Olleros to  Carhuascancha &  Chavin 5 or 6 day trek

Timing:5/6 days
Grade: Medium

This pristine breath taking area in the southern Cordillera Blanca range makes this trek circuit one of the most beautiful places in the Cordillera Blanca ideal for establishing a base camp and spending days exploring the deep aqua color lakes, streams, waterfalls, rich forest and spiraling high ridge that abundantly define this awe inspiring landscape.  Despite its extraordinary beauty, this area is one of the most accessible regions of the Huascaran National Park that offers trekkers a treasure of enduring memories. The Peruvian Andes stunning attractions include the majestic snow capped mountains of Huatzan 6,395/20,981ft, Tumarinaraju  5,668m / 18,596ft, San Juan 5,840m/19,160ft, Maparaju 5,326 m/17,474ft, Milpocraju 5,550m / 18,209ft and Cayesh 5,721m/18,770ft and beautiful lakes located at the foot of the glaciers. This trek is the ideal trip to combine trekking in isolated and amazing places with meeting local high mountain Quechua people in their traditional Andean villages and sight-seeing the ancient Chavin de Huantar.  The Chavin civilization is the best known of early Peruvian prehistory.  Chavin is one of Peru's oldest civilizations and the early Chavin people laid the cultural foundations of all Peruvian civilizations to follow. The Chavin civilization flourished from 900 BC to 200 BC.

Program details:

Day 1: Huaraz – Carey Chico – Tzacracancha (3,900m/12,795ft)
After breakfast at your hotel, Inkaland Journeys  will pick you up at 7:00 AM and transport you to the village of Carey Chico (3,600m/11,808ft) about 1.5 hour ride to where we start our 6 day trek . We meet our Arrieros (donkey drivers) with their donkeys who will be waiting for us to load and transport all of our gear bags, food and trek logistics’ support items. This first day we will start our trekking at an easy pace enjoying the splendid views of the white mountain peaks.  We will trek for 5 hours from Carey Chico to Tzacracancha and enjoy a relaxing tasty lunch on the way.  During this hike you will capture the spirit of this adventure in the exquisite beauty of the gorgeous white mountain peaks of Cashar, Shacsha, and Rurec, Urhuashraju and the Cordillera Negra range.  After our first day, 5 hour trek, we will camp overnight in Tzacracancha at an elevation of (3,900m/12,795ft).

Day 2: Tzacracancha – Yanashallash pass (4,700m/15,420ft) – Shongopampa
We will wake early and enjoy breakfast together at 7:00 AM. We will then start our second day of trekking at about 8:00 AM. After approximately 4 hours of trekking we will arrive at the Yanashallash Pass.  Lunch will be served on the way as we enjoy the splendid views. During our trekking today, we will see the beautiful peak to our north named Urhuashraju (5,544M/18,189ft) and we will have the experience of trekking on historic, pre-Inka stone paved trails during segments of our journey.  After ascending to the top of the Yanashallash Pass, we will begin descending on a switch-back (zigzag) trail until we reach our second night’s camp named Shongopampa (shon go pam pah) at an elevation of (4,100m/13,448ft). Pampa means grassy area and raju (rah who) mean ice in Quechua.

 Day 3: Shongopampa – Hato (3,700m/12,139ft) – Castilla Camp
After enjoying our breakfast at our Shongopampa camp we will start our third day of trekking around 8:30 AM and descend downhill for about 2 hours to the high Andean mountain village of Hato at (3,700m/12,139ft) then we will begin to ascend up for about 3 hours to our next camp named Castilla.  During our trek this third day, we will see the Cordillera de los Conchucos to our east and will also view the spectacular peaks of Urhuasraju, Rurec, Huantzan and Tumnarina as we approach our overnight camp named Castilla located at an elevation of (3,900m/12,795ft).

Day 4: Castilla Camp – San Juan pass (4,850m/15,912ft) – Rimarima camp
Day 4 again begins with a hearty breakfast in our Castilla camp then we begin our trek today in an ascent of about 3.5 hours up to the San Juan pass.  During this segment of today’s trek, we will enjoy panoramic views and see the amazing peaks of Huantzan, Tumarina and Rurec as we ascend to the top of the San Juan Pass (4,850m/15,912ft). At the top of the pass, we will enjoy our lunch while we view the beautiful spiraling peaks of San Juan and Cayesh to the north.  From the San Juan pass we will start our descent down to our next camp named Rimarima located at an elevation of (4,300m/14,108ft).
  
Day 5: Rimarima Camp – Mirador (4,600m/15,092ft) – Carhuascancha
After breakfast in our Rimarima camp, we will start our ascent for about 2.5 hours to Mirador which is located at an elevation of (4,600m/15,092ft). From Mirador we will enjoy lunch while we relax and capture the natural beauty of the snow covered peaks of Maparaju, Tumarinaraju, and Cayesh standing tall amongst the many other spiraling Andean peaks.  From our “perch” we will also view pristine high mountain aqua colored lakes and beautiful unique plants such as the emblematic Andean Puya Raimondi.  After lunch while enjoying these spectacular views we will start         our descent lasting about 2 hours as we arrive at our next camp named Carhuascancha located at an elevation of (3,900m/12,795ft).

Day 6: Carhuascancha – San Marcos – Chavin de Huáncar – return to Huaraz
Our day 6 begins again with a hearty breakfast in our Carhuascancha camp.  We begin our descent down into the Carhuascancha Valley to the small village of Yuracyacu. After reaching Yuracyacu we will then ascend up a short hill for about 30 minutes from where we look down on the mountain village San Marcos (2,970m/9,744ft). From our position above San Marcos, we will make our final descent lasting about one hour to where Inkaland Journeys’ private transportation will be waiting for us to drive us one hour to the pre-Inca historic village of Chavin de Huantar.  Here at Chavin de Huantar, if our timing permits, we will visit this historic archeological site.  If our timing does not permit us            to visit the Chavin de Huantar site, we will then drive 3.5 hours directly back to Huaraz arriving about back in Huaraz around 7:00 PM where a welcoming hot shower and a well deserved diner with refreshments awaits you to celebrate your successful  Inkaland Journey.

The Andes is our space…..come trek and climb in it with us

Contact Us for a detailed information and prices.