{"id":2557,"date":"2015-07-31T16:20:21","date_gmt":"2015-07-31T21:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theagostins.com\/?p=2557"},"modified":"2015-07-31T16:20:21","modified_gmt":"2015-07-31T21:20:21","slug":"trekking-huayhuash-independently","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rickagostin.com\/?p=2557","title":{"rendered":"Trekking Huayhuash Independently"},"content":{"rendered":"

These are the technical details from our trek in July 2015 for anyone looking\u00a0for info on Trekking Huayhuash Independently. If you\u2019re looking for the color commentary and all of our pretty picture you can find those here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Our original plan was for 9 days 8 nights was something like this:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Huaraz – Pocpa \u2013 Janca<\/li>\n
  2. Janca \u2013 Carhuaccocha<\/li>\n
  3. Carhuaccocha \u2013 Huayhuash<\/li>\n
  4. Huayhuash \u2013 Agua Termales<\/li>\n
  5. Agua Termales \u2013 Nevados Valley Camp<\/li>\n
  6. Nevados Valley Camp \u2013 up to San Antonio Pass and back \u2013 Huayllompa<\/li>\n
  7. Huayllompa \u2013 Gashpampa<\/li>\n
  8. Gashpampa \u2013 Lago Jahuacocha<\/li>\n
  9. Lago Jahuacocha \u2013 Llamac<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Here is what we actually did:<\/p>\n

    Day 1<\/h2>\n

    Huaraz \u2013 Chiquian Llamac \u2013 Pocpa<\/h3>\n

    Bus: 5:30 am bus from the corner of 28 de Julio and Internacional.<\/h4>\n

    Notes:<\/strong> We switched buses in Chiquian about 7:30-8:00am and had enough time to grab breakfast there. We had some mild bus mechanical issues which put us about an hour behind. Then it was on to Llamac where we paid our first \u201cfee\u201d and switched to a cattle hauler truck (run by the bus company, no less) which we road on top of to Pocpa where we paid our second \u201cfee.\u201d We started hiking from Pocpa and with in 5 minutes we got a ride to the mining camp in the back of a pick-up truck which saved us another ~45-hour of walking. Overall we probably started walking a little after noon. And then another hour or so walking down the road to the Quarterhuain campsite. <\/em><\/p>\n

    Quarterlhuain \u2013 Cacanunpunta Pass – Janca<\/h3>\n

    Quarterlhuain (4170m) to Cacanunpunta Pass (4690m) ~2 hours<\/h4>\n

    Cacanunpunta Pass to Junca campsite (4150m) ~1.25 hours<\/h4>\n

    Notes:<\/strong> Not a lot of wind protection at Junca but not a bad campsite.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"Cordillera<\/a><\/p>\n

    Day 2<\/h2>\n

    Janca \u2013 Carhuac (Yanapunta) Pass \u2013 Incahuain\/Carhuaccocha \u2013 Tres Lagos<\/h3>\n

    Junca (4150m) to Carhuac Pass (4640m) ~1.5 hours<\/h4>\n

    Carhuac Pass to Carhuaccocha camp (4150m) ~ 1 hour<\/h4>\n

    Carhuaccocha to Second Lake (Lago Siula) (4290m) ~ 1.5 hours<\/h4>\n

    Notes:<\/strong> Because it wasn\u2019t even 11:00am yet when we got to Carhuaccocha we decided we would head towards Ciula Punta but the weather was rapidly depreciating (light rain\/sleet\/snow and then thunder and lightening). Our map showed the trail going along the East side of the first lake. We followed that and it appears that hasn\u2019t been the trail in a while\u2026 a far amount of bushwhacking was involved while we could look across the lake and see a nice clear trail on the West side of the lake. Take the West trail and then cross back over after the first lake. We ended up camping in a nice depression with a big rock for wind protection next to the second lake (Lago Siula). It was also just about the only place to camp between Carhuaccocha and the Pass.
    \nThis turned out to be our favorite campsite of the trek.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n

     <\/p>\n

    Day 3<\/h2>\n

    Tres Lagos \u2013 Ciula Punta Pass \u2013 Huayhuash \u2013 Portachuelo de Huayhuash Pass \u2013 Atuscancha (Aguas Termales)<\/h3>\n

    Lago Siula (Second Lake)(4290m) to Ciula Punta Pass(4834m) ~2 Hours<\/h4>\n

    Ciula Punta Pass to Huayhuash camp ~2 Hours<\/h4>\n

    Huayhuash camp to Portachuelo de Huayhuash Pass (4750m) ~1.75 Hours (moving pretty quickly)<\/em><\/h4>\n

    Portachuelo de Huayhuash Pass to Atuscancha (Agua Termales) (4365m) ~2 hours<\/h4>\n

    Notes:<\/strong> There were a few big groups at Huayhuash camp when we got there ~noon and the weather was not the best so we figured we\u2019d push it to Agua Termales. Agua Termales was another great camp and the Hot springs are perfect, should have stayed there for 2 days!<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"Cordillera<\/a><\/p>\n

    Day 4<\/h2>\n

    Atuscancha (Agua Termales) \u2013 Punta Cuyco Pass \u2013 Huayllapa<\/h3>\n

    Notes:<\/strong> This is where we really started having navigation issues. We lost an hour walking all the way back to the dame (which is what our map made it look like we should do) in reality you don\u2019t have to back track very much at all, the trail is on the Agua Termales side of the rocks\/hill that the trail and the river cuts between. <\/em><\/p>\n

    Agua Termales (4365m) to Punta Cuyco Pass (~5000m) ~1.75 Hours (not included detour)<\/em><\/h4>\n

    Punta Cuyco Pass to Huallapa (3500m) ~5.25 Hours (lots of map checks and errors)<\/em><\/h4>\n

    Notes:<\/strong> Coming down the pass we ran into another couple that gave us some advice to \u201cstay left when you get to the swamp\u2026 it\u2019s a lot shorter than the right side that the donkeys go.\u201d Hindsight, something was probably lost in translation and this added to our next error. We completely missed the campsite in the Nevados Valley and the trail to San Antonio Pass. Looking back it was probably where the trail split and the left trail went over a little rocky finger that sticks out into the valley and the right trail goes way out around it. Never the less, we never say it and by the time we realized we had completely missed it we were so far down the valley we figured we\u2019d just keep going as the weather was crap and you couldn\u2019t really see any of the awesome mountains we assumed were there. <\/em><\/p>\n

    The trail crisscrosses the river as it goes down the valley and at one point it crosses the river at a little house and it looks like you\u2019re walking up to someone\u2019s house and not the trail. THIS IS THE TRAIL! We didn\u2019t think it was and stayed on the north side of the river and the trail eventually disappears. A nice kid on a horse showed us a bridge and got us back on the trail and basically escorted us all the way to Huayllapa. (Thanks Harley!).<\/em><\/p>\n

    I would not recommend going all the way to Huayllapa.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"Cordillera<\/a><\/p>\n

    Day 5<\/h2>\n

    Huayllapa \u2013 Huatiaq \u2013 Tapush Punta Pass \u2013 Gashapampa \u2013 Yaucha Punta Pass \u2013 Jahuacocha<\/h3>\n

    Huayllapa (3500m) to Huatiaq camp (4253m) ~2.5 hours<\/h4>\n

    Notes:<\/strong> We never saw official second camp (Incahuain)<\/em><\/p>\n

    Huatiaq camp \u2013 Tapush Punta Pass (~4750m) ~2.5 hours<\/h4>\n

    Notes:<\/strong> There is a mining road (wide enough for a truck and tire tracks) that starts big switch back to the left steeply up the hill and there was a small cairn at the corner of the first one with a very small trail heading straight (towards the Tapush peak). We debated a bit and ended up taking the mining road, but at the top they meet up again, I would suggest taking the smaller trail as it looked like it would be prettier thought maybe a bit more challenging.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Tapush Punta Pass to Gashpampa Camp (4625m) ~40 minutes<\/h4>\n

    Notes: <\/strong>Gashpampa was a pretty ugly campground, a couple of out houses (and old outhouse holes) lumpy, spikey grass and not much of a view (especially when it\u2019s over cast). <\/em><\/p>\n

    Gashpampa to Yaucha Punta Pass (4847m) ~2 hours<\/h4>\n

    Notes: <\/strong>As we made our way around Mitishccocha we came to a little house, nice guy and we probably could have camped there much prettier and better camping that Gashpampa. But we wanted to make it to Jahuacocha Lake.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Yaucha Punta Pass to Jahuacocha Lake camp (4075m) ~ 1.5 hours<\/h4>\n

    Notes:<\/strong> Jauacocha was a pretty developed camp but the view is pretty epic.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"Cordillera<\/a><\/h2>\n

    Day 6<\/h2>\n

    Jahuacocha \u2013 Llamac \u2013 Huaraz<\/h3>\n

    Jahuacocha (4075m) to Marash Punta Pass (7272m) ~2.5 hours<\/h4>\n

    Notes:<\/strong> We followed the sign to Llamac (one of the only trail signs we saw on the entire circuit) and on about the 3rd<\/sup> falls pass a donkey driver passed us and asked us why we went the hard way and not the easy tourist way that doesn\u2019t climb the mountain and just follows the river down to LLamac. Apparently the high road, over the pass is the old way and only donkeys do it now.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Marash Punta Pass to Llamac (3500m) ~1.5 hours<\/h4>\n

    Notes:<\/strong> The bus back to Huaraz stops in LLamac on it was to Pocpa about 10:30am and then passes back through headed towards Huaraz at 11:00am.<\/em> We also had another delay on the way back as a truck was broken down blocking the road so we waited about 2 hours for it to be fixed. All in we were back in Huaraz about 4:30pm.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"Cordillera<\/a><\/p>\n

    Map:<\/h3>\n

    We used the Skyline 1:75,000 topo by Aonek\u2019er. It was a source of constant frustration on the trail as it didn\u2019t really have enough detail (we couldn\u2019t see the peaks because it was overcast). It\u2019s a bit outdated lot of trails (mining roads, donkey trails etc) aren\u2019t really marked so there are a lot of forks that aren\u2019t very obvious which way to go (as there is no fork on the map). They also put icons right on top of major intersections obstructing the trail. There is a better 1:50,000 \u201cGerman made\u201d map that got a green cover. Bring a compass for sure.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

    The Trails:<\/h3>\n

    There are LOTS of trails, People trails, Mining trails, Donkey Trails, Cow trails, game trails. And there are almost not trail markers or signs (apart form designating camp sites) and the one trail sign we saw pointed us the wrong way. You get the feeling they really want you to have a guide, because they aren\u2019t marking anything. We spent a lot of time trying to decide which trail to take and often we made the wrong choice and ended up on the donkey trail.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"Cordillera<\/a><\/p>\n

    Locals:<\/h3>\n

    There\u00a0weren’t\u00a0a lot of people out on the trail we only ran into a couple a day\u00a0(usually collecting fees) they were friendly and helpful if you asked. ALWAYS ASK to confirm you\u2019re on the right route. <\/em><\/p>\n

    Water:<\/h3>\n

    Plenty of water all the way, we never carried more than a liter a piece at any given time. But it\u2019s all needs to be cleaned.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

    Fees:<\/h3>\n

    All in we paid about 195 Soles per person for our 6 days of trekking (about 2 billetes a day).<\/em><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Weather:<\/h3>\n

    We were expecting “Andean Summer” with perfectly clear skys and perfect weather. We unfortunately got pretty misserable weather for the first 3 days. Rain\/sleet\/snow flurries and lots of clouds kinda killed all the views. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"Cordillera<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    These are the technical details from our trek in July 2015 for anyone looking\u00a0for info on Trekking Huayhuash Independently. If you\u2019re looking for the color commentary and all of our pretty picture you can find those here. Our original plan was for 9 days 8 nights was something like this: Huaraz – Pocpa \u2013 Janca […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[224],"tags":[233,45,225,8,29],"class_list":["post-2557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-peru","tag-huayhuash","tag-lists","tag-peru","tag-planning","tag-trekking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rickagostin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rickagostin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rickagostin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rickagostin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rickagostin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rickagostin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2557\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rickagostin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rickagostin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rickagostin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}