Trekking: Cordillera Huayhuash Day 6

Sixth day: Sunday,

Huayllapa 3,500 m – Tapush Pass 4,800 m – Yaucha Pass 4,850 m –

Laguna Jahuacocha 4,050 m

Distance: 20.1 km / Ascent: 1,838 m / Descent: 1,338 m

Let's get started.

Despite the barking of the dogs, the night on the football pitch was very restful. The main reason: the low altitude of only 3,500 m.

As every advantage has a disadvantage, this is the additional elevation gain we have to overcome on the longest leg of our journey. We've combined two more trekking days and planned an extra monster tour.

The trail climbs steeply past Camp Huatiac to Tapush Pass at 4,800 m, then descends again to 4,500 m to Ancoshpampa, where we will cross another camp. From there, the path leads us up to Passo Yaucha at 4,850 m, onward to Mirador at 4,930 m, followed by lunch at 4,800 m with a view of the Cordillera Blanca. Now a steep descent to the camp at Lake Jahuacocha at 4,050 m.

Ascent approximately 1,800 m and descent approximately 1,300 m, distance approximately 20 km.

We set off half an hour earlier than usual to avoid the heat on the ascent. Julio immediately sets a tremendous pace. Christina has no problem keeping up, but I really have to push myself to stay with him.

Still in shadow, the path leads steeply from the village towards Huatiac, and we quickly overtake the first groups that started an hour before us.

A reddish-brown dog joins us and is clearly happy to be traveling with us as I struggle up to the pass.

(The dogs in South America are mostly relaxed and completely trusting.)

Before reaching the mountain pass, we are overtaken by the pack animals of some other groups, to which our handsome reddish-brown companion then joins.

Now, the sad story of the pack animals in South America.

The animal individual is merely a commodity here; accordingly, people treat the animals.

Today I got annoyed with a boy driver who was whipping his riding horse and his packhorse with a lasso every step he took. I shouted after him, making all the gauchos look back, but the boy, under his father's protection, cheerfully continued whipping his horses.

The consequences of such driving are often accidents due to excessive stress to which the animals are exposed by the blows and the exhaustion that the horses and mules suffer from the much too high speed.

If the animal can no longer continue due to a broken leg or other injury, it is simply left lying there and abandoned to the condors and other wild animals.

The path we are walking on is littered with horse, mule, and cow bones.

Fortunately, our gaucho is friendly and helpful to both people and animals. He guides his mules on horseback with whistles only; all the animals stand still while being loaded; we never hear a loud word, except for his welcoming song every morning.

We finally reach the Tapush Pass (4,800 m); the first 1,350 m are behind us, and so am I. At least it's downhill now.

"Do you know why Julio runs like that?" I ask Christina.

"Because he wants to stick to his time estimate from two days ago for the stage," I say.

Well, we'll see.

Today's route is extremely dusty. Normally, the herders take shortcuts with their animals, leaving hikers to walk on separate footpaths, but on this leg, humans and animals are sharing the same hooved trails.

After reaching the lowest point (4,500 m) of this penultimate stage, the route continues steeply uphill to the next pass, called Yaucha.

We'll take a short break, during which I'll eat some Powerbar gummy bears; they've helped me with other projects before.

Refreshed, we continue along the steep path and reach the Yaucha Pass (4,850 m) unexpectedly easily.

Once again, a magnificent view opens up before us: glaciated mountains and deep valleys.

The question now is whether we should reach the valley via the slightly higher viewpoint, or whether we should take the donkey path directly down to the camp.

Despite being quite exhausted, I decide to join them for the Mirador if we slow down a bit. I don't want to miss the magnificent panorama. We laugh and joke while I stay behind to take photos, and when my companions can no longer see me, they think I've taken the donkey trail directly.

The closer we get to the Mirador, the wider the panorama of snow-capped peaks becomes, and when we reach the point (4,930 m), a beautiful lagoon comes into view far below, and straight ahead, a red mountain with a clearly visible mountain pass leading to its summit. I suspect it must be a mine. Julio confirms that copper and lead are mined over there.

We're now descending towards camp. Julio stops for lunch. He conjures up a lentil dish with vegetables from his backpack and serves it with coca tea. He's carried everything for us again, all the way and up the many meters of elevation.

During the meal, Julio explains the panorama: Far in the distance, even the mountain giants of the Cordillera Blanca can be seen.

He now wants to know for sure from Christina's Garmin watch whether the time he gave two days ago is correct. And indeed, his brisk pace proved him right.

After dinner, the trail descends steeply for about 800 meters to the camp (Lake Jahuacocha 4,050 m), where, as usual, we arrive in a fully set-up tent city.