Huayhuash Trek, Peru 21 Jun - 5 Jul 2007   All content copyright © Ashley Burke 2007. Not to be copied, duplicated or used for any purpose without permission.

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Day 13 - Diablo Mudo Summit Day (5350m, 17552ft)

3 Jul 2007

As with Pumarini, a 4am start was required for our summit bid on Diablo Mudo. I had a bad night, with a stomach upset setting in by about 9pm, resulting in a restless and sleepless night. With the altitude of our campsite being 4600m, it was very cold, which made the frequent visits to the toilet tent more than a little inconvenient.

Undeterred I joined Bill and Marco at 4am and we departed camp, crunching off through the frosty ground. The girls would rise at a more civilized hour, watch our ascent of Diablo Mudo from below, and then walk via a lower route to our next campsite where we would reunite.

Diablo Mudo was a more difficult mountain to climb than Pumarini but it was nevertheless straightforward from the technical mountaineering point of view. There was some loose scree to climb in the dark, and one or two steep snow pitches, but the summit was broad and undulating, and no rope was needed to descend the other side. By the time it was light we had almost reached the snowline. After reaching the summit we descended the valley to the east, in which lies Laguna Huacrish. We met the girls further down this valley, and our final destination for the day was a camp site at Lake Jahuacocha.

		As it was getting light we were traversing the lower snowfields of Diablo Mudo. Here we are at an altitude of about 5200m. From left: Marco, Bill.
		.Views after sunrise from high on Diablo Mudo.
		This is one of the sections of hard snow that we climbed on Diablo Mudo. From left: Marco, Bill.
		Ahead and to the left lies one of the steeper sections of snow on our route. The summit is above and to the left.
		Summit reached!
		Summit reached!
		We take a snack in the sheltered bottom of one of the undulations on the summit ridge.
		Views from the summit of Diablo Mudo.
		Our route down from the summit will take us past this high lake.
		On the way down rope is not necessary, so we are free to walk at our own pace and choose our own route down the snow slope.
		This is looking up the valley towards Laguna Tsacra.
		Finally, we reach the end of the small high valley we had been following. This valley spills down into the much larger valley shown in this photo. Seen here is Laguna Jahuacocha and our tent site is visible in the far bottom left hand corner of the photo.

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Home Page Peru 2007 Page Mountaineering Page Email Me