6-day Trek to Queropalca & Pocpa in the Cordillera Huayhuash

Your guide will meet your group at the hotel after breakfast and you will head out for Queropalca, passing through rural villages such as Recuay, Ticapampa and Catac along the way. You will continue south, arriving at Lake Conococha, the headwaters for the Santa River. From the lake, you will turn east heading into the Huayhuash Mountain Range and passing through communities such as Pachapaqui, Huansala and Huallanca, before finally arriving at the ruins of Huanucopampa. We will break for lunch here, allowing time to explore the ancient archeological site and will then continue to the rural village of Queropalca (3,800 masl), our first campsite. The total travel time today is approximately 7 hours.

We will begin hiking at 8:00am and will arrive at Lake Carhuacocha in approximately 5 hours. We will break for lunch and set up camp at the turquoise glacial lake where we’ll be able to take in stunning views of the snow-capped peaks of Yerupaja, Siula and Ninashanca.

After breakfast at Carhuacocha, we will begin a 3-hour ascent towards Carhuac Pass (4,650 masl), where we’ll be greeted by up-close views of Ninashanca and Jirishanca. We’ll break for lunch at midday and continue descending for another 1.5 hours to Lake Mitucocha (4,200 masl) where we’ll set up camp for the night.

We will leave camp at 8:00am and begin with a 3-hour climb towards Cacanan Pass (4,700 masl), allowing for a nice view of the southern side of Ninashanca. We will break for lunch at the pass and begin a 3-hour descent to our next campsite at Rondoy (4,300 masl).

After breakfast, we will head out at 8:30am for a 4.5-hour ascent to the Sambunya Pass (4,750 masl) where we’ll break for lunch and observe a panoramic view of surrounding peaks such as Jirishanca, Ninashanca, Yerupaja, Siula and Carnicero. We will then begin a 3-hour descent to our next campsite at Lake Jahuacocha (4,100 masl).

Our last day on the trail, we will hike for 2.5 hours until reaching the final pass at Pampallamac (4,500 masl) where we can say goodbye to the gorgeous peaks that have accompanied us throughout the journey: Yerupaja, Ninashanca, Siula and Diablo Mudo. We will then begin a 1.5-hour descent into the rural community of Llamac where private transportation will be waiting to take our group back to Huaraz. Travel time from Llamac to Huaraz is approximately 3 hours.