The backpacks would give us away in a heartbeat. They were the problem; that's what the guards were looking for. But how to hide them... how to slip past the control station without raising suspicion. Spiriting us safely out of the national park would requre the help of a corn truck owner, a Peruvian dentist and a team of taxi drivers. The operation reminded me of what came to be called "The Canadian Caper," where Canadian diplomats smuggled several American embassy personnel out of Iran after the 1979 revolution.

"Maybe just because they're in Peru."
All the excitement came at the end of a four day, three night trek through the Cordellia Blanca. It's a huge national park in the middle of Peru with snow-capped peaks that rise to around 20,000 feet.

Surrounded by Snow-Capped Peaks

I could try to describe the views, but you really should just look at the photos when I finally get them posted. It was amazing. Not much different than the Rockies I suppose, but better somehow. Maybe just because they're in Peru.

I should mention at this point that I was accompanied by a Dutch guy named Derk who I'd met on a tour to the ruins at Chavin, a painful eight hour bus ride from Huaraz. And by the way, I also met several Germans both on that trip and on the street in Huraraz who were very cool and have restored my faith in the traveling German contingent.

"What seemed to be wild donkeys and cows."
Most of the time we were in a canyon with huge mountains soaring up on both sides, often passing small green alpine lakes. Especially at the campsites we met what seemed to be wild donkeys and cows. I suppose they belonged to someone, but they weren't fenced or tended to.

By night two we realized that the tent we'd rented was absolute crap. First, they didn't have the plastic ground sheet you're supposed to put underneath for waterproofing. And, the zipper on the rain fly wouldn't close.

Peruvian Kids Tend Their Sheep Along the Trail

After a few minutes of rain we were coping with puddles inside the tent. Smashing. But we duct taped the zipper and contained the leaks and survived. The next night we selected a tent site very carefully and stayed drier despite additional leaks.

"Surprisingly, the altitude didn't bother me much."
The third day of hiking brought us through a light hailstorm to Punta Union, at over 13,000 feet. A huge snowy mountain hovered over us as we passed through the notch cut into the canyon wall. Surprisingly, the altitude didn't bother me much. When I go skiing at high places like Arapahoe Basin or Alta it usually hurts. I guess I'd acclimatized over all the time I've been spending in the mountains.

By the last day we were thinking about that $20 we were going to have to pay. See, here's how it works. If you enter the park for the day you pay $1.50. If you stay overnight you pay $20. But the checkpoint where you pay is on the side where we were leaving. We didn't pay when we entered. So the only way the guards there know whether to charge you the full $20 is if you're carrying a big backpack. Otherwise you get out cheap. Fortunately we were about to meet a man who knew how to beat the system.

"We climbed on top of the vegetables."
The dentist from Lima was visiting the mountains for the weekend with his dental assistant / girlfriend. Me met up again at the end of the trail to wait for a two-hour ride to the park entrance and guard checkpoint.

Riding in the Corn Truck

We flagged down a truck hauling corn and climbed on top of the vegetables with our packs. But knowing we'd be spotted with the giveaway backpacks, the dentist told the driver to take us only to a spot where taxis wait to drive daytrippers out of the park. There we could slip into our disguises and slip out as day tourists.

Then the dentists and assistant deserted us. I guess I can't blame them. But they gave us some advice first. We found a taxi and hid our packs under a blanket-like thing in the back. We agreed on an outrageous price for the trip to enlist the driver's help, herded a couple of Peruvian tourists into the car as cover, and sped off down the crappy dirt road. An hour or so later the checkpoint appeared. There were barricades and signs to rival something in East Berlin. My heart started pounding and I tried to look casual.

"$20 in our pockets and no criminal record."
The driver picked up speed as he noticed the guards seemed to be distracted and not tending the open gates at the moment. We motored past the checkpoint as I held my breath and all of a sudden we were safely out of the park with $20 in our pockets and no criminal record. The Peruvian Caper was over and we were on our way back to Huaraz, a shower, and my night bus to Lima and Naszca.