::: QUEST FOR PAITITI FIELD JOURNAL :::
ENTRY NINE (June 13, 2004) "SCOUTING"

Sunday was an intense day of scouting, looking for evidences for Inca trails that would connect Lago de Angel with Ultimo Punto- an area Paulino had become familiar through analyzing the direction of the Inca Road of Stone combined with information gathered by local word of mouth. Some of the team, Garrett, Erin, Greg and Alberto decided to climb up through the bosque, hoping to find more definitive evidence of an Incan trail at the crest. When they emerged from the forest's shade, they found a knife-edge ridge, with poor visibility due to the inclement weather conditions. Greg and Alberto climbed higher, up a nearby spire, to get an overview of the area, but all they could see was grey--mist covered everything everywhere. Realizing nightfall was close at hand, the team had planned to attempt another look from this area the next day, however the attempt would be later thwarted by the arrival of Paulino and Goyo with the announcement of the mules that would follow soon thereafter. The return to base camp took some time as they decided to cut all the way around to the next pass between the mountains, with Alberto wielding the machete, and all pushing through thick multiple layers of moss, vines, and other vegetation, forming a clingy soft covering that held them back, but the outer protective raingear was able to keep them dry. Finally they emerged at the top, where the pass was. They continued on over the top, to the other side, to descend through the more alpine setting and down through the deep enveloping mud below and arriving again at camp. The team went to bed very early, to escape the extreme cold in the comfort of a sleeping bag inside a secure tent.

~ Greg Deyermenjian