Hi friends! It’s been a while since my last blog post, so my apologies for the radio silence - I was out on a two week trek around the Cordillera Huayhuash, one of the tallest subranges of the Andes Mountains in Peru. I went with Becca, my parents, and my aunt, and we had an amazing trek, meeting some amazing people and looking at some truly stunning mountains from every side. The Huayhuash are a rugged but relatively small mountain range, effectively a single ridge of glaciated 6,000 meter peaks running north-south, surrounded by relatively gentle, lush terrain with lots of beautiful pasture, lakes, and streams. We were fairly early in the “Andean summer,” which meant that everything was particularly lush and green, but also meant that we had our fair share of rain and hiking in some truly miserable weather. We also were supported by an amazing crew of donkey drivers, two cooks, Tonio & Lolo, our guide Jhon, and our assistant guide Hermalinda.
Days negative 4 through 0: we flew into Lima and then, after a little bit of sleep at an airport hotel, caught an early morning flight to Huaraz, the largest town in the area. I’d been to Huaraz once 10 years ago, before there was an airport! Back then we had to take a 10 hour bus ride from Lima instead. Once in Huaraz, we did a few day hikes to get acclimatized before our trek. Huaraz itself is over 3,000 meters above sea level, meaning we definitely felt the elevation even just walking up the stairs in our hotel.
Dan and Becca hiking through stunning forest on our way to Laguna Urus, on an acclimatization hike.
Day 1: a long drive from Huaraz down almost 1,5000 meters to cross the Río Pativilca valley before going right back up 1,500 meters on the far side. We hiked the last few miles of road to our first camp at Quartelhuain, and had a lovely sunset.
Sunset above our camp on our first night of the trip.
Day 2: we wasted no time, climbing up to Paso Cacanapunta, crossing the Continental Divide and entering the Amazon Basin. We saw a fox and hawks on our pleasant short walk down to our second camp at Janca, then we went out in the afternoon for a stroll over to Laguna Mitococha, with stunning views of Jirishanca towering above us. We headed back to camp and had another lovely sunset. The bridge over the stream near our camp made for a fun spot for group photos.
Our group at sunset at camp on our second night.
Day 3: I got up before dawn to catch the sunrise on Jirishanca, which was absolutely stunning. After breakfast, we set out on our route for the day, which took us high on a ridge above Laguna Mitococha. The clouds descended a bit, blocking our views of the summits, but it was still a gorgeous hike, and the rain held off until we reached our camp at Incahuain, above Laguna Carhuacocha.
Jirishanca and Rondoy before sunrise.
Hiking along the ridge above Mitococha, with the summits in the clouds.
Our temporary canine companion enjoyed a mid-hike snack on the descent to camp.
Day 4: in retrospect, this was the least pleasant day of the trip. We set out under overcast skies for one of the most famous segments of the trek, hiking past the “Tres Lagunas” below Yerupaja. As we arrived at the first lake, it started to rain, and the rain kept up for pretty much the whole day, turning to sleet as we climbed up over a high pass. By the time we arrived at camp at Huayhuash Camp, we were thoroughly soaked.
Enjoying our lunch sheltered from the sleet under a narrow rock outcrop.
Day 5: We barely dried out overnight before heading out to cross Paso Trapecio, on the Continental Divide, and return to the Pacific Ocean side of the range. The weather was a bit ominous, but the rain held off, and we had beautiful views from the pass. On the far side, Nevado Puscanturpa loomed over Elephant Camp (there was really an elephant!), a 5,500 meter peak basalt summit. The juxtaposition of basalt and glacial ice was very cool. That evening, we had a truly stunning sunset come out of the blue, one of the most memorable moments of the trip.
Our Guide Jhon, Margaret, and Becca descending from Paso Trapecio, on the continental divide.
Nevado Puscantrurpa lit up by fiery sunset light.
Day 6: We had beautiful weather for a short but steep day crossing Paso Santa Rosa, with amazing views from the top. That afternoon, we all explored a waterfall close to our camp, before another surprise sunset.
Descending from Paso Santa Rosa, with amazing views of Siula Grande and and Carnicero.
Becca at sunset on the moraine above Jahuacocha.
Day 7: For our “rest day” we set out to climb Cerro Gran Vista, a small bump that was our highest point on our trip, we amazing views across the valley to Siula Grande, the setting for the infamous Touching the Void story. On the climb up, we watched an enormous avalanche rip down the SW Face of Yerupaja.
A huge avalanche ripping down the SW Face of Yerupaja.
Group photo on Cerro Gran Vista, with stunning views of Yerupaja and Siula Grande.
Nevado Jurau above Laguna Juraucocha from the site of an abandoned mine.
Day 8: This day was the only day where we didn’t cross a pass. Instead, we headed down valley towards the village of Huayllapa, then climbed up to our camp at Huatiac. We arrived at camp just after it started raining torrentially, so we all hung out in the tent and played bridge. The rain let up just before sunset, so we went out and watched a mesmerizing scene as fog flowed up the valley below us.
Becca and Margaret above the clouds at sunset.
Nevada Auxilio above our camp, shrouded in clouds.
Day 9: We started the day with a short climb up to Paso Tapush, then descended through lovely meadows before climbing up to Paso Yaucha. The weather was ominous, but we decided to take a more exposed high route along the ridge before descending to our camp at Jahuacocha, which ended up being delightful, with great views. Jahuacocha was our last camp of the trip, and Dan and I were hoping for a stunning sunset to cap things off, but alas, the clouds didn’t relent.
Hiking along the ridge high above Jahuacocha, hidden below to the right.
Limestone cliffs above the Jahuacocha valley.
Day 10: For our last day, we had stunning weather. We hiked around Laguna Jahuacocha, then climbed slowly up to Paso Rondoy, with amazing views of Jirishanca and Yerupaja. As descended the far side of the pass towards our waiting bus, it was amazing how quickly the trip had gone by.
Lupine and Laguna Solteracocha and Yerupaja from our climb up to Paso Rondoy.