Huayhuash: A Magnificent Finish

Welcome to the second half of our incredible Cordillera Huayhuash journey. In the first four days, our group has done very well. We are all healthy, fit, and ready to go. We just picked up our annoying barky 11th member of the hiking squad, Effo the dog. Or rather, she picked us up.

Cordillera Huayhuash is an 8-12 day hike around the Cordillera Huayhuash mountain peaks in Northern Peru. This hike is strenuous, but very worth it.

Day 5
19.2km, 600m elevation, 8:54
Starting Altitude: 4500m
Highest Altitude: 5070m
Camp Altitude: 3500m

We woke up in the morning to some tough news. Three pieces of it. One member of the team, Simona, was feeling very ill and threw up everything in her stomach. It’s questionable whether she would join us today. JB’s knee was starting to show signs of a fatigue injury. Third, Effo spent the night in the tent curled up with Senan, meaning that the only way for this dirty dog to shut up is to cuddle with one of us in the tent.

Simona got a good chunk of her breakfast down, and decided she was strong enough to hike what ended up being the hardest day for the group. The first two hours were a 500m rocky ascent to a windy pass, where we would descend into the neighboring valley for a 1500m decent to a small village. Simona was slow, but to her credit, she persevered throughout the ascent. She got better throughout the day, and by the end of it, her speed had caught back up with the group.

The pass was really cold though. The group generally huddled behind rocks while we waited for our final member. The decent down was very windy as well. Numerous times a gust would almost blow you off the mountain and we would have to crouch along the path to avoid being blown over. The wind finally subsided once we hit our left turn past the lagoon to follow the river to town.

Past the lagoon, the walk started pleasant. Our neighbor for the next 11km was a roaring stream, complete with all sorts of rapids and waterfalls down. Like always, there were many cows chilling in the flat portions, both grazing and doing the opposite. We had lunch on a little island in the middle of the stream, a nice meal of rice with chicken. Chiki brought a really delicious sauce for the rice as well, ahi sauce. It is a yellow spicy pepper sauce. After this meal, our group went through a ton of it.

The walk post meal was hard. Cam’s ankles were starting to give way, as were my knees. We picked up a few blisters as well along the downhill. Another stray dog joined us. Some sort of medium sized black puppy that watched over us as or poor feet slowed us down from the rest of the group. We had a small confrontation with a local dog upon entrance to the town, but through the combined intimidation of our pup and a rock in my hand, we were allowed entrance.

Camp today was in the local soccer pitch of the town, Huayllapa. There was an option of a hostel though, which everyone but Matheo took for the night. The shower was dismal by any other standards, but to us it was fantastic. We gorged out on cookies and Inca Cola. The bed was somewhat comfortable. It was a good night after a long day. At least until Effo started a town-wide dog riot at 4:00AM that no one could fall back asleep from. Oh well.

Day 6
11.9km, 1293m elevation, 5:22
Starting Altitude: 3500m
Highest Altitude: 4770m
Camp Altitude: 4530m

For every down, there is an up. And after our decent into Hauyllapa, we had a major ascent over another pass north back into the Cordillera Huayhuash to begin the final leg of our journey. Spirits were good in the morning after a full bedrest.

The path today follows a different waterfall stream up a different valley. There’s a short amount of backtracking out of the town. The ascent was a steady uphill. We all just disassociated from the task at hand, and hauled our way up.

We eventually split from the main creek, and instead followed a sheep herder. There were many livestock guardian dogs in the area, and Effo made herself scarce. So many sheep though. These herders and their pack of dogs have a really good routine managing the 200+ sheep over these steel hills to new pasturelands.

We finally made the pass, which was less of a pass and more of a long high plateau. To our right was Diablo, a mountain on a limited lifespan. This mountain was being mined out for its iron. This pass had a clearly larger amount of rocks and boulders strewn about the landscape, and an entire chunk of mountain was visibly missing, once you knew what you were looking for.

Huayhuash is not in a National Park, or any sort of protected area. During our hike, our guide was paying land entry fees to the local communities so we could access the land. This system works well for the local’s in one regard, as they directly get the money from us tourists passing through. But it leaves the area vulnerable to mining and other environmental loss. The glaciers in the park are already receding at alarming rates. The ground around Diablo is contaminated with petrol and other chemicals, and the animals get sick or die from drinking this water. Being that it is near a glacier, this contamination will eventually work its way down through Rio Pativilca to the Pacific Ocean. Our camp had a separate water spigot carrying water from a different glacier due to the contamination.

At the end of the pass, we had a wonderful lookout of the rest of the Andes. Cordillera Blanca was in the distance, challenging us for another hike (we did not do it). Views to the north did not feature the Huayhuash mountains we were becoming all to familiar with. They were now to our southeast.

Camp was a isolated one for us. The independent hikers put on a few more KM towards the next pass, something we would tackle the next day. Dinner and tea time were becoming more routine. Our stronger demands for postre (dessert) were being met with larger and larger amounts of hot water. I dominated Cam at spit, with a 1-0 record. Effo slept with the Swiss gals, Lucille and Alexia, for the night.

Day 7
10.0km, 490m elevation, 6:01
Starting Altitude: 4530m
Highest Altitude: 4900m
Camp Altitude: 4055m

This day had the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. That any of us have ever seen. The entire last week of cold nights and long days, the long bus rides to the middle of the Andes, all led up to this day. This is the day that makes Huayhuash worth it. And to our luck, we had the best weather for it we possibly could.

The morning was our coldest yet. Every layer was on, and it was near the line. Our fly was completely frozen from air moisture, which was becoming a common occurrence. Every layer stayed on for a good portion of the day. We all got ourselves together, and began the penultimate day.

The small (by our standards, 300m) ascent over the first pass was hard. We were all tired and cold from the night. Our legs were all sore. There were three different illnesses moving through the group at the moment. Any of us could have bailed out in the village, but by this point, you have no choice but to finish. We were devouring Matheo and JB’s coca leaf reserves to get through this otherwise innocent climb.

We finally made it over the ridge. Waiting for us was a quite nice view the Cordillera. Some of us were joking about following the donkeys down the easy way, as we saw the next ridge and didn’t want to cross it. But we persevered.

Over the next ridge was a small peak that you could climb to the top of, and have a full view of the world around you. And what a view it was.

The distortion of the panorama photo does not do this area justice. The Huayhuash peaks, in the middle, are in your face impressive. To our left was a massive iron mountain with switchbacks in the middle. The red rock an impact of colour among the beige/green/white/grey palette we had become used to. Beyond that is the Cordillera Blanca. To our right was where we had come from. The isolated steppe’s of mountain cows grazing grounds interrupted by the vertical slates running through them.

We must have spent at least half an hour on this peak before Rosmel ushered us off. And then another 15 minutes while Ruby and Simona got their Instagram shots. I took advantage of that time to stay on the peak.

It was a quick decent to rejoin the majority of the group. Our next hour was spent along a highline ridge. The mountain peaks were ever visible to our right. The sun was beginning to shine on the western side, illuminating their power ever more. And as if the gods wanted to solidify the power of the moment, two condors began flying low overhead. The entire hour over the ridge was spent in sun, light wind, and with the guardians of the Andes.

At the end of the ridge is another lookout point. This would be our last proper view of the Cordillera Huayhuash. Camp was a steep decent into a valley away. The group must have spent another hour up top, soaking in the views, both old of the mountains, and new of the large lagoon that peaked its head around the corner.

We finally departed down what felt like a near vertical slope. There was the cautious group (the girls and JB with the bad knee), and the daredevils (the rest of the guys). Us daredevils began running down the hill, like kids. It was great fun bombing down at dangerous speeds. So dangerous, that I wiped out real good and bruised my knee. I walked down after that. But the run down was worth it.

Camp was set downstream of the lagoon. This water source was different. It had both a waterfall, and fish! Chiki and the gang set out to catch some for dinner. Being the last campground of the Huayhuash circuit, the locals know what the tourists like. And such, there is a small shop that sells beer and cola for whoever is nearby. We all clinked glasses, and had our lunch outside with a few brews, and one Inca Cola just for me. A few of us were waiting for “The Window,” which was a period of sun longer than 30 seconds where we could swim in a nice pool below a small waterfall.

Around 2:30PM, the alarms sounded, and The Window was in effect. Four boys, including myself, decided to go for a very chilly swim. An audience came too. It was a quick swim but a fun one. The afternoon was spent drinking (really only George and Senan) and chatting as we celebrated our last night in these mountains. Dinner was half a caught fresh fish, either the head or the tail end, with rice and lentils. Our stomachs still did not agree with rice and lentils. But the fish was good.

Spirits were high, and to make the evening even better, Effo was nowhere to be found that night! We were all feeling good, but ready to be out of these mountains and on to new adventures.

Day 8
9.0km, 511m elevation, 3:47
Starting Altitude: 4055m
Highest Altitude: 4560m
Camp Altitude: 3460m

The last day. Lets get out of here. The hike started out flat, walking beside our little stream in a frosty morning air. Everyone was ready to get over whatever mountain was left in front of us, get on the bus, and get home. We enjoyed our time in the wild, but this last day was strictly to get out of here.

A pivoted quickly to the right, and our final steel ascent was underway. Knees were sore, feet were blistered. But freedom, whatever that means to us now, was on the other side of the mountain in front of us. Behind us were the last relics of Huayhuash, shrouded in fog. But we didn’t care, we wanted out.

Finally the slopes shallowed out to a slight uphill. We had a couple more ridges to traverse before our pass. What happened here, we don’t know. Just one foot in front of the other. Lets go.

The pass had a symbolic wall and gate at the top of it. Likely to keep livestock on the village side of the mountains, but for us, this was our exit from the hike. One look back, and the mountains waved goodbye through the clouds to us, and we crossed through.

Hike’s not done though. Between us and the van to bring us home was a kilometer of descent over three kilometers of latitude. This decent made yesterdays and day 2’s seem like kiddie slides. Our poor joints did their best getting us down the hill, but this was a slow endeavor.

Watching the vegetation change as we descended was interesting. Cacti and trees started to make some appearances beside us. More cows came for a visit. We could see the town of Pocpa below us, a collection of metal roofed adobe abodes. One housed a sushi restaurant, the other was an all inclusive spa… we dreamed. Across the valley you could see the partitions of the hillside for crops. Stone walls separated the fields.

We got closer and closer to the end. The group getting more and more excited. And then less than 100m from the finish line, we had a quick drop to go down. And right in the middle of it was a stubborn bull. The only time a cow became an obstacle on this trip. From the hundreds we saw. Here. Now. Move. Cow.

After some coaxing, the bull moved, and we paraded down the road to the van. Chiki was waiting for us with some chicken and rice before the drive home in an adjacent field. There was an outdoor faucet to wash up. And somehow, Effo strolled in like she had been with us the whole time. We had our lunch, thanked our guides, got on the bus, and fell asleep for the journey home.

We had Indian food for dinner with the entire gang! We all celebrated, and swapped curries and stories with each other, and then retired for the night really early. Our next day was spent getting more meals with our new friends, and observing some sort of marching band parade thing. Except multiple bands were playing at the same time.

Huayhuash was an incredible experience, and physically the hardest thing either of us have done. The lack of altitude makes everything hard, but the company we had made it much easier. It was a truly memorable experience, and one we can only hope to replicate further down the line in our travels.