Maximum Altitude: 13,845 feet
Ending Altitude: 12,705 feet
Total Distance: 4 miles
Today was a short but vertical hike up to visit a glacial lake followed by a pretty fast-paced descent, once again intended to continue acclimating the group to the altitude.
Yes, that's me in the picture below looking cold and slightly insane in the lake. Other members of our group have more pictures; will post them when I receive them. I was eventually joined by my father-in-law and a woman from the group. Yes, it was COLD!
After we recovered our sanity and got dressed, we joined the rest of the group in performing an Incan ritual where we thanked Mother Earth and the mountains for a good year. We also asked for blessings for our favorite places, friends, and family.
All told, it was a great day. Tomorrow is expected to be the hardest day of the trip. We will pass 15,000 feet but descend again at some point. We expect 7-9 hours of hiking.
(On a side note, yesterday's hike was between 6-11 miles; getting conflicting reports on that..chose 6 to be conservative.)
I took the last two pictures from the lodge; two more great shots of the mountains.
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