Santa Cruz Trek

'Snow-white glaciers, gushing rivers, and peaks over 6000 meters high: The Santa Cruz Trek is one of the most beautiful hiking routes in Peru. The impressive tour takes you into the wild heart of the Cordillera Blanca and through Huascaran National Park in four days.'

Of course, we wanted to do this trek as well. But beautiful words do not make a perfect hike. That's why here are our personal impressions of this trek.

Day 1: At 3:15 am, the alarm woke us from a restless sleep. The locals had been celebrating a festival nearby all night with fireworks and loud music, which felt like they were in our room due to the thin windows and walls here. Party - party! On our way to the collectivo, we realized that the festival wasn't actually that close because we passed by the place and quickened our pace when a group of drunk Peruvians approached us. Next time, we'll just take a taxi. At 4:00 am, we managed to get the last two seats in the shared taxi to Yungay, and the journey could begin. However, the feeling of relaxation did not last long because the collectivo suddenly stopped in a side street and all the men rushed out of the bus. Robbery? What's going on? We then found out that there was a fight going on and the men from our bus wanted to intervene. Once we were complete again, the journey could finally begin. In Yungay, we switched to another bus, and since we were the only ones, we had a private, bumpy ride over a snow-covered pass until we finally arrived at Vaqueria, our starting point, after another three hours. We hadn't taken a single step yet and already had enough experiences for the whole day. Since we hadn't eaten anything yet, we sat down on a stone for the first time and found some peace and quiet. Refreshed and motivated again, we started the Santa Cruz Trek. At the beginning, we passed by some houses, but soon we were in nature. And yes, it's beautiful! A brook gurgles playfully next to the hiking trail, high, snow-covered mountains frame the valley, a wide plateau with sparse forests. But even the most beautiful nature can't stop the rain. At first, it drizzled lightly from the fog - well, we're not made of sugar, then it turned into big drops with whipping wind - oh shit, our jackets aren't waterproof enough. So we trudged up the valley, now with a large plastic bag over our shoulders, and started to find the Santa Cruz Trek somewhat stupid and mean. Just before our planned sleeping spot, the rain luckily stopped and we could set up our tent in the dry. Just settled in, but it started drizzling again and we crawled into our sleeping bags for two hours. In the twilight, Silvio cooked our pasta with tomato sauce in the protection of a large rock, which we devoured in the tent. Brushed our teeth, washed up, went pee, and good night. If the weather isn't better tomorrow, we'll turn back!

Day 2: The weather was better. In the sunshine, we were able to dry all our things more or less and for the first time, the true beauty of this unique landscape flashed. Wow, what a morning. But because the sunshine also warmed up the scattered donkey droppings, hundreds of nasty little mosquitoes hatched and attacked us in a massive air raid. So quickly pack everything up and go. The path then climbed steadily and steeply up the mountain until we reached the Union Pass, out of breath. 4750 meters above sea level. Higher than the highest point in Switzerland. Awesome, what a feeling. And the best part was, the weather was still cooperating. Okay, the view up here is incredible. Since we had the pass to ourselves, we enjoyed this point and only set off after a while. In a good mood but tired, we arrived at our next sleeping spot. The sun was shining, and we were able to settle in comfortably and let the remaining things dry. For dinner, we had mashed potatoes and sausages in the evening sun. That's how it goes.

Day 3: Wake up, listen, some drops, no, okay, get up. In the sunshine, we had a Nutella sandwich and a peppermint tea. But since something is brewing, we don't waste time and set off on our way to the most beautiful mountain in the world. Before we continue down the valley, we want to briefly climb to the Alpamayo Basecamp. Unfortunately, we had already noticed yesterday that the sole of Carla's hiking shoe was starting to come off (despite being freshly repaired by the shoemaker in Switzerland). But since the sole is still firmly attached to the back and front of the shoe, we decide to just keep walking (what else can we do). Unfortunately, the clouds are thickening and enveloping the peak of Alpamayo more and more. Since the sole keeps coming off, we stop at the viewpoint for Alpamayo and skip the basecamp. We patch up the shoe with a cord and start the descent. What a good decision. Drip - drip - drip drip drip... Yes, the rain is back. Unmotivated, we cover the remaining kilometers of the day and set up our tent. Towards the evening, the clouds clear and we can cook and eat our dinner outside the tent after all. What did we have? Pasta, of course!

Day 4: The night wasn't great, Carla must have gotten too much sun, and it was alternately too hot and too cold. So we moved even faster than usual because a white wall of rain was slowly moving towards us through the valley. The descent was tough. We kept getting wet and the path was so torn and furrowed by the many pack mules from the tour groups who couldn't carry their own backpacks that we could only go down slowly. In Cashapampa, everything happened very quickly, a collectivo (7 seats) was filled with 9 sweaty hikers and their nine large backpacks and brought us back to Caraz in a bumpy ride that lasted an hour. There, we switched to another collectivo, which drove us two hours recklessly to Huaraz. The driver was an idiot - sorry.

Summary: Unfortunately, we experienced the Santa Cruz Trek from a mixed weather side. The landscape is partially breathtakingly beautiful and unique. For us, it was an adventure to do such a trek on our own, and in retrospect, we forgot about the rain and are proud and satisfied. And yes, even though not everything is always sunshine, the difficult moments that we overcome together somehow are very romantic. And with brand new hiking shoes for Carla, we look forward to new treks in Cusco.