F: Huayhuash Trek

Since we had heard repeatedly that the cold was the main problem on this trek, we bought caps, gloves, and an additional sweater made of alpaca wool at the souvenir shops in Huaraz. We also rented Thermarest sleeping pads and synthetic fleece sleeping bags. Because I had recently been experiencing ugly knee pain when going downhill, I even bought hiking poles for that, and because the rainy season is slowly starting, I also got a rain cover for my backpack. Although meals were included, I took a Snickers bar per day, nuts, and cookies for safety. Fully prepared, we embarked on the adventure.

Day 1

Each participant received a backpack from Paul for the equipment that we didn't need during the day. This included sleeping pads, sleeping bags, spare clothes, and toiletries. Of course, the evening before, I was busy deciding exactly what to take and what not... After only two hours, I had packed my bag ;-)

We were picked up by a small bus. The group consisted of 11 other people, some of whom we had already met at the hostel. Luca was our mountain guide, and Marco, the cook, referred to an Arriero, hired by Luca as a Donkeydriver, would join us at the first campsite. We drove with the bus for about 5 hours to the Huayhuash mountain range. On the mine access road, we were taken up to a pass and walked the rest of the way to the Cuartelhain campsite. The bus brought the equipment there. When we arrived, all the tents were already set up, which surprised us all. We had expected to have to set them up ourselves, but apparently that was also part of the service.

The weather was changeable according to the season, but it provided us with some sunshine for a cozy afternoon.

Already on the first night, we were glad to have an additional Thermarest mattress besides the one provided by the tour operator. I slept comfortably and warmly in the very good down sleeping bags with synthetic fleece inlay and silk lining.

Day 2

Luca scanned the slope with binoculars. After breakfast, he explained to us that the Arriero with his eight mules should have come down this slope yesterday afternoon. Since neither Luca had cell phone reception nor did the Arriero in his village, the problem could not be resolved.

Luca's plan: He knew that a group would finish the four-day Huayhuash Trek in Llamac today, and our campsite was on the way back of their Arrieros (including mules). So we could wait for them and ask them to join us. In order to clarify the situation, we would hike to the Sambuya Pass, as there is cell phone reception there, and Luca could call the group or the Arriero in Llamac. He said we could mainly catch up on the lost day on day six and eight.

We had no choice but to agree, but we weren't really worried that it wouldn't work out somehow. The hike also led us into a beautiful valley. It had snowed at higher altitudes overnight, so the rocky slopes appeared white. The marshy valley floor shone lush green. It was absolutely quiet, and only a few stone walls indicated that people had been here, too. Otherwise, the valley lay so peaceful and completely secluded, as if it had not yet been discovered. From the first small pass, we looked across to the other side into an equally beautiful and equally untouched valley - and we were really struck by the untouched nature we were entering for the next few days. And from the final pass, we looked down to a turquoise mountain lake, which stood out beautifully against the red tones of the mountain slopes, and up to freshly snow-covered, six-thousand-meter-high mountain peaks. It was wonderful.

Luca could make his phone calls and said with relief, "Hay una solucion". On the way back, the weather turned serious and gave us a good rain shower.

In the evening, about ten donkeys and mules and a horse trotted into the campsite, and with them came two Arrieros. They would take our luggage to the next campsite and return to their home village from there, as these mules could not handle another trek without a break. But from this village, a new Arriero would come with new, stronger mules - and stay with us until the end of the trek, problem solved.

Day 3

The route led over two passes to a campsite at Lake Carhuacocha. The first ascent to Cacananpunta was quite steep. This was followed by a short descent into a large, wide valley, almost a plain. From there, we turned into the next valley, which gradually ascended to a somewhat swampy plateau, where a handful of cows grazed. It seemed even quieter and more deserted than the day before. The weather improved, and during the descent from the Carhuac Pass, we were blessed with sunshine and finally a breathtaking view of the six-thousand-meter-high Huayhuash peaks. I found the thick glaciation of these peaks impressive, as well as how craggy these glaciers are. I could hardly take my eyes off them. Because we were making good progress, we were able to linger at this magnificent viewpoint, which was only a short distance from the campsite.

At Lake Carhuacocha, I could make out three "farms." Each had several paddocks made of stone walls, with a small house made of stone or unbaked mud blocks with a grass roof in the middle. The simplicity in which these mountain dwellers live is stark. A few cows, a few sheep, a bed, a table, firewood, many blankets against the cold, maybe a radio. That's it. Really. No cell phones, no sweets, no flour, no electricity, no hot water, no spare shoes, no rain jacket, no book, no newspapers, no ball, no medication, no fresh fruit.

The crazy guys of the group wanted to prove themselves and went swimming in the lake. We women washed ourselves at the camp's well and felt like new borns because of a bit of soap and fresh water J.

As always, Marco cooked a warm meal for us upon arrival at the campsite, this time tequenios. For dinner, we always had a soup and then a full meal. Even for breakfast, he always came up with something, we had porridge, scrambled eggs, and pancakes, we had everything! I still find it incredible how Marco, in his kitchen tent without a table and with a stove on the ground, cooked three warm meals a day for 15 people - hats off!

Day 4

The route today passed three lakes in the moraine area of the former glacier of Siula Grande and then steeply up to Paso Siula. One can imagine how beautiful these glacier lakes lie in this mountain valley and how many photos I had to take out of enthusiasm. Shortly after Lake Carhuacocha, the vegetation became scarcer, and the environment became rockier and more alpine.

Joe Simpson crawled over this glacier (when it was larger) and the moraines with a broken leg on his way down. And the film about it (Touching the Void) was also shot here in 2003.

During a break, Luca gathered us and had another piece of bad news: the gas is running out. It is not certain that the gas will last until day 6, when we will arrive at a village and could buy more. Some of us were annoyed about it. It is also not clear why the gas is not enough, whether it is because of the delay from the first day or because they simply packed a half-empty gas bottle in Huaraz? We discussed various possibilities, for example, we asked why Luca couldn't order someone in the village to bring us some gas with a mule. But of course, there is no cell phone reception, how could he order someone? Except for a few unlikely coincidences, the only safe option was that we would have to hike a monster distance of 30 kilometers and 800 meters in altitude the next day. The only advantage: we would have already made up for the entire delay, and the remaining days would be as relaxed as originally planned.

The bad mood didn't last long, especially since we couldn't change anything, and 30 km is a lot, but we wouldn't die, and especially we didn't want to spoil the beautiful hike. After the following very steep ascent, Marco was waiting for us. He unpacked a pan with a rice dish and served us the refreshment along the way! We were all amazed and equally hungry and helped ourselves heartily. (What Marco as a pleasure can do in the time it takes us to hike with just our day backpacks, between breakfast-dishes, and setting up the kitchen tent for dinner, is much faster than us, with a pan of rice and 12 plates in his backpack).

With this refreshment, we climbed the Paso Siula with confidence. After a short descent over rocks and stones, we reached a marshy plain, which, with the foggy weather, created a mystical atmosphere. One of the most exciting things on this tour was these changes in the environment. Behind every pass, a completely different flora and a completely different ambience awaited us. We had highlights every day. On or in the moor, these circular, stone-hard dark green cushion formations grew. They spread like islands across the entire plateau, so that we finally hopped from island to island over this landscape to protect our shoes from getting wet. It reminded Simon of the game "Takeshi's Castle," which I don't know, to his annoyance.

From a hill, we could see our campsite: Tito and Marco had already started setting up the tents. Our group was probably a stroke of luck. No one was annoying, everyone was in good spirits, and we got along very well. Alessandro, a salami maker from northern Italy, hung up a salami he brought along in the tent because it was his birthday the next day.

In order to hike through the Huayhuash mountain range, each person has to pay an entrance fee to each community they pass through. The money is intended to benefit the community so that they can also profit from tourism, not just Huaraz. In addition, they maintain the campsites (trash and toilets). Some call it protection money because in the 1990s, terrorists hid here, and tourists were not tolerated. We hope the money actually goes to the community in some form...
The responsible supervisor also came this time to collect the fee. He was ready to send someone from the village up with a gas bottle. We only trusted it half, as we had now gotten to know Peruvian reliability to some extent. Of course, we hoped that Luca was right when he said that he had given the supervisor money for the service and the gas, and that he would not make any friends if he didn't keep the agreement, especially since Luca visits here regularly, knows people in the village, and the community relies on good cooperation with our agency.

Day 5

In the morning (6 a.m.), a horseman arrived, bundled up to the nose, and behind the horse trotted a donkey carrying a gas bottle on its back. We applauded and started the day happily. Today, the route led over the Trapesio Pass and was supposed to be the most beautiful route for me. The ascent was not far, but I wasn't feeling well physically on this day, I felt nauseous and found it simply tiring. The trail, however, was beautiful. It led first through grasslands and then through scree and slate gravel past many small lakes in the moraine area of the former glacier. Behind it lay the mighty and rugged glacier itself, and the clouds clinging to the peaks gave occasional glimpses of the beautiful, huge Trapesio. The fact that I had to constantly stop to take photos probably didn't help my fitness either.

In the end, I arrived at the top with other equally breathless and tired people and recovered fairly quickly from the frustration: it was so beautiful. First, on the search for a lunch spot, I discovered flowers. Flowers! At 5,000 m! What does the creature hope to gain from it? A bee that takes care of pollination? A "favorable location"? I found it incredibly brave of this cushion-like, mini-flower and immediately promised her a place in the photo album.
Then the view of the other side of the pass: a cirque, framed by reddish, brittle rock, lay before us. A wild valley of rock and scree, heavily eroded by a glacier, with high, white, jagged peaks, and several differently colored glacial lakes. It warmed my heart!

It was only 1 p.m. when we were already halfway down the descent, and Luca suggested that those who wanted to could descend to the Cuyocpampa campsite, and the others could still hike up to a lookout point. Although I was tired again, I decided to take the offered break, after all, there were still a few days ahead of us. Simon decided to do the additional tour.
My group stopped at one of the lakes, and we were close to taking a swim when John said, "Let's go to the campsite, if the rain cloud over there has cleared up by then, we'll bathe in the stream there." The suggestion turned out to be spot on. When we reached the camp, we relaxed in half-hearted sunshine for another ten minutes. I took the chance and washed my hair in the small water channel dug specifically for the camps. I knelt with one leg on each side of the channel and put my head in the water, so I didn't have to undress, which would have been too cold. Ouch, the water was even colder than expected! My head felt as big as an apple. And while soaping, my entire scalp felt numb. Then the weather changed, and as we sat in the tent with hot tea, it started to hail. And it almost didn't stop. In a short time, everything was white. The cheeky ones among us were initially amused, but that quickly turned into sympathy for the others who surely didn't have better weather up on the mountain. However, when they arrived at the camp, it turned out that they were in good spirits, even though they had no view, but thanks to hail instead of rain, they didn't get wet.

Today was Alessandro's birthday, the salami maker from northern Italy had brought his own salami and a piece of cheese. Mmmmm, three months after the last Swiss cheese, it's like fireworks!

Day 6

We knew that we could only cross from Cuyocpampa to the beautiful San Antonio Pass if the weather cooperated. And as if we deserved it, when we woke up, there was a clear blue sky.

The break yesterday had apparently worked wonders, I felt top fit. Also, the path, the wide view today, the view back, down into the U-shaped valley with the meandering glacier stream, it was all so impressive and beautiful again! And the view from the pass was breathtaking. We probably spent an hour on the pass, climbing up the sides, and we could hardly tear ourselves away from the view of the proud six-thousand-meter peaks. - This time from the other side than on day 3.

The descent to Cutatambo was rather pathless. Once in the valley, we followed the Rio Calinca out of the valley. With every step, the vegetation became greener, more lush, more diverse, and it smelled of plants again, animals were grazing, it was warm, we encountered donkeys, there were trees again. The path was relatively well built and accompanied by a water pipeline. There were several points with beautiful views up the valley to the Huayhuash peaks, and each time I had to stop to say a little farewell...
The further 1000 meters in altitude downhill seemed to drag on. A conversation with Luca about the trek, the economic and social situation in Peru, the educational situation, price pressure among tour operators, tourism in Huaraz, etc. was a very interesting distraction.

And then it was done! We had reached Llamac. Most of us rushed to the grocery stores, Coca-Cola and chips were among the most bought products. Unlike on the way there, there was not a comfortable coach but a minibus waiting for the return journey. It was so mini that there was no room for Luca! He just laughed and waved it off, oh well, he would just look for another solution in the village. And we were all tired enough that we would have been happy with any vehicle. We drove for about 5 hours until we were back in Huaraz. Simon called Paul on the way and ordered dinner for those who wanted it. When we arrived at the hostel, we took a hot shower, ate dinner, and blissfully sank into our beds...