DAY 1 – Nice to meet you, Huayhuash!

Huayhuash Circuito trailhead

Start: Cuartelwain (4,180 m / 13,714 ft)
Pass: Qaqanan pass (4,750 m / 15,584 ft)
End: Mitucocha (4,230 m / 13,878 ft)
Distance: 9 km / 5.6 miles
Total elevation gain: 570 m / 1,870 ft

Never been so excited to get up at 4 am! Private transportation will bring us to Matacancha, the starting point of what probably will be the most intense and awe-inspiring 9 days of our lives. After an exhausting 5 hour drive, some people chose to stay here for the first night, also as a part of their acclimatisation scheme. In the hope we’re enough acclimatised after 2 wonderfull day hikes (Laguna 69 and Laguna Churup), we immediatley took off to Mitucocha. Oh, it feels great to be in the mountains! However, we’re quickly reminded of how it is to hike up at high altitude. But the environment is all worth it!