When in the hiking capital of Peru, I knew I wanted to do a multi day trek. I’d heard about Santa Cruz and the longer and more challenging Huayhuash. Although I was super keen to do the Huayhuash trek, I was worried about the altitude and the fact that it was 8 days of hiking!
The Santa Cruz trek is 4 days of hiking in the Huascaran National Park passing through valleys and mountain passes reaching 4750m high. Distance wise it’s around 50km. I’d heard great things about Santa Cruz so I decided to do it first as a way to test the hiking waters. Here’s how it went…
The Trek
Day 1 – Vaquería to Paria camping (& my birthday!)
The first day of the trek involves an early start and a longish drive to the start point. Pick up was from 4.30am with me being collected at 4.45am. We stopped twice: once for breakfast and the other to get our entrance tickets for Huascaran National park. At breakfast we’d given our guide 60 soles (£15 approx) in advance for the tickets.
We arrived to Vaqueria around 11am and met the donkeys who were going to be our helpers for the next several days. We started walking at midday, passing through a few small villages and later an open grassy field. Several of us got Sound of Music vibes walking through the open fields full of yellow flowers.
The majority of the walk is flat with a few gentle uphill and downhill slopes. Halfway into the walk, there is a park control office where we stopped to show our tickets and note our names down.
We arrived to Paria camp just after 4pm. I found it an easy and relaxed afternoon of walking and a great way to warm up to the trek. We had snacks in the late afternoon sunshine and at dinner later the group sung ‘Happy Birthday’ to me. It was a great way to spend my birthday!
Distance walked: 10km
Hours walked: 4hrs
Camped at Paria
Day Two – Paria – Punta Unión – Taullipampa
Day Two is the hardest day; it’s the day we walked up to Punta Unión, the highest point of the trek at 4750m.
Wake up is at 6am with a cup of coca tea, breakfast at 6.30am and walking normally starts around 7am – we always seemed to be ready at 7.20am.
The walk up to Punta Unión is a gradual climb with a few flatish sections. The final part of the climb got steeper and was more challenging simply because of the altitude. I was stopping relatively frequently for mini breaks to catch my breath and of course for photos!
I reached Punta Unión just before 1pm, around 5.5hrs of uphill walking. The views were incredible!
After lunch and a team pic, we started the downhill walk (1hr45) to our second campsite at Taullipampa.
At the campsite, we had some amazing gooey cheese pastry tequeños for snacks and guessed riddle after riddle. After dinner, we all went to the cook’s tent (the warmest!!) and had Pisco to drink as a birthday toast 🙂
Distance walked: 12km
Hours walked: 7hrs15
Altitude reached: 4750m
Camped at Taullipampa
Day Three – Taullipampa – Laguna Arhuaycocha – Unknown campsite by river
Whilst Day Two is the hardest, Day Three is the longest; especially if you visit Laguna Arhuaycocha.
We started walking once again at 7.20am and and reached the lake just over 2hrs later. The walk to the lake can be divided into three parts: two uphill sections with a flat bit in the middle.
The views are beautiful and as we got closer to the lake we were surrounded by purple flowers on the uphill ascent! I was in my happy place! So beautiful!!
The lake is really worth the trip! A gorgeous bright blue colour surrounded by snow capped mountains! I’m really glad we went as we had the choice to skip! Thank goodness we all wanted to do it! For me, it was the highlight of Day Three!!
We started walking down from the lake at 10.45amish and I had my first go as a videographer, filming a guy for a project he’s working on. At 1pm we regrouped for lunch, and then had several more hours of walking through the valley past lakes, rivers and waterfalls to our last campsite of the trek (I have no idea what it was called, I think it was just free camping next to the river!). We got popcorn as our snack which was great!
Distance walked: 22km
Hours walked: 9.5hrs
Altitude reached: 4420m
Camped at unknown campsite next to river (near Llamacorral camping)
Day Four – Unknown Campsite – Cashapampa – Hot Springs
The last day of the trek and the shortest distance to walk! We set off an hour earlier than normal, at 6.20am, because we wanted to finish the trek with a dip in the local hot springs!
We arrived to Cashapampa after 2hrs of walking downhill. It’s quite a loose gravel trail so watch your step! I did slip multiple times and ended up on my bum once! Towards the end I only just managed to jump out the way of a running escapee cow!
Once at Cashapampa, we were driven to the local hot springs, which turned out to be a heated swimming pool as the natural pools were sadly closed, where we had an hour to relax in the warm water.
I didn’t know hot springs were an option (not included in the price so have 3 soles for the bus and 3 soles for the hot springs) so hadn’t packed my bikini or towel. Thank goodness for sports bras and black pants!! Note to self: always pack a bikini, you never know when there’ll be a hot spring!
We started driving back to Huaraz just after 11am, arriving around 2.30pm. I had time to have a much appreciated long hot shower, put my clothes in the laundry and watch the Game of Thrones finale before we regrouped for a celebratory Pisco Sour and then went to Paulino’s, a great Indian restaurant!
Distance walked: 7km
Hours walked: 2hrs
Choosing a tour
Although you can do Santa Cruz independently, I chose to do it with a tour for convenience, ease and price. Most tour companies will charge 400-450 soles for Santa Cruz; I paid 400 soles (£95 approx) for mine.
All camping equipment (sleeping bag, sleeping mat, tent), meals, afternoon snacks, water, walking poles if you wish, are included in the price.
The only things that weren’t included were the park entrance fee (60 soles – £15 approx), breakfast and water for the first day, and the optional hot springs at the end.
Do check with your tour agency for exactly what’s included or not.
What I packed
I packed the following clothes and items for 4 days of hiking:
- 2 Uniqlo heat-tech long sleeve tops (one was extra warm for night)
- 1 T-shirt (which I only wore on the last day after the hot springs)
- 1 sports bra (also used for the hot springs – next time remember to pack a bikini!)
- 2 pairs of pants
- 2 pairs of hiking socks (in case of rain)
- 1 comfy pair socks (for night – thanks Mum!)
- 1 fleece (for day use)
- 1 alpaca jumper (for night)
- 1 down jacket (for day and night)
- 1 Uniqlo gilet (extra layer at night)
- 1 waterproof
- Poncho (didn’t use)
- 1 waterproof trousers (luckily it didn’t rain, so not needed! Would always pack!)
- 1 pair of Uniqlo extra warm heat-tech leggings (for night)
- 1 pair of walking trousers
- 1 pair of floaty trousers (for night)
- Warm hat, buff and gloves
- Sun hat and sunglasses
- Headlamp (for around camp at night)
- Toiletries: toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, insect repellent, hand sanitiser, toilet roll, suncream, wipes
- Medical: plasters, paracetamol, ibuprofen, imodium etc
- Snacks: cookies, cereal biscuits, chocolate, sweets, fruit
- Battery powerpack for phone
- Sleep liner (extra layer for sleeping bag)
- Flip flops (change of shoes to wear around camp and give feet a rest from hiking boots)
I only carried the layers, snacks and water I needed in my day rucksack. The rest I put in a bin bag and gave to the donkey. You’re allowed around 4kg to give to the donkey.
Which direction to hike
You can hike the Santa Cruz in both directions, so from Vaqueria to Cashapampa or vice versa.
We started in Vaqueria and finished in Cashapampa. I enjoyed doing the trek in this direction as I liked having the toughest hike on Day Two and then heading mostly downhill for the rest.
A positive to starting in Cashapampa is that it’s at a lower altitude and is a more gradual climb to Punta Unión, you’ll reach it on Day Three (instead of Day Two).
If you’re doing it independently, I’ve heard it’s easier to finish in Cashapampa as there are more colectivos back to Huaraz.
Final thoughts
The Santa Cruz trek was brilliant. I was really lucky that I had such a good group – it really made it a great experience!
If you’re looking to do a multi day hike in Huaraz, the 4 day Santa Cruz is a great option. Huascaran National Park is beautiful!!
You have incredible views throughout the hike: valleys, snow capped mountains, waterfalls, pretty flowers, bright blue lakes. I also found the walking wasn’t hugely challenging – it was more the distance and altitude on the hardest and longest days that I felt!
The Santa Cruz trek is also a great one to do if you’re considering the longer Huayhuash circuit but aren’t completely sure. I chose to do Santa Cruz as a test hike to see how I felt. I’m now doing Huayhuash so it was a good test!
