Huaraz Off The Beaten Path

The second day turned out to be cloudy at first so we walked only 2 or 3 hours and decided to camp out for the night to let the weather pass. The South Africans and the British gal were in a rush so they parted away past the big overpass. We camped next to a lagoon just before the big overpass of the trek. Luck was in our favor, and by early afternoon that same day, the clouds were gone so we got to see an amazing view of the snowy mountains, which are the best I have ever seen, even to this date. The Aussie told me that these peaks make those in Canada and the Rocky Mountains look like little hills. The sizes of these peaks are amazing. We took a daytrip that afternoon to the top of a peak and got an even better view of the snowy peaks. We camped at about 4200 meters above sea level that night. Being so high, we couldn't find firewood to make a fire. That didn’t stopped us from appreciating a bright full moon sparkling on the lagoon and illuminating the towering snowy peaks.

One of the best treks I have ever done in my life is the Santa Cruz Trek that is near Huaraz on the Parque Nacional Huascarán. The trek can be made in three days if rushed, but we did it in four by taking our time. I made this trek with the South Africans I had met earlier, the British gal from Chachapoyas, and one of the crazy Aussies from Chachapoyas. We lost touch during the first day since half of us ended up spending the night in the town of Yungay, which lies a few hours away from the start of the trail. The other half, I was told, spend the night near Vaquerias, the start of the trek. The next day we took a collectivo (small bus) to Vaquerias and manage to squeeze into the park paying the economical day fee rather then the $20 USD normally charged. The trick was putting our bags in potato sacks; the guards think they were produce from locals, so all we told them is we were going in for the day :). We walked 4-5 hours that day to reach the first campsite (not the first in the circuit, but our first). The campsite was at 3750 meters above sea level. Once there, we met up with our friends, who were already waiting for us. The view at this camp was amazing, but as I will later know, each day the view will get even better :). There were even snowy mountains in the background all around. The fire that night helped to keep us warm.

take an excursion from Huaraz to the icecaves, on the way, lots of stops with beautiful views. You'll get to about 5.000 metres.