I have been wanting to do the Cordillera Huayhuash trek for a long time. It is listed as being the best mountain trek outside of Nepal. Last year I had hoped to do it, but I ran out of time because I got a WinFly contract for Antarctica..
6-13 Day 1.
Left in the mornin by van to the Village of Llamac. I was a 4 hour drive. For the first 2 hours, we drove parallel with the Cordillera Blanca which afforded nice views of some huge white peaks. We then left the Cordillera Blanca and descended down a crazy deep and beautiful canyo. It was an extremely windy road with snowcapped peaks (mostly covered in clouds) in the distance. When we got into the canyon, we drove upstream on a very narrow road. We were definitely in the boonies. We had trouble passing a group of cows because the road was so narrow. We also had trouble passing a bulldozer that was clearing a landslide. Once we reached Llamac, we continued going up for a bit. The van dropped us off and we just had a little bit of a hike to get to camp. From the camp we did a short huke up a ridge (4510m/14,793) which had really nice views of two sharp snow-capped peaks and the green valley where we were camping in that was covered in little sheep and cow rock corrals.
I have done 10 day treks before where I have carried all of my equipment and been self-sufficient. However, here, because of the low price and the fact that the agencies knew some good unmarked routes, I chose to go with a group. This means that I would have a burro (donkey) carrying my sleeping bag, tent, and clothes, which would lighten my load a lot. With the group, you get a guide, usually a cook (we didn´t have one, so the guide was a cook), and a donkey driver. They wake you up in the morning in your tent with coca tea. They then cook you breakfast, give you a sack lunch, and you set out. When you arrive at camp, your tent is already set up and you have tea and a snack. They then cook dinner at night. They also set up a little dining tent which is nice because it can be quite cold and windy.
I had a nice little group and we all got a long really well and had a lot of fun. Our guide´s name was Eric. The Donkey driver, well Eric never knew his name (which we laughed a lot about bc they worked closely together for 10 days) and we hadn´t caught it, but everyone called him Primo (means cousin in Español). On the trip was Scott who attended Princeton and lives in NY; however, he is living in Sao Paulo for a year because his girlfriend got a one year gig there. There was Leo from Holland (who couldn´t believe Elisha and I had summited cotopaxi bc everyone he had met (including himself) had failed to reach the summit). There was Asaf from Israel and EV from Bulgaria though she moved shortly to California, so for all intensive purposes she is American. EV and Asaf met in Brazil and are now in love.
6-14 Day 2.
The morning was nice and clear and we had good views of the same 2 snowcapped peaks. We hiked up to Cacanong Pass (4695m/15,399ft) where we some condors and had nice views from the valley that we had come up as well as nice views to the valley that we would be going. There was lots of giant granite faces and mountains here...very similar to parts of the high Rockies. This also happened to be the continental divide with one side flowing to the Pacific and one side flowing to the Amazon. From the pass we hiked down with some nice views of the very folded granite mountains. We also had some views of 4 snowcapped peaks, one of which was Yurapaja grande, the tallest peak in the Huayhuash range, though its summit was mostly covered. We eventually arrived down at a lake: Mitucocha (4270m/14,006ft) with nice views of those glaciated peaks. Very beautiful!. We camped at a nice place called Janca (4240m/13,07ft) with a little stream running right through it.
6-15 Day 3.
I woke up before everyone else and walked back to Mitucocha lake. The clouds had all cleared overnight, so all the peaks, including Yurapaja were shimmering gloriously in the morning sun! As there was no wind yet, the peaks were also reflecting nicely in the still water. I then headed back to camp to meet the others for breakfast.
On this day, we went off the trail and hiked up a big ridge (4770m/15,645ft) where there were absolutely stunning views of some big snowy mountains, the valley below, lake Mitucocha and another lake. We could also see some really cool geologic formations including some sweet folds and huge granite spines. We then hiked over a pass (4860m/15,941ft) where there were a couple of tarns. In the shale (I think) around the tarns, we found some seashell fossils. We then descended a bit down to Laugna Alcaycocha (4670m/15,318ft) which sits at the foot of a red mountaint with a bit of snow on it. We then descended into a deep valley, past some thatched roof buildings, went around a corner, and BOOM! Right in front of us were 4 huge peaks with huge glaciers that had created a giant cirque in which a large turqoise lake (Carhuacocha) sat shimmering in the bottom. That afternoon the clouds obscured the tops of the peaks, but the view was still stunning. Our camp (Incahuain 4138m/13,572ft) was in a gorgeous spot overlooking the lake and with views of the big mountains. Around sunset, the clouds cleared a bit and the light on the peaks from our camp was magnificent. In the evening as we sat reading in our wamr sleeping bags in our tents, we could hear lots of avalanches roaring down the peaks. One of the peaks we could see was Nevado Siula Grande which is the mountain the climbers were scaling in the book Touching the Void. If you are not a reader, there is now a movie out about this crazy climbing survival story. I have read the book, but not seen the movie, so I don´t know if the movie is good.
6-16 Day 4 Dia de los Padres
I woke up early to a beautiful sunrise and a clear day! The views of the mountains and lake with the sunrise was awe-inspiring. The rising sun set fire to the giant snow-capped peaks (Yerupaja grande, Yerupaja chico, Jirishanca, Siula Grande) that overlooked us and Laguna Carhuacocha. I set out early before everyone else and went at a very fast pace up the pass as I knew the clouds would be coming in. I first stopped at the outlet of Carhuacocha where I could see the big peaks reflected nicely in the water. From the lake, the hike was through a steep valley with towering peaks and glaciers tumbling down. Along the way, I passed by 3 glacial lakes: Laugna Gangrajanca (4245m/13,924ft), Laguna Siula (4290m/14,071ft), and Laguna Quesillococha (4332m/14,209ft). After passing by the lakes, the trail climbed steeply so that I had a spectacular view down the valley of the 3 turquoise lakes and the towering snow-draped peaks. I enjoyed the views for a while from a viewpoint (one of the classice Huayhuash viewpoints), then I hiked up to Siula Pass (4910m/16,105ft) from where there was pretty decent views of the big mountains; however, they were mostly covered in clouds by then. From the ridge on the pass, you could look down and see Laguna Cojoncocha on the left and Laguna Pucacocha on the right. I waited a couple of hours on the pass until the group arrived, and then we descended down to Laguna Quesillococha (4435m/14,547ft) that had some nice mountains views with fairly low glaciers. From here we walked for a bit on an old Inca Trail that connected this portion of the mountains with the coast. We took the Inca Trail as it descended to our campsite (called Huayhuash, 4350m/14,268) in a nice little valley. That night it rained pretty hard.
Today was father´s day and as I was in the middle of the Andes, I had no way to get in touch with him. However, as I was hiking up the pass, I was thinking of him and thinking how he was one of the big influences on me that caused me to develop a love of the mountains, the outdoors, and hiking. I am also reading James Michener´s "Centennial" right now, which he gave me, and everytime I open it up, it reminds me of him because he loves the wild west and the cowboys and open country and all that.
6-17 Day 5
It was quite foggy in the morning as we climbed up Ararag pass (4750m/ 15,580 ft.). Going up in the fog had a unique mystifying feel to it and at times we would catch a glimpse of the the snowcapped peaks through a break in the fog. It was cold on the top of the pass with even a bit of residual snow on top from the night before. As we headed down the other side, the fog cleared and we could see some of the heavily glaciated peaks of the Cordillera Raura. There was also nice views down the valley to Laguna Viconga. On the walk from the lake to camp, there was a little range of beautiful jagged peaks. We then arrived at our campsite--Guñog (4360m/14,301ft)--which had hot springs!! Very nice enjoyable soak as we were of course very dirty and we had spent a lot of time in the cold high altitude air. It was Asaf´s birthday, so we had boxed Gato wine that they had brought. At dinner EV brought out a cake with firework candles that she had carried and we all sang happy birthday.
6-18 Day 6
We woke up in the morning to a hard frost but clear skies. We hiked up to Cuyoc Pass (5070m/16,630ft), which had really nice views of some jagged peaks as we went up and to our backs were nice and clear views of the pretty Cordillera Raura. From the top where nearly 360 degree views. Sweepoing views of the Cordillera Raura and the valley and a couple of lakes from which we had just come from. To the front right were the impossibly steep and incredibly big mountains of the Cordillera Huayhuash. To the front was a huge valley with snowcapped peaks in the back. To the left were some dry peaks and to the right was a glacieated mountain with a large glacier descending to a lower point than where we were standing on the pass. While I waited for the others (I had to wait over 2 hours), I climbed up to a ridge (about 5120m/16,794ft) which afforded even better views of the Huayhuahs mountains and some beautiful emerals lakes shimmering below. I also saw two Vicuñas (wild relative to the llama) grazing up there. From the pass it was downhill to a big valley where we camped at Cuyoc Pampa (4492m/14,734ft)
Sometimes I guess I am a little crazy when it comes to seeing the mountains. Tomorrow we would be going up San Antonio Pass which is supposed to be one of the top views of the trek. Since it was a good weather day and you never know about the weather the next day, I thought about going up the pass and then back down to camp. The donkey driver said (the guide wasn't down yet as he was still with Asaf and EV) it would take 3 hours to go up and a bit over an hour to come down, so I would just be coming back in the dark. I was able to convince Leo to go with me. In the end, I was able to do the pass in 50 minutes (I was cruising in case the afternoon weather changed) and Leo in 1 hr 10 mins. The view from San Antonio Pas (5085m/16,679ft. was indeed stunning. The very high, super steep and snow plastered Huayhuash towered straight ahead with a couple of glowing turquoise lakes (Lagunas Juraucocha and Sarapococha) at their base which huge glaciers flowed into. We hiked up to a higher viewpoint from where we could see the village where we would be hiking to on the next day. The Huayhuash was in front and behind us was the pretty valley with red and yellow mountains behind it. After soaking up the view, we were able to descend back to camp in time to make the afternoon snack.
6-19 Day 7
We woke up to another hard frost and the exciting news (for Leo and me) that we would be taking an adjacent pass (off the main trail) to the one Leo and I had done before; thus, we would be getting different views. I speedily made it up to this pass (5086m/16,682ft), so that I had lots of time to sit and enjoy the incredible views. The giant white mountains stood out against the blue sky with a surreal turquoise lake sparkling below: Laguna Juraucocha. We could also see Laguna Sarapococha at the base of a huge glacier. We hung around for a while enjoying the views before descending quite steeply down to gorgeous turquoise Laguna Juraucocha (4343m/14,245ft). On the way down we also passed a glacial green lake. The views from Juraucocha were stunning with the completely snowcovered peaks behind and the beautifully colored water in front. We had lunch at the lake, and I soaked my feet in the icy waters.
From there we had a long walk down a gentle valley that was covered by purple flowers that were head high with a sprinkling of yellow flowers interspersed between them. Before the valley curved too much, we could see the big peaks behind us. At one point we passed a waterfall with 10 different tiers.
Eventually we came to the village of Huayllapa (3490m/11,447ft), a very small traditional villagle where we camped. The villages was composed of about 300 families all wearing traditional dress. There were lots of women knitting and also making yarn from sheep wool. We loaded up on snacks (Sublime bars..yum!) at the little store, checkd out the center plaza, watched a gym class learn volleyball, and were asked some English questions by kids doing their English homework. The village was very traditional with some houses having thatched roofs and most being made out of mud bricks. There were no cars and the streets were very narrow.
Today Leo told me "I am always the fastest in the mountains, but you are much faster th an me!. Have you ever met anyone faster than you?" My answer was, "no, except for my brother, especially when he has mono". I later overheard Leo telling the rest of the group about how he had never seen anyone so fast. This made me feel pretty good, especially being that I was the oldest in our trekking group.
6-20 Day 8
We slept in at the village bc the guide and the donkey driver had gone out and there wasn't supposed to be any spectacular views to beat the clouds to. Our campsite was on a soccer field. When we had arrived the night before, kids were playing soccer. In the morning as we were packing up, there was a gym class playing hula hoop games.
Today was a big uphill day in terms of elevation gain. We walked up a beautiful canyon with flowers and a nice river. It eventually opened up to some broader valleys with views of a couple of glaciated peaks and back towards the red canyon and dry mountains behind. At the top of Tapush Pass (4796m/15,731ft), I waited 30 minutes for Leo and then over and hour more for Scott so that Leo and I were pretty cold on top of the chilly and windy pass by the time Scott arrived. But we had bought "summit beers" in the village, so we pulled them out, toasted to a good trek and then downed our ice cold beers. Then it was a s hort walk, passed a small lake, down to our camp: Angocancha (4480m/14,694 ft). At the camp there were some trees; the first we had seen since we left Huaraz. In the evening we had a bit of hail.
6-21 Day 9
Hiked up over Llaucha pass (4853m/15,918ft). Then leo and I hiked up a small peak (5007m/16,423 ft) to try and get a more panoramic view. It didn't do too much good, unfortunately, because the high mountains were all shrouded in clouds, including the highest mountain in the Cordillera Huayhuash: Nevado Yerupaja (6617m/21,704ft). Once the rest of the group joined, guide Eric took us off the trail. We walked along a ridge that would have provided spectacular views if the skies had been cloud free. On the left you could see some mountains of the Cordillera Blanca in the far distance. In front of us was a nice looking red mountain. Behind us was the pass and a few smaller snowcapped peaks. To our right stood towering some of the highest peaks in the Huayhuash-- Yerupaja, Jirishanca, Yerupaja chico, and Rondoy-- their peaks shrouded by clouds. But we could still see their steep faces and the glaciers tumbling down. We reached the end of the ridge where we climbed to the top of Cerro Huacrish (4750m/15,580ft) from where we could see two lakes (Lagunas Jahuacocha and Solteracocha)--Laguna Solteracocah having a stunning turquoise color--at the foot of these mountains. From there, we walked straight (and I mean straight) dowhnill with views all the time and tons of purple flowers until we reached Laguna Jahuacocha (4050m/13,284) where we would camp. After lunch and a rest, the mountains towering over the lake and camp cleared quite a bit, and we could even see a few summits. In the afternoon we hiked to the turquoise Laguna Solteracocha (4120m/13,513ft) which had a glacier tumbling right into it. Back at camp, we saw some nice glows on the mountains as the sun set; however, the best part was seeing the near full moon rise over one of the glowing peaks! Quite the incredible sights to see!
6-22 Day 10
I got up before the sun was up with plans to go hike back up to the viewpoint for sunrise and see the whole range cloud free, but sadly, it was cloudy.
On this day, we hiked from the camp to the village of Llamac (3250m/ 10,660 ft). The first 10km were a flat grade. The trail was high up on a steep and deep canyon with desert type vegetation. Very scenic. And as we looked back, the mountains started to clear up, and we had some very nice view of Yerupaja. We then descended steeply down to Llamac where I had a couple of celebratory icecreams (Leo and I explored the whole town before the others arrived, walking every street before we could find an open store with icecream as we had arrived during siesta time on a Saturday).
We then had the same scenic ride back to Huaraz. First the beautiful canyon and then the road roading parallel to the Cordillera Blanca.
Back in Huaraz I made sure to have lots of icecream and a big serving of tasty Chifa!
6-13 Day 1.
Left in the mornin by van to the Village of Llamac. I was a 4 hour drive. For the first 2 hours, we drove parallel with the Cordillera Blanca which afforded nice views of some huge white peaks. We then left the Cordillera Blanca and descended down a crazy deep and beautiful canyo. It was an extremely windy road with snowcapped peaks (mostly covered in clouds) in the distance. When we got into the canyon, we drove upstream on a very narrow road. We were definitely in the boonies. We had trouble passing a group of cows because the road was so narrow. We also had trouble passing a bulldozer that was clearing a landslide. Once we reached Llamac, we continued going up for a bit. The van dropped us off and we just had a little bit of a hike to get to camp. From the camp we did a short huke up a ridge (4510m/14,793) which had really nice views of two sharp snow-capped peaks and the green valley where we were camping in that was covered in little sheep and cow rock corrals.
I have done 10 day treks before where I have carried all of my equipment and been self-sufficient. However, here, because of the low price and the fact that the agencies knew some good unmarked routes, I chose to go with a group. This means that I would have a burro (donkey) carrying my sleeping bag, tent, and clothes, which would lighten my load a lot. With the group, you get a guide, usually a cook (we didn´t have one, so the guide was a cook), and a donkey driver. They wake you up in the morning in your tent with coca tea. They then cook you breakfast, give you a sack lunch, and you set out. When you arrive at camp, your tent is already set up and you have tea and a snack. They then cook dinner at night. They also set up a little dining tent which is nice because it can be quite cold and windy.
I had a nice little group and we all got a long really well and had a lot of fun. Our guide´s name was Eric. The Donkey driver, well Eric never knew his name (which we laughed a lot about bc they worked closely together for 10 days) and we hadn´t caught it, but everyone called him Primo (means cousin in Español). On the trip was Scott who attended Princeton and lives in NY; however, he is living in Sao Paulo for a year because his girlfriend got a one year gig there. There was Leo from Holland (who couldn´t believe Elisha and I had summited cotopaxi bc everyone he had met (including himself) had failed to reach the summit). There was Asaf from Israel and EV from Bulgaria though she moved shortly to California, so for all intensive purposes she is American. EV and Asaf met in Brazil and are now in love.
6-14 Day 2.
The morning was nice and clear and we had good views of the same 2 snowcapped peaks. We hiked up to Cacanong Pass (4695m/15,399ft) where we some condors and had nice views from the valley that we had come up as well as nice views to the valley that we would be going. There was lots of giant granite faces and mountains here...very similar to parts of the high Rockies. This also happened to be the continental divide with one side flowing to the Pacific and one side flowing to the Amazon. From the pass we hiked down with some nice views of the very folded granite mountains. We also had some views of 4 snowcapped peaks, one of which was Yurapaja grande, the tallest peak in the Huayhuash range, though its summit was mostly covered. We eventually arrived down at a lake: Mitucocha (4270m/14,006ft) with nice views of those glaciated peaks. Very beautiful!. We camped at a nice place called Janca (4240m/13,07ft) with a little stream running right through it.
6-15 Day 3.
I woke up before everyone else and walked back to Mitucocha lake. The clouds had all cleared overnight, so all the peaks, including Yurapaja were shimmering gloriously in the morning sun! As there was no wind yet, the peaks were also reflecting nicely in the still water. I then headed back to camp to meet the others for breakfast.
On this day, we went off the trail and hiked up a big ridge (4770m/15,645ft) where there were absolutely stunning views of some big snowy mountains, the valley below, lake Mitucocha and another lake. We could also see some really cool geologic formations including some sweet folds and huge granite spines. We then hiked over a pass (4860m/15,941ft) where there were a couple of tarns. In the shale (I think) around the tarns, we found some seashell fossils. We then descended a bit down to Laugna Alcaycocha (4670m/15,318ft) which sits at the foot of a red mountaint with a bit of snow on it. We then descended into a deep valley, past some thatched roof buildings, went around a corner, and BOOM! Right in front of us were 4 huge peaks with huge glaciers that had created a giant cirque in which a large turqoise lake (Carhuacocha) sat shimmering in the bottom. That afternoon the clouds obscured the tops of the peaks, but the view was still stunning. Our camp (Incahuain 4138m/13,572ft) was in a gorgeous spot overlooking the lake and with views of the big mountains. Around sunset, the clouds cleared a bit and the light on the peaks from our camp was magnificent. In the evening as we sat reading in our wamr sleeping bags in our tents, we could hear lots of avalanches roaring down the peaks. One of the peaks we could see was Nevado Siula Grande which is the mountain the climbers were scaling in the book Touching the Void. If you are not a reader, there is now a movie out about this crazy climbing survival story. I have read the book, but not seen the movie, so I don´t know if the movie is good.
6-16 Day 4 Dia de los Padres
I woke up early to a beautiful sunrise and a clear day! The views of the mountains and lake with the sunrise was awe-inspiring. The rising sun set fire to the giant snow-capped peaks (Yerupaja grande, Yerupaja chico, Jirishanca, Siula Grande) that overlooked us and Laguna Carhuacocha. I set out early before everyone else and went at a very fast pace up the pass as I knew the clouds would be coming in. I first stopped at the outlet of Carhuacocha where I could see the big peaks reflected nicely in the water. From the lake, the hike was through a steep valley with towering peaks and glaciers tumbling down. Along the way, I passed by 3 glacial lakes: Laugna Gangrajanca (4245m/13,924ft), Laguna Siula (4290m/14,071ft), and Laguna Quesillococha (4332m/14,209ft). After passing by the lakes, the trail climbed steeply so that I had a spectacular view down the valley of the 3 turquoise lakes and the towering snow-draped peaks. I enjoyed the views for a while from a viewpoint (one of the classice Huayhuash viewpoints), then I hiked up to Siula Pass (4910m/16,105ft) from where there was pretty decent views of the big mountains; however, they were mostly covered in clouds by then. From the ridge on the pass, you could look down and see Laguna Cojoncocha on the left and Laguna Pucacocha on the right. I waited a couple of hours on the pass until the group arrived, and then we descended down to Laguna Quesillococha (4435m/14,547ft) that had some nice mountains views with fairly low glaciers. From here we walked for a bit on an old Inca Trail that connected this portion of the mountains with the coast. We took the Inca Trail as it descended to our campsite (called Huayhuash, 4350m/14,268) in a nice little valley. That night it rained pretty hard.
Today was father´s day and as I was in the middle of the Andes, I had no way to get in touch with him. However, as I was hiking up the pass, I was thinking of him and thinking how he was one of the big influences on me that caused me to develop a love of the mountains, the outdoors, and hiking. I am also reading James Michener´s "Centennial" right now, which he gave me, and everytime I open it up, it reminds me of him because he loves the wild west and the cowboys and open country and all that.
6-17 Day 5
It was quite foggy in the morning as we climbed up Ararag pass (4750m/ 15,580 ft.). Going up in the fog had a unique mystifying feel to it and at times we would catch a glimpse of the the snowcapped peaks through a break in the fog. It was cold on the top of the pass with even a bit of residual snow on top from the night before. As we headed down the other side, the fog cleared and we could see some of the heavily glaciated peaks of the Cordillera Raura. There was also nice views down the valley to Laguna Viconga. On the walk from the lake to camp, there was a little range of beautiful jagged peaks. We then arrived at our campsite--Guñog (4360m/14,301ft)--which had hot springs!! Very nice enjoyable soak as we were of course very dirty and we had spent a lot of time in the cold high altitude air. It was Asaf´s birthday, so we had boxed Gato wine that they had brought. At dinner EV brought out a cake with firework candles that she had carried and we all sang happy birthday.
6-18 Day 6
We woke up in the morning to a hard frost but clear skies. We hiked up to Cuyoc Pass (5070m/16,630ft), which had really nice views of some jagged peaks as we went up and to our backs were nice and clear views of the pretty Cordillera Raura. From the top where nearly 360 degree views. Sweepoing views of the Cordillera Raura and the valley and a couple of lakes from which we had just come from. To the front right were the impossibly steep and incredibly big mountains of the Cordillera Huayhuash. To the front was a huge valley with snowcapped peaks in the back. To the left were some dry peaks and to the right was a glacieated mountain with a large glacier descending to a lower point than where we were standing on the pass. While I waited for the others (I had to wait over 2 hours), I climbed up to a ridge (about 5120m/16,794ft) which afforded even better views of the Huayhuahs mountains and some beautiful emerals lakes shimmering below. I also saw two Vicuñas (wild relative to the llama) grazing up there. From the pass it was downhill to a big valley where we camped at Cuyoc Pampa (4492m/14,734ft)
Sometimes I guess I am a little crazy when it comes to seeing the mountains. Tomorrow we would be going up San Antonio Pass which is supposed to be one of the top views of the trek. Since it was a good weather day and you never know about the weather the next day, I thought about going up the pass and then back down to camp. The donkey driver said (the guide wasn't down yet as he was still with Asaf and EV) it would take 3 hours to go up and a bit over an hour to come down, so I would just be coming back in the dark. I was able to convince Leo to go with me. In the end, I was able to do the pass in 50 minutes (I was cruising in case the afternoon weather changed) and Leo in 1 hr 10 mins. The view from San Antonio Pas (5085m/16,679ft. was indeed stunning. The very high, super steep and snow plastered Huayhuash towered straight ahead with a couple of glowing turquoise lakes (Lagunas Juraucocha and Sarapococha) at their base which huge glaciers flowed into. We hiked up to a higher viewpoint from where we could see the village where we would be hiking to on the next day. The Huayhuash was in front and behind us was the pretty valley with red and yellow mountains behind it. After soaking up the view, we were able to descend back to camp in time to make the afternoon snack.
6-19 Day 7
We woke up to another hard frost and the exciting news (for Leo and me) that we would be taking an adjacent pass (off the main trail) to the one Leo and I had done before; thus, we would be getting different views. I speedily made it up to this pass (5086m/16,682ft), so that I had lots of time to sit and enjoy the incredible views. The giant white mountains stood out against the blue sky with a surreal turquoise lake sparkling below: Laguna Juraucocha. We could also see Laguna Sarapococha at the base of a huge glacier. We hung around for a while enjoying the views before descending quite steeply down to gorgeous turquoise Laguna Juraucocha (4343m/14,245ft). On the way down we also passed a glacial green lake. The views from Juraucocha were stunning with the completely snowcovered peaks behind and the beautifully colored water in front. We had lunch at the lake, and I soaked my feet in the icy waters.
From there we had a long walk down a gentle valley that was covered by purple flowers that were head high with a sprinkling of yellow flowers interspersed between them. Before the valley curved too much, we could see the big peaks behind us. At one point we passed a waterfall with 10 different tiers.
Eventually we came to the village of Huayllapa (3490m/11,447ft), a very small traditional villagle where we camped. The villages was composed of about 300 families all wearing traditional dress. There were lots of women knitting and also making yarn from sheep wool. We loaded up on snacks (Sublime bars..yum!) at the little store, checkd out the center plaza, watched a gym class learn volleyball, and were asked some English questions by kids doing their English homework. The village was very traditional with some houses having thatched roofs and most being made out of mud bricks. There were no cars and the streets were very narrow.
Today Leo told me "I am always the fastest in the mountains, but you are much faster th an me!. Have you ever met anyone faster than you?" My answer was, "no, except for my brother, especially when he has mono". I later overheard Leo telling the rest of the group about how he had never seen anyone so fast. This made me feel pretty good, especially being that I was the oldest in our trekking group.
6-20 Day 8
We slept in at the village bc the guide and the donkey driver had gone out and there wasn't supposed to be any spectacular views to beat the clouds to. Our campsite was on a soccer field. When we had arrived the night before, kids were playing soccer. In the morning as we were packing up, there was a gym class playing hula hoop games.
Today was a big uphill day in terms of elevation gain. We walked up a beautiful canyon with flowers and a nice river. It eventually opened up to some broader valleys with views of a couple of glaciated peaks and back towards the red canyon and dry mountains behind. At the top of Tapush Pass (4796m/15,731ft), I waited 30 minutes for Leo and then over and hour more for Scott so that Leo and I were pretty cold on top of the chilly and windy pass by the time Scott arrived. But we had bought "summit beers" in the village, so we pulled them out, toasted to a good trek and then downed our ice cold beers. Then it was a s hort walk, passed a small lake, down to our camp: Angocancha (4480m/14,694 ft). At the camp there were some trees; the first we had seen since we left Huaraz. In the evening we had a bit of hail.
6-21 Day 9
Hiked up over Llaucha pass (4853m/15,918ft). Then leo and I hiked up a small peak (5007m/16,423 ft) to try and get a more panoramic view. It didn't do too much good, unfortunately, because the high mountains were all shrouded in clouds, including the highest mountain in the Cordillera Huayhuash: Nevado Yerupaja (6617m/21,704ft). Once the rest of the group joined, guide Eric took us off the trail. We walked along a ridge that would have provided spectacular views if the skies had been cloud free. On the left you could see some mountains of the Cordillera Blanca in the far distance. In front of us was a nice looking red mountain. Behind us was the pass and a few smaller snowcapped peaks. To our right stood towering some of the highest peaks in the Huayhuash-- Yerupaja, Jirishanca, Yerupaja chico, and Rondoy-- their peaks shrouded by clouds. But we could still see their steep faces and the glaciers tumbling down. We reached the end of the ridge where we climbed to the top of Cerro Huacrish (4750m/15,580ft) from where we could see two lakes (Lagunas Jahuacocha and Solteracocha)--Laguna Solteracocah having a stunning turquoise color--at the foot of these mountains. From there, we walked straight (and I mean straight) dowhnill with views all the time and tons of purple flowers until we reached Laguna Jahuacocha (4050m/13,284) where we would camp. After lunch and a rest, the mountains towering over the lake and camp cleared quite a bit, and we could even see a few summits. In the afternoon we hiked to the turquoise Laguna Solteracocha (4120m/13,513ft) which had a glacier tumbling right into it. Back at camp, we saw some nice glows on the mountains as the sun set; however, the best part was seeing the near full moon rise over one of the glowing peaks! Quite the incredible sights to see!
6-22 Day 10
I got up before the sun was up with plans to go hike back up to the viewpoint for sunrise and see the whole range cloud free, but sadly, it was cloudy.
On this day, we hiked from the camp to the village of Llamac (3250m/ 10,660 ft). The first 10km were a flat grade. The trail was high up on a steep and deep canyon with desert type vegetation. Very scenic. And as we looked back, the mountains started to clear up, and we had some very nice view of Yerupaja. We then descended steeply down to Llamac where I had a couple of celebratory icecreams (Leo and I explored the whole town before the others arrived, walking every street before we could find an open store with icecream as we had arrived during siesta time on a Saturday).
We then had the same scenic ride back to Huaraz. First the beautiful canyon and then the road roading parallel to the Cordillera Blanca.
Back in Huaraz I made sure to have lots of icecream and a big serving of tasty Chifa!
2 comments:
Sounds like an amazing trek! What kind of distance did you cover? This is what I bought you a pedometer for:) Unfortunately it didn't work so well or maybe you just walk so much and far that it wears out too fast!
it was about 165kms (102miles) more or less
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