Huayhuash Circuit – Sep 2025

All of our efforts in acclimatisation were building up to doing the Huayhuash Circuit. The Huayhuash is a mountain range in the Peruvian Andes, a few hours from Huaraz. The so-called “Huayhuash Circuit” can be done with a few different configurations, for us it was a 10-day trek.

We did it as a guided trip, which meant we only needed to carry day packs. We each had a 7kg duffel that went on the donkeys, along with group equipment such as tents (including a cooking tent and mess tent – great when it was raining!). We had a group of 10 trekkers, and 5 support staff including a guide, two donkey drivers, a chef and assistant chef. Out team – both walkers and support – was great. There were in fact two groups from our trekking company starting at the same time, but we anointed ourselves Team A, or Team Colourful – and the other team as Team B (Blue, Boring)! We were kept relatively separate while we were walking – but we had a bit of interaction at camp, along with various independent walkers and a couple of other guided groups.

As with most hiking in Peru there’s significant altitude to deal with. For me & Tom it was our first time above 3,400m. The altitude was the main reason we elected to do it as a guided trip. We were very thankful for our decision – walking was hard enough just with day packs. We had Diamox from our doctors back home – with some pretty vague advice about how and when to use it. After doing internet research (what could possibly go wrong?) Tom & I elected to take a quarter-tablet dosage twice-daily for the first 3 or 4 days as a preventative measure. Whether it made a difference or not who knows? But we didn’t have any altitude issues.

Day 1: Huaraz to Matacancha

We had a 4:30am pickup, then a long 4 hour drive on some pretty bad roads, to get us to breakfast about 9am. I was expecting a lot more driving after breakfast but less than half an hour later we arrived at our campsite.

The walking on day 1 was largely just about more acclimatisation. Camp for the night was at 4,100m, so a 1,000m jump from Huaraz. We walked up a nearby hill with day packs, from where we had been driven to. This was our first experience of having Robert, our guide, set the pace. It was very, very slow – but we needed it!

After our walk we were able to settle into camp. Each ‘couple’ were assigned a tent number (written on the tent), which was your tent for the whole trip. This had the advantage of meaning there wasn’t a scramble for the best-pitched tent – some days you got lucky and other days you didn’t. Jo & I were sharing a tent since when I invited her on the trip Tom wasn’t meant to be coming on this section. When he made the late decision to extend the time he had off I’d told him he’d have to share with a random, so he was in a tent with Yusuf. Fortunately they seemed well aligned as they both wanted to get up much earlier each morning than the rest of us, as they were both faffers.

Our group was made up of me, Tom & Jo, plus another Aussie woman from Brissie, a couple from Washington State, a woman from Canada, two women from France and Tom’s tent mate from Iran (but living in the UK). I suspect the non-Australians probably had a bit too much Aussie content by the end of the trip. Team B was largely made of up Brits (another reason for being Team B).

Day 2: Matacancha to Mitucocha

Despite the altitude jump I slept really well. We had coca tea delivered to our tent – what was to become our regular wake-up call (though we generally set an alarm for a little earlier). This was my first experience of coca tea and I didn’t like it. I started feeling a bit off before breakfast and couldn’t finish eating it. I’d already had to fight the nauseous feeling around the smelly toilet, but just after we started walking, and got to a fresh pile of donkey dung, I couldn’t fight it any more. I vomited just off the track. A great start to our first real trekking day! As is often the case I felt better for it and we kept going, but then I started to overheat with so many layers on now that we were climbing. I clearly hadn’t emptied my stomach sufficiently so it wasn’t long till I vomited again.

At this point our guide was assuming I had some sort of altitude issue and was quizzing me on our acclimatisation preparation. I was pretty sure it was just something wrong with my stomach – whether that was better or worse I don’t know! Fortunately, after the second vomit, that was the end of it, and I was fine for the rest of day (and the trip). I laid the blame on the coca tea and didn’t touch it again.

We made our way over our high pass for the trip, Cacanan at 4,700m, and then down to our spectacular campsite – mountain views from our tent doors. We had a short walk up to the shores of  Mitucocha Lake in the afternoon where we spotted some Andean Geese and a Caracara (Falcon).

Day 3: Mitucocha to Carhuacocha

The day started with a very gradual ascent which was nice. Today was the first of the “alternative” routes – where we left the donkey route and went on a trekkers only route.

The highlight of the day was a spectacular viewpoint over three lakes. We had lots of photos there before a very steep descent down to camp.

It didn’t feel like the track would be usable for that many more years as it was very dirt-based and so steep.

Camp was once again in a spectacular spot. Some braver people than me dared a swim in the lake we were camped next to.

Despite us only being a couple of days into the trip we soon became familiar with some of Robert’s favourite phrases. When he got asked what an ascent was going to be like, the response was inevitably one or more of “Muy facil!”, “Piece of cake”, “Easy Peasy”. Usually more emphatically the harder the ascent was likely to be. And when asked what the weather was going to be like “I’m a guide, not a god”. Or when asked for more future detail than he felt was necessary: “Today is gift, tomorrow is a mystery”.

Day 4: Carhuacocha > Huayhuash

The team was keen for us to get going early – aiming for a 6:45am departure. Such that while we were eating breakfast in the mess tent it got lifted off over our heads so they could get it packed! Fortunately it was a lovely morning for an al fresco breakfast.

Some wildlife spotted early on as we walked round the lake – a chinchilla and a fox. We did a short side trip to a viewpoint over a lake with ice in it.

Then we continued our gradual climb – but we could see where we were heading in front of us – and it was much steeper!

We made our way up the steep pass to the ‘traditional’ three lakes viewpoint – the same three lakes as the day before but from a completely different perspective. That wasn’t our high point though – another hour or so got us to the high point of 4,800m at Siula Pass.

This was the only day we had lunch while we were walking (every other day we had it at camp). The team carrying lunch had pushed on and found us a somewhat sheltered spot just below the pass. And what a civilised lunch it was – fried rice – and it went down a treat!

It was lovely warm afternoon, and Tom & I managed to have wash in the stream below camp which was very refreshing.

Day 5: Huayhuash to Huanacpatay

Another day where the team was keen to get going so another al fresco breakfast. The tent being lifted off over your head while sitting at the table is a little disconcerting. We were walking by 7am.

We had a gradual ascent (700m) up the valley to eventually reach the San Antonio pass at 5,030m. The group took the decision to do a side trip up to a lookout at 5,145m – which would be our highest point of the trip. It was well worthwhile with great views of the mountains and glaciers.

Then it was, unsurprisingly, a long descent with quite a lot of undulation. We afterwards referred to this as the “zombie day” as most of the team really faded as we descended. We didn’t get to camp until 1:45pm – fortunately lunch was ready almost as soon as we arrived. I understand why the team preferred to give us lunch at camp – it was much easier for the chef to have the mess tent and cooking gear set up, but I would have been much happier on a few of the days (like this one) to have a packed lunch.

One of the routines of the day was “tea time”, usually around 4pm, where we had tea (well, hot drinks) and some snacks. My favourites were the tequeños (wontons with cheese). On a day like today, it felt like we’d barely finished lunch when it was time for tea time!

Day 6: Huanacpatay to Cutatambo

There was precipitation during the night which intensified as we got closer to get up time – hail/snow rather than rain. Fortunately we weren’t subjected to an al fresco breakfast this day! Despite the weather the walkers were largely ready at 7am, though camp was nowhere near packed up compared to usual. The snow stopped just before we started and the cloud lifted. Everything was covered in a layer of snow – for those of us unused to snow it was quite magical (the Canadian was perhaps less enthralled).

The 700m ascent to our high pass, Santa Rosa (Jurao?), was pretty steady. Steeper initially then through a flattish bowl surrounded by snow. We got adopted by a dog somewhere up there which hung around with us for the rest of the day. We got to the pass at 5,080m by 10:30am, where we had good views and it wasn’t raining.

The sleet started again as we started our descent – though the views were still good despite that. It was really stunning, my favourite day of the trip, regardless of the weather. As we got lower the sleet stopped and we could enjoy views of the glacier and the lakes.

We made it into camp at midday. This was another day where the donkeys took a different (much longer but flatter) route. The donkeys had only just got into camp as we arrived, so it was fair while until lunch was ready. I quizzed Robert about when we were going fishing as our pre-walk notes had said “you will be able to practice one of your favourite sports fishing, we will provide you typical fishing material and worm, with a little bit of luck you will enjoy of delicious fried trout at tea time”. He laughed and, not for the first time, muttered things about head office writing fantasies about what happened in the field.

Six of the team headed up with Robert to Siula Grand Base Camp (no fishing equipment in sight), unfortunately Tom and I weren’t with them – both nursing niggles that we figured shouldn’t be subjected to optional things. Siula Grand was the mountain made famous by Joe Simpson’s book “Touching the Void”.

Despite only 4 of us remaining at camp the food served up at tea-time was enough for 10. Unfortunately for me it was popcorn (not a fan) but the other 3 made a valiant effort to make their way through it. There was much discussion about what had happened to Team B, as they did not appear at camp that night.

Day 7: Cutatambo to Huayllapa

It was a cold night – the tent was frozen in the morning. Tom said that the dog was asleep outside his tent when we got up. Probably unsurprisingly it was a beautiful, clear morning with great views of the surrounding peaks.

This was our only day without a big ascent/descent and so it was a somewhat relaxed pack up, and we got pancakes for breakfast! We walked in the sunshine down the river valley – only 3.5 hours including a morning tea stop.

On the first day we’d needed to make a group decision about whether we going to stay in a ‘hostel’ in the village on this night, or whether we were going to camp. Some in the group had very strong opinions about wanting to stay in the hostel (showers & wi-fi I think being the primary motivators), and so it was a bit awkward for those of us who weren’t so keen. It was a little bit confusing as I was keen to push on for a bit, to reduce the climbing the following day, and camp outside the village. That had been an option in the pre-trip documentation but it didn’t seem to be an option presented to us – it was either the hostel, or camp within the village. When presented with only those two options then the hostel seemed like a no-brainer.

Some of my hesitation for the hostel was from reading other blogs which implied rowdiness at the hostel. As it turned out there were many ‘hostels’ – which were more like guesthouses. Our group largely had one place to ourselves. I think the big disappointment for most was that Robert had promised us hot showers. Anyone who has travelled in Peru for any length of time has got to be dubious about claimed hot water, so I wasn’t that surprised when my shower wasn’t hot. Unfortunately, it turned out, after most of us had endured the cold shower that the heating unit just hadn’t been plugged in. D’oh.

Dinner was the world’s biggest serves of spag bol – even when we asked for halved versions they were very substantial.

Day 8: Huayllapa to Cashpapampa

As it turned out it rained overnight so we were feeling pretty happy about being indoors. It was an easier pack-up than usual and then we were off for 5.5 hours of ascent. We’d dropped quite a lot (but very gradually) the day before so we needed to regain that, and more (all up 1,300m ascent) to go over the Tapush high pass.

Then we had an hour of descent to our highest camp of the trip at 4,450m. We were glad to see Team B here – with the sickness that had affected some of their party they’d lost a few members who left early. I’d asked Robert if perhaps they would have had 2 nights at this camp and perhaps climbed Diablo Mudo? Our notes had suggested that was an option – it was only once we saw Diablo Mudo we realised it was a full mountaineering peak and another example of head office fantasy writing!

Once we got to each camp the mules and donkeys were generally let loose to graze. (And apparently it was quite amusing seeing the team re-capture them each morning, but we were always walking before that happened.)

I think most of the team were napping when the donkeys decided that the toilet blocks were an easier drinking spot than the creek. It was somewhat of a good thing because the big basin outside the toilets was blocked and almost overflowing, and once the donkeys had been past it was almost empty. A poor woman was in one of the cubicles when they arrived and had quite a fright when she exited to find a donkey immediately outside the door. It took a little while for some of the donkey drivers to notice and chase them off.

The rain started in the early evening so we had an early dinner. It made it much trickier for the team to serve us when it was pouring down outside. There was also some big thunder and lightning rolling around. Dinner was always made up of three courses – a delicious soup to start with, followed by a main – normally featuring potatoes or rice (or both!), and ending with a small dessert – usually a couple of pieces of fruit with some sugar syrup. So there was always plenty of coming and going between the cook tent and the mess tent as the different courses were served and then cleared. After dinner some of us would sit round and drink tea and play cards, but this night we eventually did somewhat miserable dashes out into the rain to toilet before getting into our tents.

There were a handful of dogs doing the walk with us, I think only one belonged to a guide, the rest were just itinerants. This particular night we all wanted to kill one that spent the night barking at it’s echo – a very circular feedback mechanism.

Day 9: Cashpapampa to Jahuacocha

I was glad to wake to clear skies after the weather the previous evening. I’m not sure why, but I was surprised to find the tent was frozen solid. I continued to be in awe watching our crew packing everything up with bare hands. That was definitely something worth paying for – not having to fold up frozen tent poles in the morning!

Our morning routine was:

• coca tea in the tents (or not in my case)
• pack everything up into either the duffels (for the donkeys) or our day packs
• roll up our bed rolls, and get everything out of the tents
• the crew would pounce on the tents as soon as they were empty to pack them up
• then as soon as breakfast was done (or earlier!) the mess tent would get packed
• the walkers would set off
• everything else would get strapped onto the donkeys
• not long after (if we were on the donkey trail) we’d get overtaken by the donkeys, the donkey drivers and cooks, who’d then push on to camp and set everything up, so that generally we could go straight to our tents when we arrived

We descended a bit of a way before starting the ascent to the high pass. I was struggling more than usual with getting air into the lungs and found the ascent pretty hard going. It took us a couple of hours to get to the Yahucha high pass at 4,800m. Oh, except that wasn’t the high point, we had a further 60m of ascent on an alternative trail to a spectacular viewpoint. We had a nice long break there – some of the group headed further up the ridge, but I figured the views weren’t really going to change.

We then had a very speccy ridge walk – though being completely open it was quite windy.

This was followed by a steep and painful 700m direct descent to camp.

Camp was very busy – I think people who do shorter versions end up camping here. There were also locals selling beer, soft drinks and wi-fi access – which was definitely an indication we were nearing civilisation.

The rain, then hail, set in again in the afternoon. Our French companions had been waiting for the pizza to make an appearance and they were finally rewarded when it came out at tea-time on our final afternoon.

Fortunately the rain eased off a bit for dinner. We had a number of thank you speeches, and mulled wine, as it was our last night.

Day 10: Jahuacocha to Illamac (and back to Huaraz)

Robert had told us the night before we had to get up at 5am as there were sections of the road which were only open between 12-1pm and 5-6pm on the way back to Huaraz. We needed to get out so that we’d hit the 12-1pm opening. So we woke up in the dark and there was frenetic feeding by the kitchen the moment you looked like you were even vaguely ready for breakfast. We were walking at 6am.

Robert had basically forced us into choosing the alternative trail instead of the donkey trail. Normally I would have been keen for the alternative trail (no donkey poo, and often more spectacular), but in this case the donkey trail went over a high pass. Robert said it would take 1.5 hours longer, which we didn’t have because of the road closures. We were a bit disgruntled by this, so I was delighted to find the alternative trail was a balcony path following an irrigation pipe. It was a great (& flat) route but… it did go on and on (maybe 10km). Eventually we got to our descent by which point it was quite hot and in full sun.

For one of the few times in the trip Robert had been leading from the back, and we’d been able to set our own pace. I was pretty footsore and hot by the time we got to the village of Illamac at the bottom.

We were directed to someone’s house in the village for a traditional Peruvian meal. We were a bit concerned when they only started cooking after we got there – since it involved covering everything in hot stones – not a quick technique! So I asked about the road closures, and we were informed ‘oh no, it’s Sunday so there aren’t any’. Half the group quite unimpressed by our early wake up!

But that meant we could sit back enjoy the Pisco Sours and lunch. While the bus ride back was long there were no closures, and we were checked into our accommodation in Huaraz just after 5pm. Unfortunately almost everyone from both our trip, and Team B were staying at the same accommodation so the hot water ran out pretty quickly.

Summary of the trip below – based on the information provided by our guiding company combined with GPS data, so includes small ups & downs as well as the major ascent/descents.

Day	Time (incl breaks)	Distance	Asc / desc	Max Altitude	Destination
1	2.5 hours	3.8 km	+420/-420	4,520	4,100 Matacancha
2	6.5 hours	12.2 km	+760/-720	4,700	4,230 Mitucocha
3	6 hours	10.7 km	+690/-770	4,760	4,138 Carhuacocha
4	8.5 hours	13.7 km	+1040/-875	4,830	4,330 Huayhuash
5	7 hours	12.2 km	+980/-800	5,125	4,350 Huanacpatay
6	5 hours	6.9 km	+780/-1010	5,060	4,200 Cutatambo
7	3.5 hours	13.6 km	+260/-1015	4,200	3,550 Huayllapa (village)
8	6.5 hours	11.9 km	+1420/-390	4,790	4,350 Cashpapampa
9	6 hours	9.8 km	+600/-1084	4,850	4,066 Jahuacocha
10	5 hours	15.3 km	+280/-1110	4,070	3,300 Llamac