Day 8: Huillca to Janacrurish via Gara Gara Pass

Hiking time: ~ 5.25 hours
Elevation gain: 840 m/2786 ft
Elevation loss: 740 m/2428 ft
High Point: Gara Gara 4830 m/15,846 ft (also high point of the trek)
Campsite: Jancarurish 4200 m/13,780 ft

The easiest way to sum up today is WOW. It was no question our favorite day of our trek. We knew this day would likely be one of our best and were relieved when we woke to clear, blue skies. We had eggs, bacon, and potatoes for breakfast and set out on an hour hike up to the small pass of Mesapata. For a smaller pass that requires less effort, the views were great. By this point Norah was totally sandbagging it and caught a ride up to this pass, as well as part way up the second pass of Gara Gara.

To get to Gara Gara we had a nice and easy traverse around the pampa from Mesapata (about 1’20”) and a final climb that took a little over an hour. I really love when a pass has a big reveal and Gara Gara was one of these passes (quick note - this pass is also sometimes called Cara Cara - I went with the name on the map). You are trudging up and up and up and when you finally top out at the pass, the big mountains and stupendous views suddenly present themselves. I absolutely love that moment! The views were amazing, but it was very windy at the pass, so we didn’t stay a long time. Luckily it didn’t matter though because every step of the way down was accompanied by the same incredible views. It took us about two hours to reach camp, which I think is an inflated time because I stopped frequently to take pictures and admire the views. We also climbed a small hill for even better views of Jancarurish and its vivid turquoise water.

We had a nice bird’s eye view of our campsite and it didn’t take long to finish our descent. We had taquitos and fresh guacamole (our favorite), then Cesar, Steve, and I made the ~30 minute hike up the moraine to see Jancarurish. We had terrific views of the lake, Alpamayo, and Nevada Santa Cruz. It is also possible to hike further from this point to Alpamayo base camp. We enjoyed our spot on the moraine for a long time and returned to camp in time to watch sunset and eat dinner (a typical grain/vegetable soup and a chicken/mushroom dish with cream sauce and rice). A late moonrise allowed for some star gazing and the night sky was gorgeous - especially the Milky Way above Alpamayo. It was an awesome day!