Sep 30, 2016. Campsite, Volcano Chachani, Peru.

• Day one of the attack on Volcano Chachani.  Walked to the Waiky Adventure tour agency at 8 in the morning with only enough in my backpack for the summit climb, including 5 liters of water.  At the agency I was given a tent, a sleeping pad, some plastic utensils for meals, hiking boots, and heavy duty hiking pants.  There were another four hikers signed up, including one girl, all traveling alone.  After a pep talk and stowing our gear on the top of the 4WD vehicle, we headed up one of the worst roads I've ever been on - 3 hours worth - to the base of Mt. Chachani.  We then walked another 2 hours or so, mostly scrambling along a rocky trail, to our campsite at 5175m.  Saw a viscacha looking at us from the rocks - looked like a rabbit.  Out guide Herman (not sure where he got that name, because he was certainly Peruvian - and a very cool dude indeed) cooked us a meal of two dishes of pasta-like stuff, one with a bit of meat in it, or, for the two vegetarians in the group, a half an avocado instead.  The walk to the campsite was absolutely stunning, beautifully colored slopes of greens, reds, and whites, and strange looking bright green growths on the rocks (lichens?).  Bed by around 5 PM.