Santa Cruz Trek & Climbing Yanapaccha 5460m

Day 01: Huaraz – Cashapampa – Llamacorral (3,760m/12,336ft)

After breakfast in the hotel, you will board our private bus, and drive along the Callejon de Huaylas, north of Huaraz. Passing by different traditional Andean villages, we will make our first stop at Carhuas (2650m), to enjoy a delicious homemade ice-cream and authentic ecological handcrafts (in the abuelo handcrafts shop). We will continue our travel up to the Cashapampa, where our donkey drivers will be waiting for us. From there, we will start hiking for 5 to 6 hours to reach our first camp, Llamacorral. Overnight camping at 3760m.

Day 02: Llamacorral – Jatuncocha Lake – View Point of Alpamayo – Taullipampa (4,250m/13,944ft)

After breakfast, we will begin a 2h hike, that will take us to the turquoise lakes of Ichiccocha and Jatuncocha. Then, we will head to the beautiful site of Quisuar, and from here we will continue hiking for about 1 hour to reach the viewpoint of Alpamayo. From there we will enjoy great views over the mountains of Alpamayo, Quitaraju, Artesonraju, Paron and Aguja. We will hike another 1h to get to our second campsite, Taullipampa. Overnight camping at 4250m.

Day 03: Taullipampa – Punta Union Pass (4,750m/15,584ft) – Cachinapampa (3,800m/12,467ft)

After breakfast, at 8am, we will hike for 3h to reach the Punta Union Pass (4750m). We will have lunch at a site with breathtaking views over the peaks around. Then we will hike down for about 4-5h to the camp of Cachinapampa. Overnight camping at 3800m.

Day 04: Cachinapampa – Vaqueria – Km42 – Moraine Camp of Yanapaccha (4,900m/16,072ft)

After breakfast, we will hike down for about 2h30 to reach Vaqueria, where our driver will be waiting for us. We will have a break at Portachuelo pass (4750m) on the way, and enjoy great views over the mountains of Huascaran, Pisco, and Huandoy. Then, we will continue our travel until KM42, where we will have lunch. After another 1h30 drive,  we will start to hike for 3h to reach the Moraine Camp of Yanapaccha. Once at the camp, we will check our climbing gear and get some good rest to be ready for the coming day. Overnight camping at 4900m.

Day 05: Moraine Camp – Yanapaccha Climbing summit (5,460m/17,908ft) – Huaraz

We will have an early breakfast at 3am, and start around 3:30am our 30-minutes ascent over the rocky path to get to the snow section. We will equip ourselves with our climbing gear and reach the Yanapaccha summit after about 3-4 hours (5460m/17908ft). We will enjoy breathtaking views over the mountains of Chacraraju, Pisco, Huascaran, Chopicalqui, Contrahiervas, and Huandoys (among others). We will then start a 3h descent to Moraine Camp. After lunch, we will continue to go down to Curva KM42, where our private transport will pick us. On the drive back we will pass by the same valley of Llanganuco, and arrive in Huaraz around 5pm. Transfer to the hotel.