Santa Cruz Trek

A large part of the Ancash region in Peru is a valley between the Cordillera Negra (black range) and the Cordillera Blanca (white range) mountains in the Andes. Most of the highest peaks in Peru (there are over 50 mountains in the area) are in the Cordillera Blanca, and are permanently snow capped (hence the name). It is for this reason, the area is a very popular destination for trekking, ice climbing etc.

Apart from the Inca trail, I had not planned on doing any trekking during this trip. And, I did not do the Inca trail because I did not think I was fit enough. So, in a moment of madness or insanity (or whatever you call it), I signed up together with four other people from my hostel to go on the 4 day, 3 night Santa Cruz trek. I have not done anything resembling camping for over 10 years, and apart from hiking on Table Mountain, I have hardly done anything of the sort ... so this was always going to be an interesting experience.

The Santa Cruz trail is one of the "easier" trails in the Cordillera Blanca. And the trek, organised by Montrek, a trek company with a good reputation in the guide books, was definitely more luxurious than the standard trek: donkeys to carry equipment and bags, a guide, a donkey driver, the food and the equipment were all part of the package. In those terms, the cost was also very reasonable: 80 US $ for the package and about 22 US $ for the entrance fee to the national park.

The Group

Montrek (and it seems the other trek companies) are all agencies. They contract out the guides and donkey drivers on an individual trek basis, as well as provide all the equipment and the food. Our guide, Abel, was fairly new at the job (around one year as a qualified guide), but as he spoke good English and some French on top of the Spanish and Quechwa, he claimed that he is in fairly high demand. Since he grew up in these parts he was very knowledgeable of the geography, the vegetation as well as some local stories and folklore. He was also the cook and a very good cook at that.


The donkeys were driven by their owner, Emilio, and his 14 year old son, Adrian. What was really impressive was how fast Emilio and Adrian could cover the trek - they started each day after we left, and got to the camp site before us and were usually half way through setting up the tents. Even more impressive is the fact that they did the return journey (which is much harder) in just 1 and a half days!

As for the trekkers, there were 4 others from the hostel I am staying in Huaraz. Marta, is from Barcelona, Spain, and has been traveling around Central and South America for about 4 months. In Spain, her primary (summer) job is working for a large music festival. Wes(ley) is from Canada and has been in Peru for a couple of months, mainly surfing. He is a tree planter during the summer. Andrea, Wes' friend, also from Canada, is on a three month trip in South America, most of which has been spent on volunteer work in Ecuador. She also does environmental work in Canada, mainly doing field work in the forests. Alia is from Alaska, and is taking a 10 month break from university and traveling in Central and South America. We were also joined by Benjamin, from France, an ex professional tennis player (who has been to South Africa for tennis tournaments) and who currently runs a tennis academy in Nice.

How many in a combi?

The trip to the starting point of the trek as well as the return trip from the end was done on public transport - specifically on combis. Combis are exactly the same thing as in South Africa - minibus taxis that manage to fit an extraordinary number of people in them. And because Peruvians are on average shorter than South Africans, they seem to be able to fit in more people! On both trips we had to change combis, and on second combi (to the starting point) there were 20 people in the combi, including two kids, the driver and the conductor. As we approached a checkpoint, the conductor got 5 people of the combi, and asked them to walk round the check point such that the police could only count 15 people in the combi! On the return trip, we managed to fit even more people into the combi - 23! South African taxis, it seems, has tough competition.

Laguna 69

On the trip up to the starting point, we passed the beautiful Llanganuco Lakes, known locally as Laguna 69. I am not sure why they are called that, but one of the lakes is called the male lake and the other the female lake. And they say Peruvians are conservative ...

Ola, Caramelo?

On the first day, we passed a number of small villages, and we were often greeted by the kids by the words "Ola, Caramelo?" or "Hello, Sweets?". It is really an uncomfortable greeting ... and it is in many ways sad that sweets have become integral part of the greeting. I suppose, trekkers giving out sweets has not helped either.

Day 1

Day 1 was a short trek of around 4 and half hours (including stops) to the first camp site. Starting of in a farming village, the trek first descends into the valley before climbing back up on the other side. After the ascent up the mountain, the route is relatively flat through rather marshy grounds until the camping site, which is at the base of the ascent for Day 2.

The camping site, in a meadow was spectacular, with snow capped mountains on one side, a river (which eventually flows into the Amazon) on another and another mountain on the third side.



Unfortunately, as is the case in this time of the year, the evening was wet featuring a big thunderstorm around 4 pm and then further rain in the evening. This pattern was repeated without much variation for the next 3 days.

Day 2

Day 2 was the hardest - about 5 hours of a fairly steep ascent to the highest point: the Punta Union Pass at 4750 m above sea level. The camping site was about 3800 m above sea level, so that makes it almost 1 Km in vertical ascent.




The first part of the route was fairly easy - a rocky path through a mountain stream into a valley, and a rather slow ascent up the valley. Once the valley was crossed however, it was a rather steep ascent first to a plateau about 4400 m above sea level followed by another steep ascent up to the pass.





Despite it being the height of summer, and being in the tropics, the day was very cold coupled with a strong, cold wind. There was even snow on the pass, although not much. Because of the weather, the most of the peaks were behind clouds, which meant that the promised spectacular views were missing. The view down the valleys were however still spectacular, especially the glacial lake near the pass. There was even a small avalanche of snow falling from the mountain into the lake, which was rather impressive in both sight and sound.




The camp site for the night was around 4200 m above sea level, again in a meadow surrounded by snow capped mountains and rivers. Adrian tried out some fishing, without success.

Day 3

In terms of distance, Day 3 was the longest. It was also the easiest, with most of the trail being flat through the Santa Cruz valley. Much of the valley was marshland, which did make walking rather muddy though. One of the mountains near the valley, Pomabamba, is one of the last remaining refuge of pumas, who often visit the valley to dine on horses and cows grazing in the valley. Skeletal remains suggest that, although infrequent, they are still alive.





The last camp was set up in front of a spectacular waterfall, and one of the most spectacular camping spots on the trail. Adrian tried fishing again, and did manage to catch one small fish ...

Day 4

Day 4 was a short hike (about 2 hours) down a very rocky descent into the town of Cashapampa. I think it could have been done the day before, but transport from Cashapampa to Caraz, and then to Huaraz would have been the problem and hence the extra night on the trail. The highlight of the descent was the spectacular remains of a large landslide from last year as well as the fast flowing river beside the trail.

Last Thoughts

I really enjoyed the trek, and am actually quite keen to do some of my own back in SA. Granted, this trek was made easier with donkeys and guides, and it was certainly not the most difficult of climbs. But given the altitude, I am quite impressed that I did it without much difficulty. Maybe I am fitter than I thought ... but I don't think I am fit enough to do the trail in reverse or do the trail in 2 or 3 days as it should be possible. It was certainly a great experience, and definitely one of the highlights of the trip so far.