PERU

In the spring of 2018, I met back up with my friends John & Ryan on the tail end of their “Arctic to Andes” van trip, a year-long drive from Arctic Alaska down to southern Argentina. My trip began in Lima, where I met the guys before taking a nine-hour bus ride north to Huaraz, an Andean mountain town located at 10,000’ where people often acclimatize before heading into the nearby Cordillera Huayhuash and Blanca mountain ranges. We spent a few days doing acclimatization hikes above 15,000’ before venturing into the incredibly remote Huayhuash range. The drive to our starting point ended up being a harrowing journey on steep, unpaved roads with sheer drop-offs bordering much of the route — at one point, part of the van began sliding off the side of a cliff and had to be pulled back onto the road! After a flat tire required us to enlist some help from a local villager (and most of the townspeople), we eventually reached the town of Pocpa, where we began our trek. We spent ten days circumnavigating the range, racking up about 100 miles of hiking. For most of the trip, we were above 14k’, eventually reaching a high point of 17,300’. The Huayhuash easily had the most beautiful mountain scenery I’ve ever witnessed, and it was an unforgettable experience filled with wild weather, rampant altitude sickness, roaming alpacas, and an exceptional amount of whiskey (to stay warm at night, of course…). If you’re looking for an alternative to Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail, I couldn’t recommend this trek more!