The Santa Cruz Trek

The Santa Cruz trek is probably the most beaten in the Andes around Huaraz. Nonetheless, it promises some of the best views of the Andes. We decided to go for it because it's probably one of the few treks that gets to nice places in 4 days only and because we wanted to do it ourselves, that is with no guide or donkeys.

So, after buying a map, gas canisters for cooking and renting a tent and a better sleeping bag for Karin we went to the market and bought all the food needed for a 4 days hike.

The next morning we hopped on a bus (that is a transit packed with 20 people) to Caraz, a town 2 hours north of Huaraz and from there a collective (a private car that collected passengers in the market) to Cachapampa, where our journey begun.

Climbing on the first day

The first day of the hike was difficult. We ascended from 2800 a.s.l to 3800 a.s.l in what seemed to be an endless climb. Both of us had trouble dealing with the thin air (really, at 3500 a.s.l you get 40% less oxygen in every breath) which meant fatigue, heavy breathing and even headaches. We had very little attention for the beautiful Andean valley we were walking in. Only towards the end of that day, when we were really tired we noticed the first snowy peaks that were waiting us.

The view while ascendeing, first day

The first evening and night were rough. The temperatures dropped sharply after the sun disappeared behind the mountains so we rushed to make our dinner and go to sleep. An interesting thing happened when I was trying to cook rice with water that I previously purified with Iodine pills. The purified water has the color of apple juice (and the taste of Iodine) but when reacting with the starch in the rice it turned blue. from that incident and on we used non-purified water to cook.

The first evening

The night was hard for me. I had an headache and felt sick. Those are signs of altitude sickness. It takes time for the body to produce more red blood cells and expand the used areas of the lungs to adapt to the thin air.I was gasping and felt like a fish out of the water. Eventually, I got some sleep. Karin seemed to have an easier time.

The second day was an easy walk. We didn't gain more than 400m and the Andes were glorious. We both felt the signs of the altitude when climbing or even getting up quickly .. You just get dizzy. That evening we had a carbohydrate rich dinner because the next day was supposed to be the hardest.

A mountain lake, second day

The second night was freezing. The drinking water we kept in the tent was fine but the cooking water we kept outside partially froze.

The third day was the challenge day. It begun early with a nutritious oats, banana and raisins breakfast that we cooked without leaving the tent because of the cold. In the first half of that day we climbed to the Punta Union pass at 4750 a.s.l and descended to the valley on the other side. The ascent was slow. We had to stop very often and to advance very slowly.

A lake on the mountain side, third day

Views from the ascent to the pass, third day

The view from the pass is amazing. Snow covered peaks, glaciers, pools and valleys spreading to the horizon.

At the pass (to which we'll call Debelstin pass)

On the pass

Both sides of the pass

A blue bird we found on the way down

The last day was supposed to be event less but still we managed to loose some time straying of the course (completely my fault) and spend hours on the collectivos back to Huaraz on roads that serpentined in a very scary way down hill and on a vehicle that just broke down in the middle of the way to Huaraz. Eventually we got there, already in the dark, and concluded the experience as taxing but beautiful and rewarding.

The view of the last day