THE PEQUENO INFERNILLO

             PEQUENO INFERNILLO - THE FINAL GROUP HIKE OF THE YEAR

Today we struck out to the south, the same direction as last week’s hike.   The highway had lots of rock and gravel washed down from the hillsides from the heavy rains 2 days ago, more so than last week.  About 5-6 miles down the road we veered off to the left and disembarked under a large roof with a large cement floor.  I think it was a mini sports arena where kids play soccer.  The ravine where we’d be headed was called the “Pequeno Infernillo,” or, Little Hell.  The sun was out in force, seemingly bearing witness to our ignorance of where we were going. 

       THIS FIELD ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD IS PLANTED WITH SUGAR CANE

We walked on a dirt road for about a half mile, paralleling the highway.  Below where the road turned left into the ravine was a beautiful homestead with 2 huge boulders.  

Finally we entered the verdant canyon where we sighed a relief because we were now in the shade.  And finally I was now on a hike where the birds were much in evidence.   

                    HERE IS A TREE WHICH HAS GROWN OVER A LARGE ROCK.

The “trail” was not always discernible, especially when it was down the middle of the dry creek bed, but occasional horse droppings marked it well.  (About mid way we actually came across the skeleton of a horse/mule!  I suppose this could have been considered a bad omen under the negative auspice name of this place.)  I have to admit the trail was very pleasant, at least in the shade.  When the trees were sparse and the sun beat down on us, it was easy to overheat, and I was worried about how Rosie would fare.  Her cheeks were already getting red.  When we came to a place where there was some water I suggested she splash some in her face to cool off, which she decided was a good idea. 

The group of about 20 eventually became two groups, the eager beavers way ahead, and the tortoises lagging behind.  We were in the latter group, taking breaks here and there.  We eventually reached the rock wall face with a crack in the middle, where we’d be heading.  One wonders if an earthquake caused such?  

                                    HERE IS THE ENTRANCE TO THE “CRACK.”

            HERE YOU CAN SEE THE ROOTS COMING ALL THE WAY DOWN FROM ABOVE

                                                THE EXIT OF THE “CRACK”

Our eyes needed to get adjusted to the dark upon entering it.  The width varied from about 4 feet to about 8 feet, and was probably 75 meters long.  After our eyes got adjusted to the lack of light, we had to carefully pick our way along on stones or logs.  Sometimes you could not see the top, which I estimated to be 40-50 feet.  Some of the large tree roots from above came all the way down the sides, something I found truly fascinating.  It was slow going  because of having to negotiate logs or awkward turns and steps.   One of the group said he saw a bat.  This looked to be an ideal place for Oilbirds, which roost by day in caves or deep ravines, but I did not see any or detect any guano. 

Soon after we exited the “crack” I could hear voices further up, so figured we were near the end.  By then the ravine was getting quite narrow, and people were now returning saying the end was really not worth going the extra 100 feet,  so we turned around and found a wide place to rest and eat.  Fortunately we rested in a place where the birds liked also, and I spied a Black-and-Green Fruiteater and a pair of Silvery Tanagers, both colorful.  There were other birds around but I was not able to see them well enough to ID them. 

Rosie and I were not ready for lunch, so were not eating yet.  Feeling rested sufficiently, we began the hike back out.  As I suspected, others were ready also, and so began the parade of hikers going back.  Back through the crack and about 100 yards farther along was another trail that went up the side of the ravine to what was described as a lookout from where one could see Vilcabamba.  (An hour to get there). Even if the weather was cooler I don’t think I would have joined the more energetic ones taking this side trip.  My pedometer later registered 4.7 miles walked with 17 floors (9 up and 8 down?), so we were simply not interested, and 10 of us continued back down the creek bed.  

Rosie and I dreaded walking the last half mile in the full sunlight.  Wherever  there was shade we stopped.  A group of some 75 swifts and about 25 swallows overhead were a nice distraction for me though.  Right at the time we reached the large roof shelter a taxi was letting someone off, so we flagged him over and 5 got inside the king cab, the other 5 in the pick-up bed.  Soon we were back in Vilcabamba and Rosie and I headed for the square with plans to find an empty bench to sit and eat.  As we entered the square we saw a man who we thought we knew, who we met a couple days back at a small  Christmas social named Arnau, from France.  We waved, and he finally waved, but seem rather aloof.  Our paths soon crossed and we realized he was not Arnau, but someone originally from Argentina.  I showed him the group picture of a couple days ago with Arnau in it, and he had a hearty laugh as they looked so similar.  Right after that we ran into a  Frank who was on last week’s hike, and got reacquainted. 

After eating we got a taxi home.  As we felt we had walked enough, the $1.50 was justified.  Now that we are home, we can see we have a little sunburn.  A little sunburn from the Pequeno Infernillo………guess we escaped with minimal burning………….