Standard issue breakfast to kick of a bikepacking trip: porridge oats mixed with flax seeds, bee pollen, nuts, raisons and cinnamon. Delicious/nutricious.

On my ride out of town, I stock up on a handful of finger bananas from Banana Wheelbarrow Man.

A half kilo of tangerines…

And some fresh wholemeal bread from the Bread Ladies.

A chunk of cheese to see me through the next couple of days.

Then it’s time to begin the inevitable climb, riding out past the city cemetery, straight onto dirt.

Dirt and rocks, that is. For now, I’m back with the CST Caballeros. The riding in the Cordillera Blanca can be hard on tyres, so I figure I’ll eek out as much life as I can from them, before moving on to my new set of Geaxes.

Rising quickly above Huaraz.

A change in vegetation.

After a short stint of climbing, the views open up, offering a fresh perspective on the avenue of quebradas – gorges – that have been so occupying my time these past couple of weeks.

You can see them clearly on this topo map too. Reaching out like the fingers of a hand, each quebrada leads to a lake and a massive glacial wall.

My route takes me past an abandoned building, festooned with graffiti. My bike’s more loaded up that it needs to be for a night out – preparation for the Huayhuash trek, where I’ll need to haul 5 days of food.

Then I find myself on little used, grassy track, heading towards Macashca.

In turn, this shrinks down to a narrow, loose gully…

Soon, I’m back in the Huascaran National Park again, altitude 4100m.

My companion at the park entrance.

And his buddy.

Quebrada Rajucolta comes complete with a ‘road’ built all the way up to the lake, and the 6395m peak of Huantsan.

Sections of it are under water.

Hm, where to camp. Decisions, decisions…

Plenty of mineral water to hand. No purification necessary.

Laguna Rajucolta, 4300m.

A small building by the lake houses an employee of Duke Energy, a US company that runs the hydroelectric projects in these parts. Hector invites me in for tea and a bowl of jelly – a Peruvian favourite.

A cold night ensues. As you can see, it’s only a short distance to get here, but they were hard-fought kilometres.

First light the next morning.

Me and my red nose thawing out.

My chosen spot.

Strong winds gust up and down the valley, so I anchor down the Tarptent.

Heading back out from whence I came.

A lingering look back.

Rather than backtracking towards Macacashca, I turn off onto singletrack again, following a trail that links me to Jancu, Quebrada Shallap and Pitec – without dropping down to the valley floor.

Rideable in places, it’s just a 40 minute hike and bike up from the river, which you can see down below. Not so easy with my fully laden bike – but do-able.

My super stiff-soled Shimanos are looking worse for wear, stripped of almost all their grip. Definitely need to rethink my hike ‘n biking footware choice.

Back in the saddle, riding across beautiful, lonely pampas.

And digging into supplies. Officially, I’m dairy free. But local cheese and ice cream have tested my resolve.

Just when I needed it, I bump into this lady herding cows to check directions.

Spongy.

How’s that for a trail…

A steep, rocky descent leads me down to Januk, home to these characterful thatched dwellings.

What’s for dinner…

Then I’m back on more sublime singletrack once more.

Plenty of rockgardens keep me occupied, en route to Quebrada Shallap.

Skirting round beautiful dry stones walls.

Peeking through.

Finally, I emerge back onto a dirt road at Pitec.

I spend the next couple of hours picking my way down to Huaraz, via some of my favourite singletrack I’d previously explored – and trying to uncover new trails

Back in the city.

A block of chocolate cake from my favourite bakery sets me back less than a dollar. Perhaps not the best food for muscle recovery… but it sure tastes good.