Section 2: Click on the "i"s above for information and photos of the route.

h. Puncuyoc base camp

From base camp , a small path crosses the stream and heads over and around the small ridge behind base camp to a forested area (5 minutes). When the path is clear, it takes ten minutes to go down this steep, muddy slope to the river - the main headwaters of the Rio Palmayoc. This river, though divided into several sections at this point, is easy to cross on the large boulders that have now overgrown with moss and grasses in such a way that it appears the river naturally disappears noisily underground at precisely the most convenient places for the path. Only twenty feet onwards, an incan stairway begins a steep climb past four miradors. This path is easily visible in the upper left photo from the center to the upper right corner. Clouds allowing, it is possible to see this path from across the valley and other vantage points on the way to base camp. (Click here to see the view from thirty minutes before abra Huarina and look closely at the lower half of the right hand picture.)