Trekking in Peru has been at the top of our wish list for a long time and everything came together this year for us to finally go. Everybody assumed if we were going to Peru we were going to Machu Picchu. Nope. We bucked the trend and opted instead for the Huayhuash Circuit. We plan to see Machu Picchu eventually, but for this trip we wanted an extended trek in the mountains without the crowds. Why visit the Cordillera Huayhuash (pronounced “why wash”)? The Huayhuash Circuit is one of the premiere treks in the world. The mountains are huge and dramatic (Yerupajá is the tallest mountain at 6,617 m/21,709 ft. A few hundred meters shorter is Siula - the mountain which Joe Simpson and Simon Yates were climbing in “Touching the Void”), the glacial lakes are gorgeous, and overall the scenery is simply stunning. During the dry winter season (May through September, sometimes referred to as “Andean summer”) the weather is typically favorable and lends itself well to a trek. And finally, most visitors to this region do the Santa Cruz trek in the popular Cordillera Blanca; leaving fewer people on the more rugged and remote Huayhuash Circuit. Consider us sold!

We normally travel independently, but for several reasons, we decided to book a privately guided tour for this trek (one reason being our 8.5 year old daughter was with us. Have to give Norah a shout out here - she totally rocked it!). Chris Benway at Cima Logistics in Huaraz helped us craft an itinerary and took care of all the logistics and details. We had a guide (Victor), cook (Joel), two donkey drivers (Miguel and Margarita), seven burros, a horse (just in case - thankfully none of us needed to ride the horse), and a kitchen and dining tent (we took our own tent to sleep in). As we are used to doing everything on our own, it felt luxurious not have to carry all our gear, cook, or set up our tent. It was fantastic to roll into camp in the afternoon and have nothing more pressing to do than sit down, have hot tea and a snack, and enjoy the scenery. I cannot say enough good things about working with Chris to set up our trip and how fantastic our team was on the trek. Victor was an amazing guide; he was very knowledgeable about the mountains, flora, fauna, and history of the Cordillera Huayhuash, was great in picking alternate routes for us, and was very helpful on the trail to ensure we were feeling good and enjoying ourselves. Thanks to everybody our trip went smoothly and we had a fantastic trek.

In total our trip was 16 nights/17 days:

Day 1: travel from NY to Lima, overnight Lima
Days 2-4: flight to Huaraz, three days for hiking and acclimating
Days 5-15: Huayhuash trek
Day 16: return to Huaraz, overnight Huaraz
Day 17: bus from Huaraz to Lima, red eye flight back to NY

This many days devoted to one trek might seem excessive to some, but we would not have changed a thing about our itinerary. Chris advised three days in Huaraz to acclimate and I’m glad we followed his recommendation. Taking our time to acclimate really helped and we felt ready for our trek and never got sick from the altitude (others we met had not fared as well). I think it’s tempting to want to dig right in, but getting sick can ruin a trip. We also had a generous itinerary for the trek itself. Our original itinerary included ten days for trekking and two rest days. This allowed us to hike at a comfortable pace with plenty of time for long breaks at passes and viewpoints and never feeling rushed. The hiking was not hard by the numbers ( ~ average of 7.5 miles and 2030 ft elevation gain per day), but the altitude certainly added difficulty. 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. Having a relaxed schedule was a plus in dealing with the altitude.

Our days naturally fell into a rhythm of hiking from eight in the morning until mid to late afternoon and this worked well for us. It was a good balance between spending a great day on the trail and having some down time at camp. We took many breaks while hiking, both to catch our breath and take in the amazing scenery. We were constantly wowed by the dramatic mountains, glaciers, and beautiful lakes - it was stunning and one of the most beautiful places we had ever been. After all was said and done, we all agreed this was our best vacation ever - and we don’t say that lightly. We normally can’t pick a favorite - but the Huayhuash circuit definitely stood out. Amazing trek!

Please choose a gallery to see more about our Huayhuash circuit or days in Huaraz. It was easy to take a lot of pictures, so I also collected some of our favorites into a gallery. If you are planning a trip and have questions, please don’t hesitate to send us a message. Thanks for looking!

ETA: We returned to Peru in 2018 to hike the Alpamayo Circuit and the pictures can be found here. It was another fantastic adventure!