Trip to the Huaytapallana I.

The road from Huancaya (3,260 m above sea level) to the Virgen de las Nieves pass, where this hike begins, is gravel with one rather curious bridge made of logs. The road leads first between the fields and then through an ever-narrowing canyon between the mostly bare grassy slopes of the mountains.

The Virgen de las Nieves Pass (4,590 m above sea level) is about 28 kilometers away from Huancaya. This is where our circuit begins. If you would like to get to know the northern part of the mountains, you can set off on another gravel road in a northerly direction. The area around the pass is picturesque but desolate.

From the beginning, you will ascend from the pass relatively slightly along a noticeable footpath. Below you are swampy bofedals in which it springs from the river through whose valley you came here from Huancaya. It is also easy to see the gravel road accessing the northern part of the mountains from here.

After half an hour's walk, the Virgen de las Nieves pass is deep below you. The road starts to climb steeper, but the footpath is still comfortable.

After 45 minutes of ascent, you are finally standing in a mountain saddle, about (4,800 m above sea level) from where there is an amazing view of the glaciated ridge of the Huaytapallana. In front of you lies the first two of the six lagoons on this tour.

The highest peaks of the Huaytapallana mountains are only about 5,500 meters above sea level, but they are glaciated.

The path from the pass descends only slightly and continues to traverse the rocky slope. The adjacent mountain (4,943 m above sea level) can also be seen from here, which could serve as an even better view for those who would like to extend this trip to a peak.

From here it is also nice to see far to the west on the hills descending gradually to the Amazon lowlands. There is also a road that you came from Huancaya to the Viren de las Nieves pass. Deep below you can see the path, which will then return to the pass.

The path traverses the slope still at altitudes between 4,800 – 4,900 meters above sea level to the third small nameless lagoon. Directly below you, however, lies the beautiful azure lagoon Jatuncocha (4,589 m above sea level). The views are really beautiful here.

After another approximately twenty minutes of walking, he will have another beautiful lagoon in the palm of his hand – Yanaucsha (4,741 m above sea level).

The path is slowly approaching the glacier slides. The classic trip along this route also includes climbing it and reaching the elevation of 5,000 meters above sea level, but of course in this variant, a safe trip becomes dangerous for ubiquitous cracks.

You are in places where you just tilt your head and you can enjoy the incredible ice pyramid directly above you.

The path ends at the glacier. So you can get back from there the same way back, or a much better option is to complete the circuit on the way around the lagoons. As a diversion, you can climb your own glacier, of course at your own risk.