So we had completed our acclimatization work around the Huascaran national park; we had climbed to 4600 meters on the Laguna 69 trek and had stayed at 3000 meters in Huaraz itself for a few days... we were ready!
The Santa Cruz trek is a 50 km walk spanning over 4 days. The walk sees you climb from 2900 meters up to 4750 meters while being surrounded by 6000 meter tall mountains and hanging glaciers. It is supposed to be one of the most beautiful walks in Peru, if not the world.
To undertake such a gruelling trip we enlisted the help of a very good friend we have made in South America, Dan. We decided that we would buck the trend and walk the trek alone with no guide or donkeys to carry our bags.
So we rented camping equipment and bought enough pasta and porridge to feed a small army for a week, Dan and I had about 12 - 14 Kg's in our bags. Normally this weight would be ok, but when your trekking around 4000 meters and there is less oxygen, it can prove to be a little more tricky!
To start the trek you have to travel to a small village called Cashapampa, to get there you have to take a minibus to the small town of Carraz. We got the bus at 7.45 from Huaraz, a little late as most people leave at 6am, but hey were were going to walk quickly! On the first journey the fun began with the man collecting the money making bank notes disappear in thin air, unfortunately he was no Paul Daniels and Dan and I had watched him put it in his pocket, duly he removed it and conceded we had paid enough! 6 Soles per person.
Upon arrival in Carraz we knew we had to get another bus to the small town to start the walk, we also knew the price should be about 8 soles per person. Upon arriving at the collectivo terminal a guy called us over telling us he was going our way, perfect we thought.
James: "How much?"
Peruvian: "Ciento Cinquenta soles per persona"
James: "I cant have heard him right" "repetir por favour"
Peruvian: "Ciento Cinquenta soles per persona!!"
James: "He cant mean 150 soles per person? thats enough to get a 15 hour bus not a 1 hour bus" "excribir por favour" (cant you write it)
Peruvian : Rather angrily writes 150 soles per person
After this we told him to stuff it as he was clearly trying to rip us off! Another guy then offered to take us for 100 per person.....Then he let slip that if we went up the road someone would take us for 8 - 10!!!!
After another hour long bus ride we finally arrived at the start of the walk, now technically your not allowed to do the walk without a certified guide...So we crossed our fingers nothing was said.
And it wasnt :-) we were finally off, unfortunately it was 11:30 am and very hot in the small valley our first day would see us need to climb from 2900 meters to 3700 meters in just 9 km.
The walk follows the path of a very deep glacial valley, there was no wind and the air barely moved, we dipped our heads in the river at every opportunity trying to keep as cool as possible, heat exhaustion was a real possibility and would not be a great start to a 4 day trek!
The walk is supposed to take 5 hours with a guide and no packs....With 12 kgs and no guide we managed it in 4 hours! We were very pleased with ourselves to say the least!
Our camp site was situated in the bottom of a a valley and in the distance we could see where tomorrows walk would take us... The first glimpse of the white peaks that would become our normal view.
We set up camp in the last of the sun light before it disappeared and plunged us in to darkness. Our tent was not an expedition tent, you may say it was stubborn to put up and not particularly well designed it seemed...Or even perhaps the components did not match??
We cooked the dinner that was to become our stable diet, pasta with pasts sauce for the boys and instant potato for Sarah.
As the moon rose we were bathed in moonlight that was so bright we had shadows and could walk around happily with no torches...the true wild.
We were also kindly invited in to the dinner tent for a group of 2 Spanish mountaineers for an evening cup of tea to stay out of the cold! Their tent was a palace compared to ours!
Now, we had read much about how cold it would be sleeping at this altitude however at this first camp with reasonable sleeping bags we were not cold at all. Sarah's ebay Rab sleeping bag purchase paid off!
Day 2
So we arose the next morning at 7am, all exited about what the day had in store and raring to go. We slowly got round ourselves with some bad coffee and porridge, got the tent packed away and were ready to leave camp by 9 am...where did two hours go?
The days walk would see us continue up the valley, it was fairly flat and meandered along the rivers edge and passed several stunning glacial lakes. With every hour the white peaks we so longed to be near got closer and closer.
We had all agreed that today we would stop and cook a proper lunch as the previous day had been a bit of a march, so with the mountains now in view we stopped for a proper lunch. Of pasta and sauce?
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| Our Lunch Spot |
Our camp for the night was the most beautiful spot I have ever seen, every way you looked was a towering snow covered peak glistening in the afternoon sun. Having arrived so early we were able to enjoy time resting in this spot.
When we came to pitch the tent this evening we had a problem and we could not get the poles to sit correctly in the tent, when we checked the poles they didn't match.....one of the dome poles was 2 inches longer than the other??? So in trusty boy scout fashion we got a swiss army knife and cut a bit off! This improved the situation but did not solve the problem, however we had a tent for the night.
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| Dan 'bodging' our tent |
The camp site for night 2 was situated at 4250 meters this was almost the highest we had been and was by some 300 meters the highest we had slept, we expected a very cold night!
As the sun dropped, so did the temperature. Washing our dinner pans in the glacial river was a horrible experience and we were left with almost no fingers! However a swig of rum soon warmed us up!
The night was cold but again with good equipment we were comfortable.
We knew day 3 was the big one we had to climb to the Punta Union pass that sits at 4750 meters then descend some 1100 meters to our next camp, a good nights sleep would be needed.
Day 3
Day 3 was the day we were looking forward to a real test of endurance with the heavy bags that did not seem to be getting much lighter!
The guides for the Spanish team that were walking at the same time as us advised the walk to the pass was 2 hours and gruelling, we could hire a donkey if we wanted from them. With determination we laughed off their offer and vowed to complete it alone.
The path is not steep, but it was relentless and seemed to go on and on. The path in places is made up of big rocky steps, Sarah's perfect 'stepper'. The oxygen at this altitude does not seem to be there, the harder you breathe the more out of breath you become??
Anyway, we marched on in single file, the conversation going in drips as we felt a boost and then felt low. The sun at this altitude bakes you and we did not see a cloud in the sky any day we walked.
After 1 hr and 40 mins we reached the top, to say we were pleased with ourselves was an understatement -however we were totally exhausted... Had this been a mistake walking so hard so early with 1100 meters still to descend and a lot of km's to cover???
The valley on the other side of Punta Union was markedly different, still with the obvious glacial marks but wider and longer and with less of the snow capped peaks to look at.
We started boldly and after an hour decided to stop for some lunch and re charge the batteries while admiring the view.
After lunch we marched down through the valley for another 3 hours eventually arriving at Piura a small campsite but not the one we were looking for. A nearby sign said our camp site was another 3 km on. We all gave each other a down beat look but knew to ensure our last day was not too long we had to continue. We calculated that walking quickly at 4 km/hr it would take us 45 minutes so not a big deal.
After 40 minutes we had still not found the camp, asking locals they told us it was another 30 minutes we knew there was no way that the sign could have been right. After another 20 minutes someone else told us it was another 20 minutes......we were fading fast and knew we were running out of food!!
At this point we decided that we would pitch up where we had found our friends the Spaniards! The days walk had lasted 6 hours; an hour less than the target time, however were not sure we made it to the final site.
We were even lucky enough to find that some Peruvian ladies had walked up from the next town selling hot meals to the trekkers!! So we had picante potatoes and mackrel! A welcome break from pasta with pasta sauce!!!
Due to the position in the valley this campsite is supposed to be the coldest even though it was some 500 meters lover than the previous nights site. I'm not sure we found this it seemed no different to any other.
Day 4
We awoke at our usual time of 7 am, all having had the best sleep of the 3 nights. We knew that the last day was due to take 3 hours so it was a stroll in the park!
We packed all our belongings for the last time said Adios to the Spaniards and set off on our way.
We arrived at Huallipampa where we were supposed to camp the previous night in 20 minutes, so we were nearly there and I think we actually had a nicer camp site!
We checked out of the national park and continued the walk to Vaqueria, a very small town where we could catch a lift back to Huaraz. The walk was not particularly scenic and was quite up hill however our packs were lighter and we were keen to get to the village to catch a lift.
The final walk took us 2 hours compared to the advised 3 a very short day indeed.
We were very lucky that within 40 mins of turning up a minibus full of people starting the trek from the other end arrived and we got a price of 30 soles per person back to Huaraz, with no stopping. It was a new bus which meant no sitting in the boot of a car for James and Dan!!
The bus ride back to Huaraz would take 4 hours round the bumpy mountain roads and an hour on the road from Yungay to Huaraz, a very long journey for 3 very tired people with no food.
The views from the bus to the Cordillera Blanca were breath taking but when arriving back in Huaraz we were all ready for a good feed, hot showers and some sleep in a real bed.
The 3 Amigos had done Santa Cruz!
Unfortunately this signalled time for Dan to leave us once more, we want to say a massive thank you to Dan for being a great travelling companion and making it a trip of a lifetime!
We made this video of our journey!
15th August 2011: AUDIO RESTORED FOR NOW......
14th August 2011 : APOLOGIES I HAVE BEEN ALERTED THAT THE MUSIC FROM MY VIDEO HAS BEEN REMOVED BY YOU TUBE! I AM TRYING TO GET IT RESTORED.
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