Q'ara Quta, Trekking, Bolivia

Our first order of business in Bolivia was mountaineering. Tom and I had the goal of climbing three Andean mountains: Pequeño Alpamayo at 17,600 feet, Huayna Potosí at 19,974 and Nevado Sajama at 21,463 ft. In order to properly acclimatize for the peaks, Tom and I organized a 5-day high altitude trek with an outfitter out of La Paz. In this photo, Tom follows the rhythm set by the musical backpack as Q'ara Quta (wet lake) radiates its other-worldly blue-green in the background. Yossi Brain's book: Trekking in Bolivia: A Traveler's Guide outlines the hike if you are interested in doing some acclimatizing in the Cordillera Real and want to do it without a guide.