Santa Cruz Trek - Day 2 - Big uphill day over the pass
With the cold night behind us, we were happy to all pile in to the dining tent and be treated by Epi's porridge. It was very liquidy, but had something like cinnemon and cloves in it that just made it superb! Definitely a good way to warm up for the day.
This was the hardest day of trekking, with the initial 2 or 3 hours being pretty much uphill to a moutain pass. Again it was hard work, but as long as you have rest stops it's not too bad. I asked Epi later in the day how long he would take to do the 5-6 hour trek without tourists and said probably around 3 hours!! They're in pretty good condition these mountain guides :)
The views from the top of the mountain pass are just incredible, as in close to the best views I've ever seen.
Before long we were zig-zagging downhill, and along the way Epi confirmed to me that the horse nearby wasn't a puma, nor was the butterfly a small condor. All important information that will help me get by in the wilderness. Again the campsite was set up in a place with spectacular views around it, and the dinner of chicken and rice was great for a camp meal. Epi then produced a box of wine for us which was very well received :) We thought for a second about complaing about the fact that he was serving red wine cold, and not white wine with chicken, but thought better of it :) (I joke, I joke)
This night wasn't quite as cold, but still 'wear most of your clothes in bed' kind of cold. I was happy to be making use of my thermal long pants which now meant that I had offically made use of everything I'd been dragging around in my backpack on this trip. There was however the need for earplugs since a cow wandered around our campsite mooing in our ears :)
