Huaraz - Mavrix get high on hiking 11 July

Having missed out on the Inca Trail due to vast amounts of gas from the M and having done a little too much city slicking the Mavrix were craving some outdoor adventure. What better place than the Andes we thought and what better town than Huaraz we were told. Now Huaraz the city is quite an eye sore really, partly the fault of an earthquake in the 70s and partly the fault of a lack of architectural prowess from the Peruvians, it is however the staging point for assualts on the worlds second highest mountain range after the Himilayas holding some 22 peaks over 6000m, multicoloured glacier lakes, high altitude trails and some scenery worth kissing the ground and saying thank you-thank you-thank you that I´m here. Just what the travel doctor ordered!

We left Lima on an overnight bus through the mountains which caused a swaying motion that almost dislodged some dinners and made for hard fought sleep. After an early bleary eyed arrival in another new place the Mavs went about the usual scouting for things to do, how to do them and who to do them with. This involves a simple system really, meet a fellow traveler over coffee and squeeze them dry for info, walk from agency to agency telling them all that you can get it cheaper next door and then finally sign up with someone just because they look like a nice guy!

We discovered that there are a bunch of hikes that you can do in the Huaraz region from simple day hikes to 2 week epics or even real mountaineering expeditions up peaks as high as 6800m. We decided to do the scenic but hard Huahuash (pronounced White wash) trek based upon the recommendation of a German girl who had done 4 weeks just in Huaraz and convinced us this was the only course of action worth exploring (in retrospect we are very glad we listened!)

So having met a nice guy who had a nice price for the trek (Oh he also thew in a days free climbing...free is good!) we got picked up in a private car early one morning and drove off to the Cordiella Huayhuash with our guide Miguel and a great American lady called Lori who would become a great friend in the course of the trek. After burdening the donkey team with our bags, tents and food (we brought alot of warm clothes - we would need ALL of them) we walked off into the distance and deep into the mountains.


Day 1: 4.5 hour drive to Pocpa at 3475m then walked to Matacancha 4 hours flat, camped at 4150m with a view of Rondoy (5870m). This was a decent but quiet day with the highlight being how warm the kitchen tent got and how cold our tents got! We would learn that ice on the tent was normal.

Day 2: We walked some hard passes over Cacanan punta at 4700m (thats 600m higher than we started) down to Mitococha Valley seeing our first snow capped mountains in Rondoy chico 5500m and Jirishanca Chico at 5446m and Jirishanca at 6094m (Killimajaro is only 5995m). Then another 2 hours over Punta Carhuac at 4650m follwed by walking straight into a 30min snow storm before reaching one of the most beautiful camp sites ever in Camp Carhuacocha. We walked a total of 7h30 hours that day and Coca Tea (an Andean brew made from the same leaf you make Cocaine) became our best friend! Dont worry this is totaly legal and acts just like mild coffee.

Day 3: We were warned about this day for good reason. Really hard long hike of 8.5 hours seeing Carhuachocha which simply means Green lake in Quecha (4138m) then up to to Huayhuash camp at 4395m and where we camped under Yerupaja Chico 6121m and Yerupaja 6634m (second highest mountain in Peru) and Siula 6344m we also had to pass over Punta Carnicero at 4800m which was our biggest yet! We discovered that night that while we had been drinking our Coca tea another group of Israelis also on the trail had been taking Cocaine every night and drinking it up! WOW! This hike is hard enough already without doing that to your bodies which they would soon find out. The guides had to send horses out for 5 of them as it was getting dark an they werent even close to camp!
Day 4: Huayhuash camp to Viconga Camp 4453m for an easy 3.5 hours trekking over Punta Shuelo at 4785m seeing Viconga Lake and then ending our day with a relaxing soak in the hot springs which the Israelis decided was a great palce for a party so out came the beers and bongs...soon after we also came out and went back to camp, damn Israelis!


Day 5: This was to prove to be the hardest day so its probably just as well that 5 Israelis took another route and went home that day via bus, they just couldnt hack it anymore....we wonder why? We left Viconga camp and would end with Huanacpatay Camp (4350m) but first had to tackle Cuyoc Punta (5000m) where we saw an ice cream looking mountain called Cuyoc 5550m, we called it Dairy Maid then did a very steep down for 1.5 hours to 4450m then back up the super slippery slopes of San Antonio to the most magnificient view point ever at 5100m to see Carnicero 5960m, Siula 6344m(This is the mountain from ¨Touching the Void¨), Sarapo 6127m, Siula Chico, Yerupaja 6344m and then back down the slippery sand to the valley and then back again for the camera that we forgot on the field in the middle of nowhere. It was a fantastic day with awe inspiring views that I dont think many have been privilidged to the see the like of.


Day 6: Today we would hike to the dumbest camp site ever.... ok maybe we are the dumb ones, we walked right past it and had to hang around until our guide came and found us, fair enough though it was a beautiful camp site and the guide made us popcorn to make up for it. It was on this night that it became apparent that Victoria was going to win the long series of cards we had been playing with Lori every night in the tent and thereby get a free dinner paid for by the other 2 suckers.


Day 7: Huataq Camp to Jahuacocha 4200m with a start at 7h30 and arrived at 14h30 and did 2 passes, first pass Punta Tapush 4750m and then Cashapampa 4500m Valley up to second pass Guacha Punta 4847m. This second pass was special cause the mavs became donkey drivers for an hour pushing donkeys up hill and making ¨shish¨noises. We also saw 4 condors on the way down and a bunch of mountains already mentioned. That afternoon at our final campsite we drank beer and marvelled at the view, we tried to organise Trucha (Trout) without luck but the Israelis butchered 3 sheep for dinner, one of which died on the route that day after being exhuasted over the passes then hig tied to a horse before chocking on its own vomit. We thought it was super cruel too!

Day 8: Our last day of trekking was a downhill afair going from Jahuacocha camp to Llamac Village for our private car with a mere 5 hours of walking.

Overall we walked 120km and reached heights of 5100m physically but mentally much higher!


This has definitely been the highlight of our trip so far and is a place that we both feel we could go back to, who knows maybe we go tackle one of the 6000m+ bastards....