Hello, World!

I began this nine day trek with Sam only a week or so into my South American travels. Snow-capped peaks and pristine blue lakes were the draw card as the Cordillera Huayhuash had been flooding my thoughts for months leading up to the trip.

The journey started in Huaraz, a small city located in north-central Peru. Huaraz is situated at 3000m above sea level and is a haven for outdoor lovers. I had originally planned to tackle this trek solo, although a chance glance at a café notice board led to Sam’s pinned note. It stated that he was ‘easy going’, could speak ‘some Spanish’ and was looking for a trekking partner for the nine day Huayhuash circuit. That was enough for me. Two days later and we were off.

The Cordillera Huayhuash mountain range is accessible by public transport. We were lucky and managed to squeeze into a last-minute minivan from Huaraz that dropped us off some five hours later at our starting point of Matacancha. Upon finishing the circuit in Llamac, you are able to get a public bus back to Huaraz.

The trek itself involves daily mountain passes sitting somewhere between 4700m & 5100m. Turquoise glacial lakes are a common feature, with the ‘Tres Lagunas’ being a stand out view on day three. If you can brave the morning chill, a spectacular sunrise can be seen at Laguna Carhuacocha, painting the peaks and icefields above in a dazzling pink. There’s even a chance to get up close and personal with Siula Grande. This is the mountain Joe Simpson and Simon Yates summited, having their near fatal story told in the book ‘Touching the Void’. Seriously, the rewards of this trek will leave you breathless.

Day four stands out as a highlight for me.

We would be crossing Paso del Trapecio, our highest pass of the trek sitting at 5050m. The morning consisted of a walk through a tussock grass valley with the snow-capped Huayhuash mountain range to our right. Fuelled on porridge and raisins, the first two hours of the walk were relatively easy going as we navigated through unmarked grass fields. With maps in hand we deviated right towards an alternative route, leaving the main valley behind. We stopped at a flat section and refuelled on nuts and dried fruit, ready to tackle the steep section ahead.

From here it was slow going as the trail snaked its way up the side of the mountains that had been in sight all morning. The grass had disappeared and we were now walking on rocky terrain with the snow covered Motaña de Trapecio looming not too far in the distance. Sam and I stopped to catch our breath and found a flattish rock to take some photos in front of the striking Trapecio glacier.

With sticks in hand and the top in our sight we made our final push to the pass. We were greeted at the top by otherworldly scenes of the valley below. It looked as though we had stepped into a scene from Star Wars. The snow and grass of the previous valley had made way for what looked to me as a mountain moonscape scattered with turquoise glacial lakes. I could have stayed up there all day, although the blistering wind eventually got the better of us and we started our descent. Along the way we stopped at each glacial lake and marvelled at the almost luminescent blue of the water.

We continued our descent through rocky moraine and finally reached a point where grass and moss had returned. Camp appeared as we came over a small ridge and I was glad to see our rest spot for the evening. 8 hours of walking had left me sore, and I was looking forward to setting up camp, cooking some food and enjoying a good night’s rest.

By Kyle Glover

Map here.

Start: Matacancha

Night 1: Matacancha

Night 2: Mitucocha

Night 3: Carhuacocha

Night 4: Huayhuash

Night 5 (night 6 in the above map): Elefante campsite

Night 6: Cutatambo – near Laguna Juraucocha as depicted in my image below

Night 7: Huayllapa or Incahuah

Night 8: Jahuacocha

Finish: Llamac

A few tips: Knowing some Spanish will help you navigate the campsite fees, as you pass through and pay a number of different communities for use of the land. Knowing some words in Quechua is even better. Acclimatise before the trek by doing smaller walks near Huaraz. This will make your Huayhuash circuit a lot more enjoyable. It is possible to resupply on basic food at Huayllapa reached on day 6/7 depending on speed and route taken. Wish I did the day walk to Cerro Gran Vista

Photo by Sam Wood

info

prev / next

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·