Santa Cruz Tag 2- The ascent to heaven

From Marius' perspective

After a pleasant night, we wake up around 9 o'clock (a bit late, though). We have breakfast together before packing up everything and getting ready to go. First, we walk through a long valley surrounded by peaks of mountains over 6000m high. Today, we're going to the highest point of our route, Punta Union, at an altitude of 4750m. It's a continuous uphill climb, and you can feel it. Every gram in the backpack is noticeable. After about 2 hours, we reach a high plateau with a magnificent view of the most beautiful mountain in the world (at least in my opinion) ;) After a short snack break, thinking that we can't be far from Punta Union, we continue. It should be around the next curve, I think, because it's not possible that we have to go over that distant ridge just below the snow line. Well, I was wrong. The path leads us further in that direction. I slowly start to feel every step, despite being well acclimated. The backpack strap is digging further into my hip, and every gram in the backpack is noticeable. After another two hours, it becomes clear to me that we really have to go over the ridge. Now, it's all about gritting our teeth and taking step by step. The increasing altitude of over 4000m demands more and more breaks, which allow us to look back at the valley we've covered. (At least that compensates a little bit). The girls are in top shape and have long been out of sight, probably already at the top. Max is struggling behind me to climb the pass, and suddenly it starts to snow. This naturally offers a magnificent view of the valley, and with renewed energy, we continue trudging up the mountain, step by step, in the snowstorm. It's surprising that through the enormous effort, the pain in the hips and feet is simply no longer felt, and an automatism takes over. Of course, we also run out of water reserves just before reaching the highest point. Max has a bit more struggle than me, but together we finally reach the long-awaited Punta Union after about five hours of continuous ascent. The girls are already waiting for us at the top, thankfully with some water. The view of the surrounding peaks and mountain lakes in the snow and the feeling of having achieved it on our own and with our own equipment, without any external help, triggers a tremendous euphoria. All the hardship is already forgotten. But it's cold up here, so after a ten-minute break, we start down on the other side. After all, we still have 500m of descent ahead of us to reach the next camp, which we want to reach before it gets dark. During the descent, the previous snow turns into disgusting rain, soaking us completely. Shortly before it gets dark, we finally reach Camp 2 and set up our tent in the rain. Quickly get some water and then dry off in the sleeping bag. Max and I are both completely exhausted. The girls are so kind to cook us some noodles with broth (it has never tasted so good!). After about 1 hour, the rain stops, and a gigantic night sky above the snow-covered surrounding peaks reveals itself, so I struggle out of the sleeping bag again and unpack the camera, but then finally we sleep.

From Max's perspective

Day 2... how can I describe it briefly... Day 2 was my personal limit experience!
But we'll get to that later. First, the day started as usual, still full of motivation. We had breakfast, packed the tents back into our backpacks, and started our hike. It was uphill, and the goal for today was to overcome the highest point of the Santa Cruz Track at 4750m. So far, so good! The path led us through a landscape that was on a par with the world of Middle-earth from Lord of the Rings. Juicy green steppes surrounded by the mighty mountain ranges, passing by a beautifully located mountain lake. After a few hours, in our opinion, we reached the last climb to cross the highest point. Full of euphoria and good spirits, we took a quick break for a snack (about 20 minutes). We had fresh fruit and some nuts. After the refreshment and attempting a group photo with a mountain panorama (which didn't turn out well), we started the final climb. After conquering the hill, we realized the extent of the remaining distance! Damn it! This will be tough! We had already gone too far to turn back, and everyone knew that we had to cross that pass today. From a distance, you could see a small gap between the mountain walls. That was probably our passage. Unfortunately, we had to navigate serpentine-like through extremely difficult terrain to get to this point. The paths led over huge, sloping rocks and stair-like rock formations. The path proved to be extremely arduous and took a toll on my strength and nerves. The backpack became heavier and heavier, I could feel the 15kg with every step, my legs were burning like hell, and my nerves were on edge! On that day, I lost my optimism, and a slight, increasingly stronger anger towards the mountain filled me! I thought, what a shit. Everyone talked about how beautiful and easy this track is. Admittedly... it is beautiful, and in hindsight, the track didn't turn out to be too difficult. It was Day 2 that made the track so demanding. After what felt like an eternity and walking like a robot (5 steps walking - 30 seconds break), and with anger in my head, we finally reached the summit and the pass through the mountain range. Of course, and as it should be, it started snowing on top of the mountain for our delight. After a short break and a few "victory photos," we continued towards Camp 2. We didn't have much time because we absolutely had to reach the camp before nightfall. As if I hadn't already reached the end of my strength, there was not much time left for resting or refilling water, so we quickly set off. During the descent, we were able to observe a wonderfully turquoise shimmering mountain lake and get a wide view of the valley. But unfortunately, it started to rain terribly. Completely soaked but ecstatic, we finally reached the camp after another 2 hours of walking. We quickly set up the tents in pouring rain, and I crawled into the sleeping bag! At that time, I wasn't capable of anything anymore! Thanks again to the rest of the gang, who took care of everything else (food/drink, etc.) that evening. I was no longer capable of doing anything at that point! Thanks to all of you again! Totally exhausted, I fell asleep after dinner.

The conclusion of the day: 8 hours of hiking, including 6 hours uphill, 15kg of marching gear, and rough terrain pushed me to my physical and mental limits! Nevertheless, you always manage to get through somehow! And that's exactly why: Never give up! That's my conclusion of the day!