Acclimatization to altitude II - Laguna Amarilla 4272m

To say the most important thing up front: NEVER take this trail, it is hair-raising!

But let's start from the beginning! The next step in acclimatization to altitude should be the beautiful mountain lake 'Laguna Amarilla'. We read about it on the internet and the pictures convinced us, so we set off armed with camping equipment, warm clothes, and provisions.

We had already learned from other reports that the path was a bit muddy, so I took David's advice to bring his rubber boots - which fortunately fit me. Finding rubber boots in size 43 for Johannes proved to be difficult, so we hoped his hiking boots in combination with my gaiters would be enough. To cut a long story short: on the first day, we waded through calf-deep mud and sludge for eight hours, with hardly any visibility due to the dense clouds, and once again we were carrying way too much weight. Every glance at the map with our current location frustrated us because we were making hardly any progress. Conclusion of the first day: Disaster!

Day two was a little more reconciling. In the morning, there was little fog and the sun was already peeking over a few mountaintops. Also, we had slept for almost 12 hours, exhausted as we were from the previous day. So we set off very rested for the last approximately 400 meters in altitude to Laguna Amarilla and, despite very strong wind and occasional rain showers, had a nice view of the lake. Unfortunately, the high peaks of the Altar Range, which enclose the lagoon, were all hidden in the clouds.... The wind up there was blowing so fiercely that we soon descended back to the refuge, set up the tent, and started heading downhill. The dry, windy day had dried up the mud on the trail a bit, so we made relatively quick progress and reached our chosen campsite at nightfall - because on the trail there is only one possible campsite on a meadow - everything else is (as previously mentioned) a heavily muddy path... Conclusion of the second day: We are not sure if the view was worth the effort...

The last part of the descent was again very strenuous, as the mud here was still very deep and it was also very steep downhill. Conclusion of the third day: Dark humor...

All in all, it was good training (both mentally and physically) for the next summit. However, we only recommend the trail if...

...there has been no rain in the past few weeks,

...you hike with only light luggage, and

...there is no fog in sight!