Last week, I went with my friends Duncan, Vai, and some new acquaintances, Nate and Luis, to the Cordillera Huayhuash to trek in with them to base-camp and hang out as they made their attempt to climb on of its peaks. Nate is an American from San Francisco who has been living in Cusco for the past 6 years and climbing mountains there. His climbing partner, Luis, is a native to Cusco and has lived beneath one of the most famous mountains there, Salkantay, for his entire life. They are both very strong mountaineers having climbed four out of the seven 6,000+ meter peaks, and Nate runs a guiding service there called Sky High Expeditions. The groups intent was to climb Nevado Rasac (6017 m) together, and then afterwards Nate and Luis would attempt Nevado Jirishanca (6126 m), one of the Huayhuash's most difficult peaks that hasn't seen an ascent in decades. My plan was to just tag along and enjoy the scenery.
We left last friday and took a bus to the town Choqian, at the southern most reach of the Cordillera Blanca. From Choqian, we got a combi to take us way down into this valley, all the way to the quaint colonial village of Llamac. We arrived at Llamac by dark, and so found one of the two available places to sleep and get a good meal. We awoke early Saturday morning, and after a bit of a delay we loaded up our port donkeys and began our hike up the steep valley slope. After about 2 hours, we reached a pass called Pampa Llamac, where we were able to see into the heart of the Cordillera Huayhuash and all it's tallest peaks (the Cordillera Blanca could also be seen from this point). We continued our hike for about 4 hours, going deep into the valley until we reached the lakes at the base of the mountains. It was a nice hike (luckily the animals were carrying all our gear and food) with excellent scenery. We arrived at base camp and set up near a waterfall bringing water down from another glacial lake up high. There, everyone rested up and got ready to make their way to high camp the following morning.
As for myself, while everyone else went up to try their luck at the mountain, I hung around base camp and went exploring around for a couple of days. The Huayhuash is a truly stunning place, and very dramatic as well. The high valley walls make the actually visibility of the mountains low, and they can only really be seen from up high or far away. The peaks are kind of like snow-capped gems hidden away from sight, and their remoteness makes access much harder than that of the Cordillera Blanca.
I hiked around the surrounding areas, discovering glacial lakes, moraines, and different view points of the mountains. I also encountered all sorts of birds flying about. I saw condors, cranes, geese, hawks, and all other types which I am unsure of their names. I even encountered a hummingbird, or picaflor de las montañas, during one of my hikes. It flew right up to me, hovered right in from of my face for a moment, and then went off in search of flowers I imagine. It felt like a really special moment to me, and the hummingbird is considered to be one of the five animals sacred to the Incas (the other four being to llama, puma, condor, and serpent.
The days in the valley were very peaceful, and the opening was Westward facing so I saw an amazing sunset each night. The nights themselves were not too cold, in fact a lot warmer than I had imagined they would be. We were also fortunate to be there during the full moon, so a few hours after the sun went down the moon would rise and illuminate everything like a second sun.
After waiting two nights at base-camp, the mountaineers finally came down the 3rd morning. There venture was successful and they all made it to the summit, except Vai who was not feeling up to it. Duncan told me it was one of the hardest mountains he had ever attempted, and the entire day from high-camp to the summit and back lasted from 1:30 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. After everyone made it back to base-camp, we hung out, ate lots of food, and prepared to leave early the next morning to catch the noon bus from Llamac back to Choqian. Nate and Luis stayed behind, as the still had one more summit to reach.
We left at 6 A.M. in the morning and hiked all the way back down to Llamac, arriving just before noon. Unfortunately, it turns out the bus had left at 11:30, so we were stuck waiting there longer until another vehicle would passed by several hours later and picked us up. In the meantime, we whiled the hours away trying to nap and eat something from the village that wasn't completely withered or covered in spores. We finally made it back to Huaraz last night after a speedy (almost too speedy) 4 hour taxi ride back. I promptly checked back into to Hostel Tambo, then got my favorite street foods: Salchi Pollo, Papas Rellenas, and Borrachitos (little chocolate balls). I love being in the beautiful mountains, but nothing beats getting back to the city and gorging on some deep fried goodness!
We left last friday and took a bus to the town Choqian, at the southern most reach of the Cordillera Blanca. From Choqian, we got a combi to take us way down into this valley, all the way to the quaint colonial village of Llamac. We arrived at Llamac by dark, and so found one of the two available places to sleep and get a good meal. We awoke early Saturday morning, and after a bit of a delay we loaded up our port donkeys and began our hike up the steep valley slope. After about 2 hours, we reached a pass called Pampa Llamac, where we were able to see into the heart of the Cordillera Huayhuash and all it's tallest peaks (the Cordillera Blanca could also be seen from this point). We continued our hike for about 4 hours, going deep into the valley until we reached the lakes at the base of the mountains. It was a nice hike (luckily the animals were carrying all our gear and food) with excellent scenery. We arrived at base camp and set up near a waterfall bringing water down from another glacial lake up high. There, everyone rested up and got ready to make their way to high camp the following morning.
As for myself, while everyone else went up to try their luck at the mountain, I hung around base camp and went exploring around for a couple of days. The Huayhuash is a truly stunning place, and very dramatic as well. The high valley walls make the actually visibility of the mountains low, and they can only really be seen from up high or far away. The peaks are kind of like snow-capped gems hidden away from sight, and their remoteness makes access much harder than that of the Cordillera Blanca.
I hiked around the surrounding areas, discovering glacial lakes, moraines, and different view points of the mountains. I also encountered all sorts of birds flying about. I saw condors, cranes, geese, hawks, and all other types which I am unsure of their names. I even encountered a hummingbird, or picaflor de las montañas, during one of my hikes. It flew right up to me, hovered right in from of my face for a moment, and then went off in search of flowers I imagine. It felt like a really special moment to me, and the hummingbird is considered to be one of the five animals sacred to the Incas (the other four being to llama, puma, condor, and serpent.
The days in the valley were very peaceful, and the opening was Westward facing so I saw an amazing sunset each night. The nights themselves were not too cold, in fact a lot warmer than I had imagined they would be. We were also fortunate to be there during the full moon, so a few hours after the sun went down the moon would rise and illuminate everything like a second sun.
After waiting two nights at base-camp, the mountaineers finally came down the 3rd morning. There venture was successful and they all made it to the summit, except Vai who was not feeling up to it. Duncan told me it was one of the hardest mountains he had ever attempted, and the entire day from high-camp to the summit and back lasted from 1:30 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. After everyone made it back to base-camp, we hung out, ate lots of food, and prepared to leave early the next morning to catch the noon bus from Llamac back to Choqian. Nate and Luis stayed behind, as the still had one more summit to reach.
We left at 6 A.M. in the morning and hiked all the way back down to Llamac, arriving just before noon. Unfortunately, it turns out the bus had left at 11:30, so we were stuck waiting there longer until another vehicle would passed by several hours later and picked us up. In the meantime, we whiled the hours away trying to nap and eat something from the village that wasn't completely withered or covered in spores. We finally made it back to Huaraz last night after a speedy (almost too speedy) 4 hour taxi ride back. I promptly checked back into to Hostel Tambo, then got my favorite street foods: Salchi Pollo, Papas Rellenas, and Borrachitos (little chocolate balls). I love being in the beautiful mountains, but nothing beats getting back to the city and gorging on some deep fried goodness!
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