Hiking Cordillera Huayhuash Circuit Without a Guide – 9 Day Trek
Brett and I proudly completed the Cordillera Huayhuash (pronounced “why wash”) circuit without a guide on May 28, 2019! We completed this trek independently in 9 days! 112km, 54 hours and 6 minutes hiked, and 8 mountains climbed reaching past 5000m! In this blog I will share what the Cordillera Huayhuash is and why it is so remarkable! I will also touch on what to pack, how to prepare for this trek, navigating the Peruvian Andes, the cost of this hike, and how to get to the start of the trail!
Click here to read about the specifics for each day of the trek!
I am so excited to share our experience with you and I hope this motivates you to take on this adventure yourselves!
Why Huayhuash?
Cordillera Huayhuash is a world class trek in the Peruvian Andes that should be added to your bucket list! When we were reading other blogs about this trek, people often described it as being one of the most physically and emotionally challenging hikes, but also the most rewarding. This is exactly how we felt! Once Brett and I saw pictures of the trek, we knew we had to do it! We spent 6 weeks backpacking Peru and this hike was the main reason we decided to visit the beautiful country.
The route we chose consisted of 9 days and 112 km. We spent 54 hours & 6 minutes hiking and climbed 8 mountains reaching past 5000m!! There are shorter routes that can be done in 3 days or treks that can last 12 days or longer.
A passage from my journal I wrote on the bus ride back to civilization reads, “This has been the most challenging, difficult, tiring, and painful thing I have ever done. It has also been the most rewarding, magical, inspiring, and beautiful experience of my life! We were pushed to new heights (quite literally) & our relationship has never been stronger! Huayhuash left us bruised and sore with full hearts, big smiles, and memories that will last a lifetime.”
This trek remains one of my favourite travelling memories so far and for sure my favourite hike! This trek is no joke and is very challenging, but we were blessed with so many magical views and left with so many great memories! There is a reason that it is considered one of the best circuit hikes in the world!!
The best time for this trek!
The best time to take on the Cordillera Huayhuash circuit is during the dry season, which is from May to September. People do complete this trek year-round, but this is when the weather is driest and most predictable. We hiked from May 20 to May 28 and though we had great weather for the majority of the time, we were still faced with snow, rain, hail, and sleet.
Guided or solo/independent?
Completing the Cordillera Huayhuash trek will be something you will remember forever and be so proud of whether you do it with a guided group or independently! The hike is very challenging and it is very reasonable to go with a guided group. On the other hand, if you like a challenge, going on your own or with a small group is definitely doable!
There are positives and negatives to both choices. Of course, going on your own means you have no one to help you navigate and you have to carry everything on your back. We saw a few groups carrying small day packs while the donkeys and horses carried everything else for them. Also, all your meals are prepared for you, so you never have to worry about food or water.
Brett and I chose to take on Huayhuash independently for a few reasons. First, when searching online the guided treks were WAY out of our budget. We are also thrill seekers and were enthralled with the idea of completing this world class hike on our own! One of the main reasons we wanted to go on our own is that we wanted to be able to choose our own route. Most of the groups take the same route and miss some of the magical spots (like the hot springs in the middle of nowhere!!).
If you would like the challenge of carrying your own bag and bringing all your own food but are worried about the navigation part, there is a solution for that as well! It is possible to hire a guide (without donkeys or horses) that will hike with you or with a small group. During our hike, we met another group of two hikers. One was a man from France and the other was a guide from Huaraz named Victor. I am not sure how much this costs, but it would be great for something in between a guided tour and going independent. If this interests you, I recommend contacting Victor at sherpaperu@gmail.com or by visiting sherpaperu.wordpress.com.
Most of the other blogs we read about Huayhuash recommended that less experienced hikers take on Huayhuash with a guided group. Brett and I chose not to listen to this advice. Before Huayhuash, the longest hike we had done was two days! You read that right! We went straight from a two-day hike to this crazy nine-day challenge on our own! With this being said, we have done some pretty complicated single day hikes and are quite in shape. Huayhuash is the most difficult thing I have ever done so my advice is to make sure you are well prepared before taking on this awesome adventure!
Any way you decided to take on the Huayhuash trek will be difficult and so worth it!!
What to bring!
If you decide to complete Huayhuash with a guided group, you will not need to bring very much besides clothing. Most guided treks we read about provide all the food, water, and shelter you will need.
Since Brett and I hiked alone, we had to bring everything we would need throughout the nine days. Click here to view the complete list of what we brought for Huayhuash!
Here is a short list of the main things we brought to give you an idea if you are trying to decide whether to take on this adventure!
- Water purifier and water bottles
- There was access to water in the form of creeks and lakes at each campsite we stayed at plus along the trails. We never had problems finding water when we needed it!
- Food – 9 days of meals
- We only passed through one town on day 6 where we could have restocked our food supplies. We decided to pack everything for the nine days just in case we could not resupply or needed extra
- Propane
- We brought a 16 oz propane cylinder that we picked up in Lima and it ended up being plenty
- Clothing
- All types of clothing are needed. In the middle of the day we would be wearing t-shirts and shorts and applying sunscreen then would wake up in the morning to an inch of frost so be prepared for everything!! …sunshine, rain, snow, sleet, hail…
- Shelter – tent, sleeping bags, mats…
- Navigation device – map, GPS…
- Extras – headlamps, toilet paper, batteries…
Make sure to check out the complete list here if you decide to take on this life changing adventure!
Preparing for Huayhuash – getting used to the altitude!
The altitude of the Cordillera Huayhuash is quite high and can become a serious problem for some hikers. The highest summit we reached was Cuyoc pass at 5000m. We ran into a few people who felt very weak and dizzy due to altitude sickness and had to travel by donkey. Luckily, we never became sick but definitely experienced shortness of breath at times! Two main precautions we took to become acclimated were altitude sickness pills and completing a day hike at high elevation a few days before taking on Huayhuash.
Laguna 69 is a day hike near Huaraz. We used it as our “warm up” hike to get used to the elevation and we really enjoyed it! This hike was 14km and we reached 4600m. We had a great day hiking and enjoying the stunning turquoise lake! My recommendation would be to spend one day in Huaraz, hike Laguna 69 the following day, use the next day to prep and relax, then begin Huayhuash the day after.
Check out my blog for the Laguna 69 hike here!
Since we spoke to a few people suffering from the high elevation, we were very happy to be taking altitude sickness pills! We began taking these pills two days before beginning the hike and continued taking them each day until we completed Huayhuash. I would recommend talking to your doctor about a prescription, especially if you are planning to hike Huayhuash independently!
Navigation!
The Huayhuash trail is not marked at all!! The only time you will see signs is at the various campsites. Besides that, there are no markers telling you where to go or how far you have until the next campsite. There are also times where you cannot see a trail at all, so it is important to have some sort of map or GPS if you are without a guide.
At a coffee shop if Huaraz called Café Andino, you can buy a map of the Cordillera Huayhuash circuit for $12 USD. Though we did not use this map while hiking, we were glad to have it as a backup and it helped us when planning which campsites we would stay at on which days. It is also a good keepsake!
Instead, what we used the majority of the time is the app Maps.me. We have used this app during most of our travels and it is amazing! You can download entire countries onto your phone. So, we downloaded all of Peru and were able to use the map offline. If you search for Cordillera Huayhuash circuit, the trail will show up. It shows you where the trail is and most of the campsites are on it so you can tell how much farther you have to go. I would recommend using it on a few hikes before heading to Peru so you can get used to it. If you have any other questions about this app or navigating Huayhuash, feel free to contact us!
Cost of Huayhuash – Budget!
During Huayhuash you will go through several small communities. It is likely that you will be approached by someone and asked to pay a fee. We were advised to just pay the fees or tolls and not argue to avoid any unnecessary confrontation. These fees varied from 20 to 40 soles. Make sure you also have enough money for busses to and from Huayhuash. Also, make sure to keep all of the slips you are given! There were times when we would be asked to show them at the next toll.
It is important to carry small bills with you since it is very unlikely that people will have much change or be able to break large bills for you. If you can carry 20 sol bills (around $6 USD) that would be perfect!
The amount of money we spent on our trek was 267 soles each (or 534 soles total) which is about $80 USD per person. This total does not include any of the money we spent preparing for the trek. This is the amount we spent throughout our 9 days on the Cordillera Huayhuash.
- S/60 each for busses (not including to and from Lima)
- S/195 each for fees
- S/24 total for snacks (S/12 each)
Breakdown:
- Day 1: S/100 each
- S/35 each for busses
- S/65 each for fees
- Day 2: S/40 each
- Day 3: no fees!
- Day 4: S/30 each
- Day 5: S/22 each
- S/20 each for fees
- S/4 for chocolate (S/2 each)
- Day 6: S/50 each
- S/40 each for fees
- S/20 for snacks
- Day 7: no fees!
- Day 8: no fees!
- Day 9: S/25 each for bus to Huaraz
Getting to and from Cordillera Huayhuash!
Lima to Huaraz
Brett and I bought our tickets from Lima to Huaraz in Canada before flying to Peru. We were worried that busses would be full so we decided to buy bus tickets online. These tickets cost us around $13 USD. There are many different bus stations in Lima and a handful of them have trips to Huaraz. We decided to buy tickets through the Movil Bus Station. Since the ride to Huaraz is quite long, we booked a night bus. Our bus left around 11:00pm and we woke up when we reached Huaraz at 6:45am!
Huaraz to the trailhead – Pocpa
There are a few different ways to reach the start of the trek. The easiest way is to book private transportation in Huaraz. This way you will be picked up at your hostel and the journey will be much shorter, but it is much more expensive. We decided to take the cheaper option of taking public transportation to Pocpa. This way did take a bit longer, but we had no troubles and saved a bit of money.
We decided to start our trek in Pocpa. There are several other places where hikers choose to start like Llamac or Quartelhuain (the first campsite) based on the route or length of trek they are planning for.
Getting to Pocpa was a lot easier than we were expecting. However, I am glad that we bought our first bus ticket the day before to avoid any extra stress at 4am. The bus route to Pocpa included going from Huaraz to Chiquian to Pocpa. We also stopped in Llamac before arriving in Pocpa so these instructions will still work for you if that’s where you choose to start!
We bought our bus ticket for Huaraz to Chiquian the day before at Transporte El Rapido in Huaraz. This ticket cost us S/10 each. I would recommend buying this ticket the day before so you for sure have a spot and don’t have to worry about where you are going in the morning.
We checked out of our hostel in Huaraz at 3:50am and walked to the bus station. The bus we were on left at 4:30am. It was freezing on the bus so bring a jacket!! We arrived in Chiquian at 6:45am. As soon as we got off, we bought our next bus ticket to Pocpa at Turismo Nazario for S/25 each. After grabbing some food, we were on our way again. At one point we were stopped in the middle of the road and everyone planning to hike Huayhuash was charged S/20 each from a local who boarded the bus. When we passed through Llamac, a few people disembarked and us hikers were charged another random S/30 each. We reached Pocpa around 10:30am. As we unloaded the bus, we were charged another S/15 each.
Getting from Huaraz to Pocpa cost us S/35 each for busses plus S/65 each for fees. From here we began our incredible journey!
Llamac back to Huaraz
We were told that there would be a bus from Llamac to Huaraz around 10:30 or 11:00am. With that being said, we started hiking at 4:30am on our last day to ensure we would have a lot of time to catch the bus! As soon as we got to town and back to civilization, we were approached by a local man who started trying to sell us a bus ticket back to Huaraz. We followed him to a small shop and paid S/25 each – less than we paid for the way there.
At 11:00am, the bus pulled up and we headed to Chiquian. When we arrived at 12:15pm, we sat down for lunch before loading back onto the bus. At 2:00pm we were on our way again. We arrived in Huaraz at 4:00pm. The bus dropped us off near the main square and we walked the rest of the way to our hostel.
Huaraz to Lima
Finding a bus back to Lima was quite simple. There are a number of small bus stations selling tickets. We decided to take the 9am bus back to Lima. There are also night busses available. We walked to the Movil Bus Station, which was about 1km from our hostel. We loaded the bus at 9:30am – pretty close to schedule.
The ride was quite uneventful. Brett and I slept the majority of the time, exhausted from 9 days of hiking. We stopped once for a 30-minute break. We were supposed to arrive in Lima at 4:00pm but ended up getting there around 5:45pm. After dropping our bags at a hostel called Backpacker’s Club, we celebrated completing Huayhuash with a pizza!
Trekking distance!
Total distance: 112km in 9 days
- Day 1: 13km – 4 hours & 29 minutes
- Day 2: 14km – 5 hours & 15 minutes
- Day 3: 11km – 4 hours & 38 minutes
- Day 4: 13km – 7 hours & 25 minutes
- Day 5: 11km – 4 hours & 52 minutes
- Day 6: 21km – 10 hours & 54 minutes
- Day 7: 11km – 7 hours & 10 minutes
- Day 8: 9km – 4 hours & 43 minutes
- Day 9: 9km – 4 hours & 40 minutes
Click here for more details of each day!
Highlights/Memories of Huayhuash!
- Enjoying 10 different lakes
- Hot springs on day 5 in the middle of nowhere!
- Reaching 5000m on day 6
- A dog (who we obviously called Perro) hiking with us for a day and a half!
- Our magical lakeside campsite on day 3
- That feeling when you reach the top of a pass (there were 8!!)
- New hiking friends
- Falling asleep to the sound of avalanches in the distance
- That other feeling when you take your hiking boots off after a successful day
- Such clear views of the stars at night
- Uncountable breathtaking views
- That third feeling of beating a group of hikers to the top of the pass that aren’t carrying anything!! (what a great feeling)
- Surviving Huayhuash!!
I hope by this point you have added the Cordillera Huayhuash circuit to your dream hiking bucket list! If you have (or if you need a bit more convincing!), then click here to read about the specific details for each day of this magical trek!
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us or comment below!