Colca Canyon

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I might as well tell of our our Colca Canyon hike. After a 6 hour bus ride from Arequipa we arrived at the small village of Cabanaconde in  the afternoon. The plan was we would leave the next morning and in preparation for the hike we spoke to locals about the different ways down the canyon from Cabanaconde and the ways back up.

Although there appears to be 3 trails realisically we were told there were only 2. There is a steep trail which some choose to take to go down and to come back up. It is called the more dangerous of the 2 trails and I was not certain if that was going down or coming up.  Although the canyon is described as the highest or second highest in the world that does not accurately describe the hike. Cabanaconde is located at about 3250 metres and the Oasis at the bottom of the trail is at about 1150 metres. Therefore the elevation change is about 1100 metres but the canyon rim is well above the village.  At any rate, It is steep and caution is needed.

The steepest trail takes about 3 hours to go down and 4 to 5 hours to come up. Most of the hikers take the more gradual hike down which is expected to take about 7 hours and travel through a couple of villages on the way to the base of the canyon. The trail is more gradual and a better trail for heading down into the canyon. So we decided  to take the more gradual hike down the first day, stay overnight and return up the steep trail the next day.

We got up early the next day, were pointed in the right direction to the trail and off we went at 7 am. We traipsed through corn fields and asked all the farmers we saw for directions. They all were most cooperative and gave us directions possibly to the wrong trail head but we could not tell as we had difficulty understanding them and we were confused about where to go.The corn fields were small and terraced.

We came across farm animals as we travelled some of them were young bulls. We jumped over irrigation ditches and at times were convinced we were on the right path when the path disappeared all together. We back tracked and became more frustrated. Eventually we met a man who we later confirmed was going in the direction of the trail head. He walked with us and pointed out the very obvious trail head, well obvious when we were in the right area.  It was about a kilometer from where we first were looking.

Due to this late start, we were at the trail head 2 hours after we initially started out.  So off down the trail we started expecting to be at the Oasis in 6, 7 or at most 8 hours if we really got confused. Although the trail was described as easy, easy has to be a relative term. It was not excessively steep but it was along the cliff edge all the way down. From our map we expected the trail down to take 4 hours and then we would traverse across some more or less rolling land to the final part of the trail to the Oasis.

We travelled down about 2 hours and I became more concerned as we went about the footing. The path consisted of rocks a lot of the way and as far as I was concerned, the pathway was steep and again, I remind you it had a sheer vertical drop. After my fall in Ciudad Perdida where 1/2 my body was off the cliff I was not a happy hiker.

I became more concerned and when I began imagining our journey back the next day.  I was ready to call it quits and call it a day. Calling it a day meant that we would go up-not complete the hike despite already hiking for 7 hours without even achieving our goal. Wendy must have known the difficulty I was having and the second time she said we should abort the hike, I agreed willingly but with regret. So up we went.

I have not regretted the decision but I wish I could have completed the hike for Wendy and for me. It was not to be. I became aware of how afraid I had become of cliffs and hikes along cliffs where there is a real danger of falling when a person's footing is poor.  That is me- my footing is poor. Or maybe it was just too steep and I couldn't be trusted to have good footing.  I may not have been the case, but I believed it was. I had poles, a knee brace and lots of IBuProfen but it wasn't enough to overcome the psychological barrier.  We met a fellow the next day who told us that when he finally reached the bottom of the canyon, he was "physically and psychologically drained." 

Our hike for the day, as expected, took 7 hours but we went nowhere.