Santa Cruz Trek Day 3

Wake up call at 3:30am, got up, packed everything, had breakfast and we were on our way at 5:30. It was a 2 hour hike to the pass, up and up and up. The mountain range looked formidable, but cut in the rocks at the top was a trail with a sign indicating the pass, Punta Union, and the elevation, 4750 metres. Then down and down and down. Amazing views all the way down, glacier capped mountains. As we were descending, we passed a half decomposed donkey, presumably slipped and fell to its death.We hiked to a refuge, got there about 1:30, just outside of the park boundary, where we had the option of renting a dorm bed in the refuge or camping outside in the tent. The dorm beds were 10 soles (about $3 US). Just after we arrived, the rains started coming again. Lisa and Jason didn't want to sleep in a damp, wet tent again, so we decided on the dorm beds.A bunch of us played cards in the afternoon, supper at 6:00. We were allowed to use the big kitchen table at the refuge instead of using the kitchen table tent, which was awesome.At supper, our guide told us we get to sleep in tomorrow morning, breakfast would be at 7:30.Since we're in the same national park as Laguna 69, we could keep our park pass and not hjave to pay again. During the trek, I was putting garbage wrappers in my pocket. When we got to the refuge, I threw all the wrappers into the trash can in the toilet. Anybody that has been to a 3rd world country knows that the sewer systems typically can't handle toilet paper, so you always put you used toilet paper into the trash, not the toilet. At supper, I started looking for my park pass, then realized that it was in the same pocket as the garbage I was collecting, so my park pass was probably in the garbage can in the toilet, with all the used toilet paper.After supper I went into the toilet, shut the door, took the lid off of the trash can, and stared into, seeing everyone elses used toilet paper. I considered digging through it, but just couldn't do it. If I had a pair of rubber gloves maybe.After supper, a bunch of us played Time's Up, then to bed about 8:00.