Peru - Santa Cruz Trek

After our visit to the Ecuadorian cloud forest, the next item on our itinerary was way down in Huaraz Peru, reputedly the home of the best trekking in the world outside of the Himalayas. We had plans to meet our friend Ron in Huaraz and do some hiking together. We'd already spent a fair bit of time travelling north through Ecuador up to Quito, so we decided to head south as quickly as possible to maximize our trekking time in Peru. This did not end well.

First we caught a bus from Quito all the way down to Trujillo Peru. We left Quito at 6:00 PM on March 12th, and finally arrived in Trujillo at 2:00 AM on March 14th - thirty two hours later. After five hours sleep, we hung around Trujillo for the day before catching the first available bus to Huaraz leaving at 10:00 PM and arriving at 5:30 AM the next morning. A couple of hours later we were sharing coffee and breakfast with Ron with amazing views of the Cordillera Blanca, the world's highest tropical mountain range. This was the high point of our first ten days in Huaraz.

All that time on buses with very little sleep caught up to us. By that evening, I had a very sore throat. The next day a painful cough, fever and intermittent chills kicked in. The first three days were the worst, by which time Cyd began experiencing the same symptoms. We spent ten days in Huaraz before we both felt good enough to actually start hiking. With the patience of Buddha, Ron hung around the hostel day after day and ventured out for a meal with whoever felt up to it. He enquired about our health regularly, and never once checked the date on his watch while doing so. With only six weeks for his entire visit to Peru, Ron finally gave up after a full week of waiting, and miraculously made it out of town without catching our bug.

When we finally felt up to it, Cyd and I started by doing the Santa Cruz trek. It's the most popular trek in the area and being only a four day hike, was a relatively easy start after being sick. On the bright side, we were well prepared for the high elevations after acclimatising for ten days before starting to hike. The Santa Cruz trek is in the Parque Nacional Huascaran, about 50 kms long, with only one major pass to climb.

We caught two collectivos (minivans that in Canada would hold twelve passengers, but in South America hold an unlimited number), first to Yungay, then over the mountains to Vaqueria. By 10:30 AM, we were on the trail heading back in the direction we came. While parks in Peru prohibit industrial development, they continue to allow local residents to use the land. Every area we hiked in Peru was populated by horses, cows, and alpacas grazing in the alpine meadows.

After a short standoff, Cyd decided to take a detour off the trail.

For the first day and a half, we climbed from 11,850' in Vaqueria to the Punta Union pass at 15,695'. This was the highest elevation Cyd and I had ever hiked up to this point. The next two and a half days were spent descending down the valley to Cashapampa at 10,670'. From here it was another two short collectivo rides back to our base in Huaraz. We saw only twelve other hikers in our four days of trekking, a welcome change from the crowded trails in Patagonia.

The Punta Union Pass at 15,695'.

Heading down the other side of the pass.

A better look at Nevada Taulliraju.

We also saw some beautiful scenery on the hike, and missed quite a bit as well. We were a little early for prime trekking season in Peru, and had left this part of our South American trip as late as possible in the hope of better weather. In the end we got pretty much what we expected for all three of our hikes in Peru - lots of clouds with occasional sunny periods, and rain starting in the afternoon most days. We were on the trail most mornings before 8:00 AM to try to cover a decent distance before the rain started, but weren't always successful.

Heading down the Quebrada Santa Cruz.

Giant lupins in the valley.

The last few kms. hiking alongside the rushing water.

While the clouds and precipitation obscured some of the scenery, they didn't spoil our hiking. The soaring mountains and glaciers, the verdant valleys cut by rushing rivers, and the sense of accomplishment at completing the high altitude treks more than made up for some inclement weather.