The Santa Cruz trek

Life is brought down to the basics: if you are warm, regular, healthy, not thirsty or hungry, then you are not on a mountain... Climbing at altitude is like hitting your head against a brick wall — it's great when you stop."
~Chris Darwin.
Wednesday, September 3rd to Saturday September 6th 2008



Air. I need air. The mountain pass looms up above me guarded by snow caped mountains, but at 4750 meters above sea level - every step is an effort. Snow is starting to fall, I don't care. There is only one thought in my mind - reaching the V shape crack in the seemingly impassable cliffs above me. But to do so I need air. I'm panting like crazy, slowly slowly with small steps I climb up the trail. The last few steps are done on sheer will power alone. climbing an almost vertical wall to the pass itself I finally stand on the small rock shelf and again find it hard to breath - but this time it's because of the breath taking view of the Santa river valley that opens before me with it's green meadows, waterfalls and sky-blue lagoons.

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

The trek started early Wednesday morning with a four and a half hours long bus trip to a small town called Vaqueria deep in the Cordillera Blanca. The ride itself was beautiful passing through the mountains and next to two lagoons giving us a glimpse of things to come. We met our donkey drivers, tied the camp and unnecessary equipment to the donkeys and with only water and a light lunch in our day packs started walking to our first campsite.

The road passes through few small villages first going down to the river bed and than slowly up along the river. The scenery changes from wide meadows with horses and cattle to narrow trails in the local dense vegetation. Although it's not a hard walk, this is my first encounter with the high altitude thin air and my head is throbbing. I feel a little better when I see the camp already set up and we all sit in the common tent for some hot tea and popcorn. Knowing that tomorrow will be a hard day I decide to call it a day early and retire to my tent to get some sleep - I'm later informed that I missed a very good hot meal..

The second day starts with a light decent up the river. We climb above the tree line and the terrain becomes more rocky and steep. I can see the mountains in the distance, but the pass itself is still not visible. The thin air and physical effort are starting to take their toll and the horse that walks behind us for emergencies looks inviting.. I make a decision that I will not ride the horse unless absolutely necessary, greet my teeth and carry on. The feeling when reaching the pass is pure bliss from the view, the sense of accomplishment and the knowledge that from now on the direction is down.

We reach the camp just before night fall tired but very satisfied. The camp is already set up again by our donkey drivers who rushed ahead of us and the smell of popcorn is in the air. We all eat a good hot meal and talk a little until the harsh cold drives us to our warm sleeping bags. The last two days are a leisurely walk through the Santa river valley passing the waterfalls and lagoons we saw from the pass and stopping from time to appreciate the impressive mountains towering high above us.

The trail ends in the small town of Cashapampa with it's impressive irrigation channels.
We take a local van back to Huaraz and after a good shower and a good meal I go to sleep in the same familiar bed at "Casa Jaimes" dreaming about my next trek..