Hike Cashapampa - Hualcayan

After getting to Cashapampa, the vast majority of tourists set out from here for shorter and quite a commercial trek Santa Cruz. You can also ascend or get a ride on the road for 1.5 kilometers to the village Conay (2 905 m asl), or 5.5 km to Huancarhuas. In Conay you can also buy some food before the walk, during which you must be self-sufficient for several days.
 

Just a short way behind Conay falls the dusty road in twists to the river Santa Cruz. You can shorten it along the path with a distant view across the fields up to the upland plateau with village Hualcayan, where you can possibly camp.
 

After a while, after you cross the river Santa Cruz over the bridge in approx 2,760 m asl, very nice view of the valley opens. Around 25 km as the crow flies from you is five thousand meters high ridge of Cordillera Negra.
 

Except for the boxes you will see a lot of eucalyptus trees, cacti and pets.
 

Roughly after about an hour of walk you approach the village Huancarhuas (2 770 m asl). There are nice views to places, where you just came from.
 

Then follows less interesting passage through the village Huancarhuas before you get to a nice outlook point into a small gorge.
 

Just behind the gorge is a small flat headland, on which is also a field and a few houses. After two hundred meters there is another larger gorge leading here from the lagoon Yuraccocha, where you can also undertake another trip the next day.
 

You will cross the gorge Quebrada Yuraccocha along the small bridge and begin to ascend to Hualcayan, which is the most picturesque part of today's trek. The village lies on a large headland full of differently colored boxes.
 

In Hualcayan (3 140 m asl) you can camp and it is also recommended by most of the guides. However, if you have enough time and energy, you can set out for a steep zigzag ascent above the village. The path will soon take you again nearly over the gorge, but a few hundred meters higher.
 

The ascent in twists is endless, there are 38 of them before you get to the slope damaged by landslide. Not far behind is the spring, a few trees and a place for a tent (not very good) (3,950 m asl). But the views of the surroundings are worth the effort.