Getting There
We woke up at 4:00am to catch a three hour bus ride to the Huascarán National Park and the beginning of our hike. There were some amazing views of the Cordillera Blanca along the way, including the highest mountain in Peru, Huascarán. It’s 6,768m tall! Once we arrived we eat some breakfast and began walking.
The Hike
The first hour or so was flat and not difficult at all; that being said, out tour guide was quite insistent that we “follow her feet” and not walk too fast. She claimed that people who start walking too fast often do not finish and that people who go at a steady pace make it there in 2.5 to 3 hours. I actually agree with her, but I found her persistence a bit funny.
We walked through a valley for about an hour before starting to hike up. We first passed Laguna 68. We were told that each of the lakes have a number and a Quechua name. The number is to help keep track of all of the lagunas in the area. Supposedly when they first started doing this there were some 300+ lagunas… now there are 1,000+!!!
Laguna 68 was nice, but Laguna 69 was the true price so we pressed onward and upward. Another short flat stretch led us to the final hike up. After just under 3 hours I was at a little over 4,600m and the bluest laguna I had ever seen in my life.
The Laguna 69
It really was spectacularly blue! My friends Brian, Ineke and I were some of the first people to make it up and got to soak in the scenery undisturbed for a little while. Behind the laguna were some more mountains and every five minutes or so we could hear avalanches taking place. We even saw one which resulted in rocks landing into the laguna! It was quite loud. But for real… this laguna was super blue and very beautiful. After maybe an hour we started walking back to the bus and then to Huaraz.
Overall Impressions
I loved it and was really glad that I decided to do multiple day hikes during my time in Huaraz instead of one big hike. This allowed me to see multiple areas of the Cordillera Blanca and its diverse geography. I easily recommend this hike to anyone. The altitude really was not too bad, especially after having broken 5,000m the day before.
