Santa Cruz Trek & Pisco & Yanapaccha Climb – 8 days

An easier day hiking in a wide-open valley. We pass by two small lakes and then we have our first glimpse of the famous Alpamayo peak. We camp at Taullipampa (4250m), a beautiful campsite surrounded by towering peaks and nestled near the bottom of the Punta Union Pass. 4 hours.

Hiking time: 4 hours.

Climb steadily up for 2-3 hours to Punta Union pass (4750m) and then descend past a small alpine lake. Continue the descent toward the Huaripampa Valley before leaving the main trail and traversing through low bush to our camp in a secluded valley away from the main trail at Paria (3850m).

Hiking time: 7 hours.

At first, we easily down the Huaripampa valley passing through farming settlements. Then we climb to the road in Vaqueria where our private vehicle will be waiting to drive us over the Portachuelo Pass of 4850m to our camp in Cebollapampa (3850m).

Hiking time: 4 hours. / Driving time: 2 hours

From Cebollapampa we hike up on a good path to the Base Camp of Pisco (4500m). Before going to sleep early, we have time left to check our climbing equipment and get ready for the next day.

Hiking time: 2.5 hours.

Early in the morning at 01:00 am we start hiking around 3.5 hours over rocky path to get the glacier. Here we put our climbing equipment on to start climbing up to the summit. After climbing up for about 1 hour, we get to a wall of 40m, 50° of difficulty. We continue 2.5 hours more and reach the summit (5750m). We enjoy the nice views of different mountains such as: Artesonraju, Alpamayo, Caraz, Huascarán, Chopicalqui, Yanapaccha, Chacraraju, Brogui, Huandoys and a splendid turquoise lake 69 lake. After a few minutes we go back down to Base Camp (4500m).

Our vehicle arrives at Cebollapampa with fresh supplies and we take a ride up the road in a hairpin bend in the road called "Curva" (4580m). From here we hike to the Yanapaccha Morena camp for about 3 hours until we reach the campsite (5000m).

The initial ascent onto the glacier is usually a short, steep ice climb and then there is more gentle terrain on the glacier. We negotiate crevasse fields to arrive the west face of Yanapaccha which we climb to the summit. The last 200m to reach the summit is a steep 65 degree. About 3 to 4 rappels are required during the descent. We return to the Morena camp and then we walk back the same path back to the road where our private vehicle will be waiting for us and we return back to Huaraz.

Optional Extra Day

Stay at Cebollapampa Camp near LLanganuco Lakes an extra day for rest and delicious meals after climbing Pisco and departing for Yanapaccha.