Circuit of the Cordillera Huayhuash – The Alpine Routes

The Lot!

Via Siula & Trapecio Passes, Cerro San Antonio & Siula Base Camp

Timing: 10 days trekking
Grade:  Very Hard

This trek is for the truly adventurous spirits – including three of the more rugged alpine type crossings around the Huayhuash Circuit and also Siula Base Camp with the opportunity to climb up to Cerro Gran Vista for amazing views of the famous Siula Grande. The donkey trains can’t pass through Siula Pass or Cerro San Antonio – taking another less rugged route – so it will just be you and your guide on these days – giving the trek a more “remote” feel

It is important that you are well acclimatised to the altitude for this trek and that you have a very good level of fitness & endurance.

You cross a high pass every day on this trek, with two over 5000m – and there are some alpine type crossings that can be over unmarked routes in laces and hiking over glacial moraine rock, with some sections of shingle scree

The trek starts by driving direct from Huaraz at 3090m to Quartelhuain at 4200m which is an altitude gain of 1110m in a single day and on the first day hiking you climb to the directly top of a 4700m pass.

We recommend that you have three full days in Huaraz doing day hikes to progressively higher altitudes for this trek to reduce possibility of altitude related issues.

Day 1: Drive direct from Huaraz to the village of Llamac and then on to Quartelhuain where we set up camp in a wide grassy valley with rolling hills. 6 hours drive (4200m)

Day 2: In the morning we cross our first pass Punta Cacanan (4700m) then descend to camp on a flat plain close to the beautiful lake Laguna Mitucocha (4220m). 6 hours

Day 3: We cross the pass Paso de Carhuac (4650m) then descend to our camp at the big lake Laguna Carhuacocha (4150m) 6 hours.

Day 4: From Carhuacocha follow around Siula Lakes then climb to the top of Siula Pass at 4800m. This is an alpine type crossing with some steep sections and can be on loose scree in a few places– best only in good weather. Descend and continue to Huayhuash camp in the open Huayhuash Valley (4340m) 8 hours. The alternative bad weather route is via a more used trail over Carnicero Pass (4600m) skirting around the side of beautiful Carnicero Lake to Huayhuash 5 to 7 hours

Day 5: From Huayhuash we climb towards our highest pass Trapecio at 5050m. The trail is mixed with some trails through mountain grasses and then unmarked routes across glacial moraine rock. At the pass we stop to enjoy stunning views of Trapecio, Puscanturpa and Cuyoc mountains and surrounding valleys and then descend on moraine rock past a turquoise glacial lake to camp Elefante in the Huanacpatay valley (3350m). A long day around 8 hours

Day 6: A demanding climb up to the Santa Rosa Pass (4788m) crossing Cerro San Antonio (also called Jurau Pass). From the pass we have the most stunning views of the trek, we can see Siula Grande Base Camp and Siula glacier and several small jewel blue lakes. The descent is steep at times and we traverse above Laguna Jurau to camp in the Quebrada Calinca at Cutatambo 4100m 5 to 6 hours. A demanding but fantastic days hiking.

Day 7: Extra day at Cutatambo. We hike to the base camp of Siula Grande (Joe Simpson – “Touching The Void”). We can clearly see the route that Joe followed crawling down the glacier and across the moraine rocks to reach the campsite. Then continue to Sarapococha Lake and we can climb up Cerro Gran Vista at around 5000m for an amazing view of Siula Grande

Day 8: Follow down the valley Quebrada Calinca to the large mountain village of Huallapa. In the afternoon we need to climb through a steep sided valley to a high camp in the pasture at Huatiac 4350m 7 hours

Day 9: Another tough day as we cross two passes – Pass Punta Tapush 4750m then Punta Yaucha (4800m). Descend to camp at the beautiful Laguna Jahuacocha (4150m) 8 hours.

Day 10: We leave early, starting with a gradual climb to our final pass Pampa Llamac (4300m) then it is a long descent back to Llamac. 5 ½ hours. In Llamac the bus will be waiting to take us back to Huaraz for hot showers!!

Map – trek route
Huayhuash 10 days via Trapecio Pass w Siula Base Camp PDF
Adobe Acrobat Reader

Contact us for more information and prices.

If you know, tell us the approximate dates that you would like to be trekking and the number of people in your group, as well as if you prefer a private trek or would be happy to join with other people.

 

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