The Cordillera Huayhuash is a 30 km/18.6 mile long range in the Andes located in central Peru, 130 km/80 miles from the coast. The Lonely Planet guide says the Huayhuash is the world-famous Blanca’s tougher, forgotten, smaller brother. I’m not sure about forgotten (or maybe forgotten is better to keep this area from suffering the effects of over visitation), but it certainly is remote and requires a commitment to trek the circuit. Ample time is needed to travel to the area, acclimate, and do the trek and the altitude requires more physical effort than a normal trek. It is well worth the time and effort though because the trek and experience are simply incredible.

Huaraz is the jumping off point for trips in both the Blanca and Huayhuash and for travelers not already in the country, most will be coming from Lima (either a one hour flight or eight hour bus ride). We stayed three nights in Huaraz to help acclimate before setting out on our trek. Some travelers don’t feel they have enough days to spend three nights in Huaraz, but we were glad we took the time because it really helped us acclimate and we felt ready for our trek and never had any issues with the altitude. The development of roads in the Huayhuash has led to more options for access points and customization of treks, however all will start with a long ride from Huaraz to the trailheads. Our starting and ending point was the small village of Llamac, a four hour drive from Huaraz.

Depending on the exact route chosen (not everybody does a full circuit) I’ve seen treks as short as eight days and the average seems to be ten. We decided ten days for trekking would be a comfortable pace and we added in two rest days with potential for day hiking. One advantage of having a privately guided trip and a generous itinerary was that we could be flexible and make alterations as needed. As it turned out one of our planned rest days was a bust for weather (it rained off and on all day), so it worked out well to burn that day to avoid hiking in the rain and missing out on the awesome scenery. Our second rest day turned into a pseudo rest day with a half day of hiking in order to avoid going over two passes the following day (Norah was doing an awesome job of hiking, but we didn’t want to push our luck!).

This wasn’t the exact route we did (this one starts at Matacancha, which we took two days to hike to from our starting point at Llamac and we also did some alternate routes between Huayhuash and Huayllapa), but it gives a good overview of the distances and elevation profile of a typical circuit: Huayhuash Elevation Profile. It’s hard to find information on exact distances for each of our days, so my best estimate is we averaged 12 km/7.5 miles over eleven days of hiking. Our total elevation gain for the trip was 6807 m/22,333 ft. An average of 7.5 miles and 2030 ft elevation gain per day doesn’t sound bad at all (and is less than other trips we’ve done), though it was definitely harder than it sounds thanks to the altitude. The bulk of our trek was above 14,000 feet and the highest we would go was San Antonio Pass at 5079 m/16,663 ft. Beyond some initial headaches, we didn’t feel sick from the altitude (like some people we met on our trip) - we just felt sluggish while hiking and I did my fair share of huffing and puffing.

We fell into a routine that had us hiking by eight am most mornings. We would have breakfast (typically pancakes, porridge, toast or eggs), filter water for the day, pack our day packs, pack the rest of our gear in the duffel bags for the donkeys, and hit the trail. Within an hour or less our team and donkey train would pass us by (some days they took the same route or part of the same route, other days they had an alternate trail). They moved a fast clip and we were impressed with Miguel hiking (sometimes running) along the trail with the donkeys and horses like it was nothing at all.

While hiking we aimed to keep a nice and steady pace that wouldn’t overexert us (which we found could lead to headaches) and often put Norah in the lead to pace us. She kept a good pace and stopped frequently for short breaks. Every time we stopped we made sure to get a sip of water and we did a good job staying hydrated, which we think helped a lot with the altitude (there was one day we didn’t drink as much as usual and we could feel it). Except for a few spots (a small scramble up “Fossil Pass” and descending from San Antonio Pass and Cerro Huacrish), the trails were nicely graded and were good hiking (nice break from the boulders, tree roots, and loose rocks that are common at home). In addition to the short breaks Norah initiated, we stopped frequently to take pictures, take in a view, note something of interest and also take longer breaks to rest and eat lunch (a basic meat and cheese sandwich, piece of fruit, and various types of cookies). Once thing we loved about having a relaxed itinerary is that we could take our time, not feel rushed, and really soak it all in. For instance, when we topped out at San Antonio Pass the weather was great (no stiff winds or precipitation) and we ended up spending nearly two hours there. We loved having the flexibility to do that.

We usually arrived to camp in the late afternoon (many, many hours after our team had arrived and set up camp) and had plenty of time to drink tea and eat a snack (popcorn and a small cheese taquito type snack with fresh guacamole were two of our favorites), get our tent organized (our tent was set up for us and we just had to get out our pads and sleeping bags), explore around camp, read/play cards, and just relax with the great views. Sunset was around 6 pm and this is when we usually had dinner (large bowl of soup and chicken/meat/trout with rice and vegetables). Once the sun went down it was very chilly and we didn’t linger long after eating. We were usually in the tent and asleep by eight - we were certainly well rested on this trip!

The scenery was incredible - when we could fully see it and appreciate it. Our first four days were hit or miss for weather. We had some period of sun in days that were mostly gray and overcast with some precipitation at higher elevations (we still enjoyed trekking these days, but the scenery was as eye popping as it could be without sun and blue skies). Our poor weather culminated with on and off rain all day on our fifth day, a rest day at Carhuacocha. Just as we were beginning to question this so called “dry season”, Day 6 dawned with sun and blue skies and this was the standard for the remainder of our trip (and our critical days for jaw dropping scenery). *phew*

It’s tough to declare favorites on a trek like this. Steve and I did narrow down our favorite days to three:

Day 11: Angocancha to Jahuacocha. I think think part of why this narrowly won our favorite day was that it was partly unexpected. Victor had told us our second to last day had some amazing views of the range, but we didn’t know just how awesome this day would be. Steve had pinpointed some highlights from his research before our trip and had not come across much info on this day - so it was not on our radar. What was so great about it? From Yaucha Punta we had an extended ridge walk to Cerro Huacrish and the views all along the way were stunning. The weather was fantastic and we spent hours up here - all on our own except for a number of condors we kept spotting. And to cap it all off, we got to camp again at Jahuacocha, which is an incredibly scenic campsite.

Day 8: Cuyoc to Cutatambo via San Antonio Pass. This day just as easily could’ve been number one. Going into the trek we knew San Antonio Pass was going to be stellar and it more than lived up to advance billing. We scrambled up the little peak to the west of the pass and were treated to some of the best views we have ever seen in our life. And the views just got better as we descended the pass and stopped at another gorgeous viewpoint.

Day 6: Carhuacocha to Huayhuash via The Three Lakes and Siula Punta. Luckily our first perfect weather day coincided with Day 6, which was another day we had pinpointed as a highlight. Not only did we get to hike over a beautiful pass, we also got to see the famous “Three Lakes”, a series of beautiful turquoise glacial lakes.

Norah would have a different take on her highlights for the trip. No question her favorite day was Day 4 when we hiked over “Fossil Pass” on our way to Mitococha from Carhuacocha. Victor led us on the alternate high route that crossed what we dubbed “Fossil Pass” because it was chock full of ammonites. Norah was in heaven! Norah also loved spotting Andean condors (I think her final count was 75 sightings for the trip), making friends and sharing her food with dogs on the trail (we all loved a dog we nicknamed Huayhuash that joined us for a few days of our trek), checking out the bones we saw periodically, mooing at the cows (during the dry season farmers bring their cows and sheep into the mountains to graze), and spotting other wildlife. We mostly saw a number of different birds, but also spotted vicuñas twice and several times saw one of the most adorable mammals I think exists: viscachas (part of the chinchilla family and look like adorable rabbits with long fluffy tails).

We had high expectations for the Huayhuash Circuit and without a doubt it delivered (and then some). We absolutely loved our trip and we all agreed this was our favorite vacation - and we don’t say that lightly - we can never choose a favorite vacation! It’s safe to say we are hooked and I think we’ll have a hard time staying away from Peru. What a gorgeous corner of the world.