Aimee and I took another mtb ride last Saturday. We drove above the dog line to minimize our unpleasant canine encounters. Here is where we started at about 13,000':
The weather was adequate considering it is now the rainy season:
Roberto came with us to drive the Xterra in case things turned bad with the weather and also because there was not any safe place to leave the car unattended:
Looking across at El Alto on the upper right with Muela del Diablo on the left:
As we climb, there is snow falling on the other side of the valley:
The initial climb took about 45 minutes at a steady pace and brought us to around 14,200'. Fortunately, the weather improved as we travelled along the ridge:
This is the village of Mecapaca about 5,000' below:
If you enlarge this photo, you can see two Aymaran shepherds taking in the view:
Me and mi bici de montana:
Interesting contrast between the human and the natural changes to the environment:
I've got to go find this road that rises from Mecapaca. It's like a Bolivian Alpe d'Huez with the many switchbacks:
Hatti Khollu is about to get swallowed by clouds:
A nice view of Mururata:
I'm not sure what this mountain is but the strips of snow or ice on its left side look interesting for exploration:
The Hampaturi group sticks up above the Altiplano:
Pictured below is Chalcataya which used to have the world's highest ski lift. You can see the patch of snow on the left where it used to be before the glacier mostly melted. It looks like there might be enough snow to make some turns:
There is a church nestled against the Valle de las Animas:
The final descent to the outskirts of Cotacota:
Overall is was a very nice ride which revealed many options for bigger days in the future.
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