomach stayed with me even when we returned to lower altitudes so I am blaming the eggs.

Tuesday morning we got up at 2 am, I took some Tylenol to combat my lingering headache and we headed up the volcano. It was a slow process because a few members of the group were struggling mightily with the altitude and had no flashlights. I was a little frustrated because, to my surprise, I felt strong and all of our stopping did nothing but make me very very cold.

Finally at 6 am we made it to the snow and the sun came up. Despite multiple applications of sunscreen I am now very burned. When we were within about 250 vertical meters of the summit, Tim, the other American in the group decided that he just felt too bad from the altitude to continue. His girlfriend and a few others decided to stop as well, for the next section looked steep and difficult (next time I want to take a different ridge). It didn't make sense for Tim and the others to sit at 5700 meters waiting for the remaining four of us (Hilka, two guides, and me) to keep climbing and I thought it better if a guide returned with them. But, it looked like the guides had no intention of stopping unless all of us were going back, so I called to Hilka and we all returned.

Happily, we made our way down by sliding down a large snowfield. It was great, though a few people tore their pants and got cut.

On the hike down I found an arrowhead that was almost a perfect equilateral triangle, though I left it on the mountain. I figure it is a good omen and was later told that it was probably pre-Hispanic. My eyes have been well trained by all the times spent walking the runway in search of arrowheads.

While I am disappointed not to have made the summit, it was a great trip, and I am happy that as a group we made the right decisions - no repeat of Namibia. Hualca Hualca will still be there (especially since they claim that the geysers diffuse the pressure inside it, thus averting an explosion as has happened in other nearby volcanoes).

Photos to come later.

hot hot hot (springs)

It takes forever to load photos, but here are some from my morning ride to and from the hot springs.