Is This Heaven?

We have anticipated arriving in Cordillera Huayhuash (and Cordillera Blanca) for quite some time now. Huayhuash is listed as one of the Top Ten treks in the world, up there with Everest Base Camp and Mont Blanc. Sarah was obviously mournful to leave us, especially before such an epic trip, but in her own words she "is more likely to come back and trek around Huaraz than to return in a few years and hike from Oyón to Cajatambo." This range measures about 30 km in length but is a compact cluster of some of the most stunning peaks we have ever seen. Often compared to Nepal, Cordillera Huayhash and Cordillera Blanca have been dubbed the Himalayas of South America. It is home to Peru's second highest peak, Yerupaja (6634 m), and the stage of Joe Simpson's remarkable memoir "Touching the Void." One description read "whoever reaches this place will be immersed in an artist's tableau of cobalt blue skies, verdant green lakes, golden yellow fields and the crystal white glaciers. It keeps you asking if perhaps this is the image of paradise." Yes, I think we found yet another slice of Heaven on Earth.

Sunset on the way to the hot springs

Hospedaje Huayhuash in Cajatambo has a ten foot by ten foot satellite map of Cordillera Huayhuash on the wall, trails included. The hostel owner, Lucho, gave us great straight forward advice about which route to take to Llámac, and even gave us a ride to the start! We hit the trail at 3:30pm (again... this seems to be rapidly becoming our typical start time). The sun set the mountains ablaze as the dirt road ended and we temporarily lost the trail in the darkness until the dog barking from the hot springs led us in around 6:30pm. 17 km in about three hours, new record! Too late, too windy and too cold for us to take a dip that night, but a group of Israelis enticed us out of our warm beds with the promise of cards and cookies. As they parted early morning, Trinity and I slipped into the freshly cleaned hot springs to get us pumped up for two passes over 5,000 meters (16,400+ feet) in a day. We wanted to fully enjoy every bit of this little paradise.

Shelley and Trinity... already missing our other third, Sarah!

Heading up Cuyoc Pass (5,000m) and into the numerous snow-capped peaks

Shelley at the top of Cuyoc Pass (5,000m)

 Huayhuash contains a few never ending passes, the first of which was the long rolling ridges of Cuyoc Pass (5,000 m). After several false pass-summits we were so close to the massive glaciated peak that we felt like we could reach out and break a piece off. The second climb of the day led us to San Antonio (5,010 m) - most people call it a mirador (look-out), but Lucho had suggested linking it into the Huayllapa valley so we were calling it a "Pass." We crossed paths with our Israeli friends from the hot springs on the way up and declined a tempting invitation to poker night back down the way we came. We decided to keep on our original path because descending 4,000 ft with semi-to-no trail on a sketchy skree field with only 30 minutes left before sunset as a snow storm rolls in seemed like much more our style of gambling. A little hesitant that we were camping alone, far away from any other tourists, we set up a "stealth camp" among the boulders in the valley. As the stars multiplied and river roared, we were happy to be exploring the less travelled territory.

Trinity soaking in the view on top of San Antonio

View of Sarapo, Siula Grande, Yerupaja from the top of San Antonio

A panorama like San Antonio will make anyone scream!

Descending to the Huayllapa Valley

Day three started with stashing our packs, climbing up to see the side canyon and Joe Simpson's base camp. I lost myself in a dream, hopping around the riverbed on a boulder playground and ending up at the entrancing waters below Yerupaja and Siula Grande. We meandered back down the valley past waterfalls and free roaming cows, glancing over our shoulders the whole way to make sure we had not actually imagined the surreal peaks we were leaving behind. Huayllapa was the tiniest tourist town we have ever been in - all the kids greeting us in broken English and several lodging options, they are used to hosting tourists from around the world. Talking to several locals, we realized we either had two short days ahead of us or we could combine them into one long day with another two large passes. In order to catch up to friends at Jahuacocha and worried there might not be daily buses out of Llámac, we chose the latter.

View from Joe Simpson's famous 1985 base camp

Heading back to pick up packs, San Antonio Pass (5,010 m) from the night before across the valley (where the purple and beige mix)

Passing gorgeous waterfalls on the way down the Huayllapa valley

Gateway to Heaven?? :)

Entering civilization lowering to Huayllapa, the trails widened and the labyrinth of rock walls began

Our "early start" ended up being just before 9am, after several hydrating cups of tea. The first of the two, Tepush Pass (4800 m), was another long and gradual ascent while the second, Yaucha Pass (4750 m), was shorter and a bit steeper. We had lost sight of the monstrous snowy peaks after Tepush pass but the summit of Yaucha Pass brought back the elation. The butterflies returned to our stomachs and we giggled like school girls as we ran along the trail, each step revealing more of the distant bleached mountains like an unexpected iceberg bobbing on the waves of the "small" 17,000 ft peaks. By now we figured we had for sure seen the highlights of the trek - well, that is what we get for not reading all the trail descriptions of the circuit beforehand...

Heading up Tepush Pass (4,800 m)

Tepush Pass (4,800 meters)

Pass one of the day and feeling great!

Trinity on the way up Yaucha Pass

Absolutely Breathtaking view from Yaucha Pass (4,750 m)

The excitement was still bubbling inside us when we turned yet another corner and saw Jahuacocha for the first time. Is this for real!? Luckily, the caretaker sold cold beers and we sat by the lake, taking in the scenery and settling our nerves. We nestled in for one of the coldest nights yet. Our real early morning was from Jahuacocha to Llámac the next morning. We were told the trek out would take 4-5 hours (in reality, it took just over three). In order to catch the 11am bus to Huaraz (and insure there were seats left for us), we woke before sunrise. Freezing at 6am, I hiked out in my down jacket and insulated pants - we did a full wardrobe change when we hit the sun two hours later. The overwhelmingly magnificent mountains of Cordillera Huayhuash disappeared and reappeared around every corner on the windy road to Huaraz. Staring out the window, a longing to return to the power of those peaks weighed heavy on my heart. The closer we get to our departure date, the harder it is to accept that this is only a temporary trek through this Heaven.

Looking down on Jahuacocha- note the tiny tents in the corner for size reference!

Early morning tranquil start descending the 3 hours from Jahuacocha to Llámc

Our route through the Cordillera Huayhuash

 Sad Faces:

• Expecting to buy delicious "HUGE" trout at Jahuacocha... but apparently so was everyone else and they were "sold out" when we arrived!

Smiles for Miles:

• That the only disappointment was not getting trout- when in reality we were provided with soup and extra pasta from our Israeli friends' guides.
• Playing "Taki" (just like Uno) with our new friends
• "Pull and Eat" little mini Trouts at the hot springs... messy and delicious! 
• The caretakers of the hot springs sent us to bed with bottles full of hot water to keep our toes toasty!
• Being the only all-female group AND the only group without a guide and pack animals
• Hiking down from San Antonio pass through thousands of lupins, hoping that the fragrance might stick to us and act as some sort of perfume
• Answering a short questionaire on tourism for some students' English homework in Huayllapa
• Meeting Klara Harden while waiting for the bus in Llámac- I recognized her immediately from her internet video Made in Iceland about hiking solo in Iceland last year! She is in Peru to film an American Expedition summiting two peaks in Cordillera Blanca

So wonderful to meet such a cool chick and swap inspiring stories!

• When trying to get locals advice on trekking times we would refer to our previous times ("Well, we just did such-and-such pass in 2 hours...") and they would shave off several hours from their estimates
• Running into climbers we met in El Chaltén, Argentina back in early November- Crazy! Although we realize maybe not so crazy since El Chaltén and Huaraz are both international climbing meccas and attract the same sort of (wonderful!) people...
• Getting a delicious home-cooked dinner and bed in Huayllapa for s/5 each (about US$2)
• Seeing a trail running race on the trail the last day, joking about dropping pack and joining them- our endurance is pretty high these days!
• Our Venezuelan neighbor at Lago Jahuacocha brought us hot coffee to wake us up for our 6am start

This was pretty much our expression for the entire 5 days in Cordillera Huayhuash

Millions of lupins lined all the valleys in Cordillera Huayhuash

Shelley imagining how high the peaks must be if she is currently at about 4,700 meters..

Trinity taking in one last view before descending to Lago Jahuacocha

Looking down on Llámac

Shelley's non-GoreTex shoes really let the dirt in... looks like she works in one of the many mines in the area!

Cordillera Huayhuash Facts:

• The majority of treks start and end in Llámac (or Chiquian or Huaraz) - we started in Cajatambo (S)
• Everyone else we saw on the trail was traveling with a guided group, but it is not required
• The typical circuit is 10-12 days, most groups do a shorter version in 8 days now (but that eliminates hiking up the Huayllapa valley)  
• Most groups set up camp in the valley below Cuyoc and trek to San Antonio Mirador as a side trip
• You can buy food along the way- in Huayllapa and Llámac there are kiosks with provisions, you can buy trout and potatoes for dinner at Lago Vicunga and Jahuacocha
• Fees we paid along the way (for "improved security")- Hot Springs at Lago Vicunga s/15, Huayllapa s/35, Pacllon (after Tapush Pass) s/15, Llámac s/15
• We heard one couple had a camera stolen a few days before, but we don't know if it was just in their tent or a forced robbery. We never felt un-safe (except near cows!)
• Even though this is technically high season, we only saw other tourists on the trail at Jahuacocha (though we saw several guides and mules etc)