Our trek pt. 3

I woke up on the third day with that kind of groggy out-of-it feeling I have when I get sick. I also seemed a little hot. On the other hand, it was early, and I could well have been sun-burned. How can one tell? I took an advil, and we started our third day of hiking.

Most of the morning hike was on a very uneven, rocky trail about a foot and a half wide with a sheer drop on one side that started at a few hundred feet, and grew to over a thousand feet as we climbed. Suffice it to say, it was a morning of very careful, awe-filled walking.

The map we had discussed had us climb to about 3/4ths the height of Cabanaconde on the other side of the canyon, then descend again to a town that sounded like "wasi". Here we could decide to spend a 3rd night if we wanted to. Otherwise, we would do a straight climb from the canyon floor, 3,500 feet back to Cabanaconde. Here is a shot mid-morning of that third day. Across the canyon you can see about the first half (maybe a little less) of the trail leading back up to Cabanaconde.

And here's a photo of me a little further along the same trail (with some really cool terracing).


Somewhere along the trail, it dawned on me that the town that sounded like "wasi" was actually "oasis" (imagine saying it quickly in spanish and de-emphasize the final 's'). From the hot, dusty trail above, it was not hard to see why:


After 5 hours of walking, we finally made it to Oasis. Here's a shot of Jen crossing the bridge that leads to the camp:


Jen had a dip in one of their lovely pools, and we both had a delicious lunch with some French tourists (there were a lot of French and German tourists in Cabanaconde). Having forgotten entirely about my morning discomfort I felt excited to attempt the climb back to town, and Jen agreed.

After lunch, we proceeded to walk up very steep switchbacks for about 3.5 hours, occasionally watching other people pass us riding mules as sweat soaked and exhausted as we were. Near the top, it was a real fight for both of us, but we finally made it, very proud of ourselves.

I bounded into town (as much as I was able), ravenous for a big dinner, only to discover the entire town had closed to watch the final bull fight, so I had to wait another two hours before I could eat!

It was only later in the night that it occurred to me I should have taken it a little easy instead of pushing myself, because I had a strong fever with a lot of coughing and sniffling into the night.